USING INTERIOR DESIGN FOR HEALTHY LIVING

Our homes are a reflection of our lives. The perfect home isn’t just a reflection of you it’s also a positive influence on who you are and who you aspire to be. Our perfect home adapts to our moods, it influences our creativity, our personality and our well-being. It can lift us up after a long day and help us detox from the stresses of the world.

Achieving this through design is one of our favourite challenges we work through with our clients – designing for a better quality of life. With that in mind we thought we’d look at some of our favourite ideas to promote healthy living in your home.

Creating Light

A well-lit room reminds us of the outside natural world. It figuratively and literally brightens our day. A dingy room has the opposite effect – it sedates us, drains our energy and causes fatigue. The nervous and endocrine systems of the brain are directly influenced by the amount of light you receive.

When it comes to design you might think this means we want lots of light. Whilst this is true we also need to not overdo our exposure to artificial light. Too much exposure to artificial light causes unease and stress.

When it comes to interior design natural light is the best place to start. The more natural light we receive the more serotonin our brain produces. When we plan redesigns we try and make sure that windows light up the most used areas of your home. We then supplement this with artificial lighting to create a mood and add to the feeling of daylight in your home.

Creating Ambience

When it comes to design your rooms need to feel in a way that reflects you. The first step to creating ambience is to de-clutter. Cluttered rooms increase our stress and decrease our productivity as evidenced by numerous scientific studies. We like to build in lots of discreet storage space to maximise a room’s efficiency without compromising on style.

The next step is to choose a colour scheme that reflects your own positivity. Blues, creams, pinks and whites tend to reflect lots of natural light and create an illusion of space. For a relaxing room where you want to unwind before bed dark rich colours with soft lights help the stresses of the day dissipate.

Finally we look at the actual objects and furniture. Art and sculpture create positive messages in the home, as does the personal. We like to give these objects centre focus in rooms so that positivity and healthy mind are at the forefront of your interior design.

Adding a Touch of the Natural

To positively influence your life you really have to incorporate the natural into your home.

Plants are the obvious place to start and we like to make room for vases of fresh flowers as centre pieces to highlight your home. Potted plants, trees and bonsai all work beautifully with modern and classical styles to give you an alive but stylish design.

Fish tanks and pets are a great way to continue. Low maintenance fish provide a sense of life, light and running water. All of these can help improve your healthy lifestyle as well as being great focal points for a room.

Finally, adding some natural objects to your home works with a variety of interior styles – these can be anything from shells and fossils to natural wood.

Incorporating nature, light and mood into your designs is essential for healthy living. Decluttering, increasing natural light, colour and adding nature all positively influence your mood at home, your ability to overcome stress and your ability to feel happy at home.

Author: Carolina Sandri