Good Interior Design Can Make You Happy At Home

The COVID pandemic has forced most of us to spend more time at home, and this has had a direct and noticeable impact on our good health and wellbeing. We now understand just how important it is that our interior spaces are designed to positively affect our physical and mental health. When designing our own personal spaces we must consider a multi-disciplinary and holistic approach to achieve a happy and healthy home environment.

 

Of course, style plays a very important role in designing a space that’s not only beautiful, but functional too, but that’s not all that goes into an interior that makes us feel happy and healthy. Masters of Feng Shui have been telling us this for centuries, and today more than ever we’re seeing just why our home must be a place of positivity, happiness, and calm. The importance of interiors on our health and wellbeing simply cannot be overstated.

We all desire our home to be a space of relaxation, a place where we can crash at the end of the day, where we feel safe, calm, and closely connected to our loved ones. And now that we’ve been forced to spend so much time at home, many of us have noticed that perhaps our interior could use some tender loving care! Have you noticed that your interior walls could use a new coat of paint, or maybe your home could use some layers and textures – some bright cushions and a new rug perhaps?

 

By introducing psychology into our interior design we can easily become happier and more comfortable in our homes. Small changes to layout, colours and fabrics can evoke positive feelings and improve our mood.

Before making any changes, ask yourself the following questions to determine the current emotions in your home –

 

• When you enter a room, how does it make you feel?
• Do you need more fresh air and circulation in your home?
• Are the textures in your spaces appropriate – sharp in areas of focus (like your home office) and soft in restful areas (like your living room)?
• What made you choose your current colour scheme – like the lampshades and curtains?

 

Were you aware that your interior décor affects your emotions? Good interior design creates feelings of safety, comfort, happiness, and pride in your home. We need to understand that simple changes to colours, the layout, and fabrics, can make a positive difference to the way we feel. After all, no one can unwind at the end of a busy day or week if their home is poorly designed and uninviting.

The Role Of Our Homes Has Changed

The COVID pandemic has forced us to create designated zones in our homes for different activities, like working, relaxing, learning, and playing. In addition, our outdoor spaces have become more important than ever before. They’re our connection to the outside world; they’ve become our escape from ‘lockdowns’, which to most of us feel like ‘lock-ins’. More than ever we’re craving fresh air, sunshine, and the freedom of being outdoors.

 

It’s natural for human beings to respond positively to environments that promote intimacy and productivity, so it follows that our interiors should be designed to support this. We’re all different, so how we use and occupy our spaces will vary, but we can all agree on some general rules of interior design.

Furniture Placement

One of the main principles of Feng Shui is furniture placement. When furniture is well placed it can promote warmth and positive energy flow within a space. According to neuroscientists, there are special cells in the hippocampus of our brain that are dedicated to the organisation and geometry of space. When a space is perceived to be stressful, both our respiratory and heart rates rise and the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol are released.

Decluttering

Decluttering is essential to a happy home, and Marie Kondo created a decluttering craze right around the world with her Japanese style of reducing the amount of ‘stuff’ we have in our homes. Marie’s radical approach to tidying is quite straightforward. You simply place your hands on everything you own and ask if it sparks joy; if the answer is no, you say, ‘thank you for your service’ and get rid of it. With the rest of your possessions, they must be placed where you can see them, where they’re accessible, easy to grab, and easy to put back. The idea seems to be that if Grandma’s beautiful crystal is being stored in the basement, it’s probably not that important to you!

Colour Choices

Whether it’s your home, your office, or even your local doctor’s surgery, the psychology of colours affects us each and every time we enter a new space. Whether we’re aware of this or not, colours have a dramatic impact on our mood and emotions. People refer to reds, oranges, and yellows as warm colours, while cool colours include blues, purples and greens. There’s a good reason for this distinction: we feel physically warmer when we’re in rooms with warm colours and we feel cooler in rooms with cool colours. This explains why red is a popular colour in winter while teal and turquoise are popular in warmer weather.

 

Every colour has an associated psychological effect, and we know that some colours evoke specific emotional responses. For example –

• Red is the colour of passion, aggression, and power.
• Orange is the colour of innovation, competition, sports, and energy.
• Yellow is the only warm colour that’s associated with relaxation. It represents creativity, happiness, and innocence.
• Green is a calming, soothing colour, associated with harmony, balance, and nature.
• Blue communicates calm, freshness, and serenity.
• Purple is an indulgent colour, evoking feelings of privilege and specialness.
• White reflects light, making rooms feel bigger, more spacious, and brighter. It’s also associated with innocence, purity, and cleanliness.
• Black evokes a range of feelings and is often associated with mystery, unhappiness, and death. However, it’s also the colour of sexuality, intellectualism, seriousness, and sophistication.
• Grey has negative connotations and is associated with loss, depression, and listlessness. A grey room can feel unwelcoming and cold.

Keep in mind that your memories and personal history have a huge influence on your emotions. For example, American brides wear white but in some countries white is the colour of death. Certain colours from your childhood can definitely affect your emotions today, in both positive and negative ways.

 

The Role of Nature

As the years go by, the role of technology in our lives has progressively increased. Connected and smart technological devices fill every room, and we have become increasingly reliant on Wi-Fi and mobile connectivity to live our everyday lives.

Trying to push back against technology would likely be a waste of energy. Instead, people are looking toward what is known as biophilic design – the art of harnessing the innate power of nature to counter the increasing role of technology in our lives. By using natural light and natural materials like wool, linen, stone, and timber, we can harness the power of nature to help us feel grounded, improve our sleep, and uplift our spirits.

 

Air quality is a particular concern, and part of biophilic design is to ensure good ventilation and access to clean air – both indoors and out – by using aromatic diffusers, air humidifiers, and proper ventilation.

 

Every person wants their home to feel as comfortable and homely as it is functional and practical. While different people may go about this aim in entirely different ways, the desired result remains the same. If the events of the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that a happy family will thrive in a comfortable, loving home.