Is there a greater feeling than walking through the front door of your house after a long day and just the alluring sight of your living space brightens your spirits?
The way you design your home greatly impacts your mood. Your mental health, in fact, is dependent on many factors including your environment, and that includes your living space. So, whether it’s a new vase with some beautiful flowers propped inside, colourful art, scented candles, houseplants, new cushion and throw combination – it will be totally worth it- trust me. Your home is brimming with feel-good potential and it’s about time to add a little colour and spread joy in it. Here are some ways to do so;
COLOR
New furniture may not be in your budget right now, but painting is the quickest and most affordable way to give an old room a breath of fresh air. The best way to choose interior paint colours is to start with the colors you love for an instant mood booster. Other vibrant accents are also easily added with throw pillows, rugs and DIY painted furniture. Below are some inviting hues to choose from;
- Iconic: These colours are rooted in history, and may relate to a country or historic moment. They tend to be strong and rich. Think royal blue connected to the royal family, Chinese red to ward off evil, Tangerine, Burgundy, Aegean White, Chartreuse or charcoal grey for brutalist architecture.
- Playful: These are colours associated with the outdoors, like being at the beach or park, bathed in sunshine. The mood is warm, friendly and full of smiles. A playful palette is not necessarily bold and loud. Try sensual, lively hues or cool icy blues, silver, gold, sunshine yellow or sky blue breaking out into a neutral backdrop.
- Light: These colours need to be light and bright, giving airiness and freshness to space. Soft pinks, blues and greens come to mind, with a backdrop of crisp white; you can also try out daffodil yellow.
- Generous: Generosity is about deep, warmer, darker tones: root vegetables and autumn shades, such as plum, forest green, dark orange, mustard and rusty reds.
- Curious: These are modern colours that jump around and move up and down the scale. From black to pink, warming olive green to vibrant orange, deep plum to cherry yellow, icy blue to antique white or concrete grey to lipstick red.
LIGHT IT UP
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Walk into a room bathed in cosy, inviting light and you’ll instantly feel at ease. Walk into the same room buzzing with harsh, glaring or very dim fluorescents, and you might even grind your teeth.
Why?
Because having good ambient, task and accent lighting in our homes can do wonders to our mood, mind and wellbeing– whether it’s natural sunlight or electric.
Each room in your home serves a different purpose, and your lighting choices should reflect that. The kitchen or dining room, for example, need adequate illumination. The living room’s fixtures, intensity and location of lighting should all differ between spaces. A softly-lit bedroom works in harmony with our body clock, allowing the body’s melatonin level to rise, readying it for sleep. A darker room helps us to feel relaxed and comfortable.
CRAFT WITH PLANTS
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Beyond aesthetic value, including a healthy dose of our man-made dwellings in any and every room of your home boosts your mood, increases creativity, reduces stress, and eliminates air pollutants- making a healthier, happier you.
Indoor plants can add just the right amount of intrigue—they’re free-form and organic yet clean and sculptural; they delight with their unpredictability yet reassure with their steady presence. Remember to care for your plants, will you? Go for the fake ones if you don’t have the greenest of thumbs, you still want to feel like there’s a touch of nature to the look of your space.
MEMORIES
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Surrounding ourselves with things that fascinate and drive us makes us feel alive. Don’t store positive memories in drawers or photo albums; bring them out to tell a visual story and turn an ordinary space into a home that adds warmth and fond memories.
We are always about what’s trending, but items that reconnect us with the past and surround us with positive memories will definitely boost happiness. Go ahead and create a memorable wanderlust gallery by uniformly decorating your family and travel photos, among other mementoes on whatever wall or ideal furniture space you have free. You’ll feel more at home.
THE EDIT
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Everyone has a bit of junk lying around the house- the majority of us have way more than a little. Don’t choke your home with clutter trying to make room for the things that truly don’t matter. If your house feels too small, or you don’t have enough storage, you need to do some editing.
Organizing and decluttering help relieve stress for many by providing a sense of control and accomplishment. Think of decluttering as a way of honouring who you are in the now, and letting go of who you were in the past. This could be through donating those less flattering clothes or meticulously reorganizing your pantry or tidying your bedroom and bathroom shelves and drawers- getting rid of expired items. Less is truly more, not only for the aesthetics of our homes but for our own mental wellbeing.
