How Interior Design Can Improve Your Life

How Interior Design Can Improve Your Life

Dreaming of a place you can escape from the demands of life? The main concern of interior designers in the 21st century is to cleverly incorporate designs that calm stressed, anxious home and business owners.

There is a correlation between our health and factors such as light, color, indoor air quality and nature. With the coronavirus, life is never going to be the same again and people are spending more time at home. Therefore, wellness-focused interior design has become a growing design ethos, influencing our physical health and our emotional state of mind.

1. Smallness and clutter 

You really don’t have to let small spaces get you down because interior decorators have a whole lot of inspiring ideas up their sleeves. The way to stay happy when you’re living in a tiny apartment is to have a place for everything.

Consider multifunctional furniture like sofas that can quickly convert to a bed. Think of a room divider to create some private and personal space. Their functionality makes them invaluable pieces in apartments.

Cube shelving is also a great idea as not only are they decorative, they will certainly meet some of your storage needs to avoid unnecessary clutter. You can really transform your place from something frustrating at first into your small harmonious haven.

No matter where you live, careful design can influence your mental and physical health. 

Our worlds have shrunk with the pandemic, and because our homes are both office and leisure space, we need them to reflect calm and provide us with a much-needed sense of well-being.

That’s what good life is all about. It can also be a wonderful idea to write an essay about it. For a good list of life essay topics, you can refer to Samplius.com. It’s a free online resource that covers almost every essay topic and free samples for students.

 

2. Let nature in

Biophilic design is a concept where one ensures their interior design is connected to nature. Architects design buildings so that everyone inside has access to daylight and views of trees and nature.

In your situation, you may not be able to move things around too much, but bringing nature inside doesn’t have to be complex or even expensive. Bring potted plants into your home, a small water fountain or an aquarium.

Opt for low-maintenance houseplants if you’re not used to looking after exotic-type plants. This will make bringing greenery into your home effortless. Easy-to-care-for succulents and the carefree, tropical look of palm trees are guaranteed to be uplifting, rejuvenating, and inspiring and to enhance health and productivity.

 

3. Good indoor air quality

Even in this day and age, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are still found in some interior furnishings and paints. Over time, these VOCs are emitted as gases, polluting our fresh air and even causing respiratory problems.

Good indoor air quality with the absence of gas and toxins promotes comfort, increases productivity, and is key to our well-being. 

Even synthetic fabrics such as petroleum-based polyester have VOCs and while you can’t discard all these offensive products overnight, you can gradually start replacing them.

Indoor air quality is worse in the winter as one tends to keep windows closed, stopping the flow of fresh air. Try and eliminate the allergens inside your home, and while it can be costly to do so, going for hard-surface flooring as opposed to wall-to-wall carpeting can cut down on allergens and help you to breathe easier.

4. Color your world

The colors used for paints and furnishings can have a positive or negative impact on people. These days we cannot just look at color as an interior design option. We need to look at color as a means of affecting the way we feel. Color can have a psychological effect on people, and colors can be used to great advantage in interior design.

Homes or offices that have been carefully and harmoniously got together can have a calming effect on the people who work or live there. Blue, for instance, is a significant color with interior designers as with its many shades, the color represents order, balance and reliability.

Shades of blue provide a Zen-like quality. Color is important for the space you find yourself in. Red and purple walls in a doctor’s examination room might well cause anyone to feel more nauseous, whereas that same color combination would do well in a casino. Color is one of the most important aspects of interior design and can alter the entire character of a room and impact a person’s emotional health.

 

5. Light up your life

A bright and light space is proven to boost your mood!

There are some people who, even during the day, for some unknown reason, keep their blind and curtains drawn closed. They’re often depressed and they themselves can’t explain why. By drawing the curtains and allowing natural sunlight to warm and lighten a room, gloom and depression will take flight.

Natural light brightens up your home and mood as no light bulb can. The natural sunlight is also good for your body, providing vitamin D and increasing your happy serotonin levels. If you can afford to spend a bit of money, skylights in your roof can add natural light and heat into your space and they look interesting too - enough to improve anyone’s mood and health.

Electric lights are also about lifestyle enhancements, creating an environment that we can be relaxed and comfortable in. The health and mood-altering properties of light are known by lighting manufacturers and they make lights today so that the natural rhythms of daylight are reproduced. These lights don’t only give off lighting, but they’re about lifestyle and mood too.

 

6. Your own style

An interior designer can encourage you- and give you tips on how to make your place a haven, but the ultimate choice is yours. What may look wonderful to the interior decorator may not be your cup of tea. You are the only one who can determine if something is within your aesthetic taste.

You have to feel at one and at peace with your own style. 

Being happy and comfortable with your design can have a big impact on our mental health. The sense of control you have over your environment, the fact that it has your stamp of taste and personality, brings one a sense of satisfaction.

The importance of feeling relaxed and at home in a space has major health benefits, even if you hire an interior designer to carry your vision out.

7. Comfort and ergonomics

Comfort is key when it comes to wellness-focused interior design. Your officer or home environment can determine your health and well-being, and making a few changes, even in a budget-friendly way, can be a source of inspiration for you.

Risk factors created with unhealthy workspaces include poor posture, straining the body or eyes and exposure to poor air and improper lighting.

Make ergonomic changes before the years pass and you have nothing to show for your work except lots of medical bills. Optimizing your space for ergonomics can have such a positive effect on your daily life.

Bring in comfortable chairs and adjustable desks. Optimizing your home and office space for ergonomics will allow you to experience fewer aches and pains and be more energized.

 

8. Re-arrange your furniture

These stressful times we’re living in make it important to find tranquility in our lives. Our homes certainly need to be a peaceful haven and it is why zen principles in interior design are popular, especially now with the pandemic.

Zen interiors reflect balance and harmony and the concept is about minimalism and simplicity. 

Zen furniture is simple and made of natural materials and furniture is never placed in front of doorways and never blocks air circulation.

The positioning of furniture determines how you’re going to move about. You know how angry you can get every time you move past an item of furniture and you bump your leg. Good furniture layout not only maximizes the space you have, you feel free and easy to move about without becoming agitated.

9. Uplifting aromas

We all know how an unpleasant smell can aggravate us. Wiping down tabletops and floors with a dirty rag can leave a sickening smell. Aromas are an integral part of wellness. It’s a fact, various scents can impact the brain and incite emotional responses. Some scents are capable of bringing back memories and even changing your mood.

Once your place is clean and fresh, why not bring in an essential oil diffuser for a wonderful aroma? Even hotels and corporates use aromas in their interiors. Olfactory branding is a trend of having customized scents as part of a place’s overall design process.

Using essential oil aromas can transform your home and your life with enhanced health. When we breathe in a delightful scent, it positively affects our emotions and can even impact our immune system.

10. Change Textures

Textures can play an important part in boosting wellness. You don’t want to continue with your thick natural winter fabrics into summer. It’s a good idea to use different textures according to the season.


A great way of bringing appropriate textures into your home without making major costly decorating changes is simply changing your bed linen and providing your bedroom with a seasonal feel.


Just touching cool cotton in serene green or crisp white cotton and silks can fill you with pleasure. Then again, who doesn’t love the feeling of soft, warm luxurious velvet in winter and the use of woven or knitted fabrics? 

Whether you’re thinking of your bedding or faux fur cushions for your bed or sofas, changing colors and fabrics for the season can certainly uplift your mood.

 

Conclusion

The way you decorate the spaces around you can have a profound impact on your health and well-being. The idea is to keep things simple, light and airy. Feeling comfortable and relaxed in your home or office can positively affect your life and your health.

Interior designers can help clients identify what they would like to create attractive, relaxing interiors that provide one with a sense of well-being. These days most people want a restorative environment where the entire body, physical and mental, responds well to pleasant surroundings.

Author’s Bio:

Vendy Adams is a mental health counselor and works with a center that provides online counseling to students from all parts of the world. She’s also a brilliant academic writer and covers medical and allied fields for thesis and dissertation writing. In her free time, she loves to watch the latest flicks on tv, plays tennis and takes online Zumba classes.