As the pandemic rages on, we’ve all been spending a lot more time at home than we would like to. Being confined indoors, staring at the same walls, can take a dramatic toll on our health — as we’ve found to our chagrin! We’re not just bored to death, but we’ve been getting gloomy and depressed. And there’s no miracle cure in sight just yet.
One reason for your black mood could be that your home décor choices are affecting your mental, and subsequently, your physical health. If you haven’t really given a thought to how your home interiors could work as mood enhancers, then it’s time to give your décor a quick upgrade! The right choices of colour, furnishings, and layout can completely turn around your feelings, and help you to stay happy and positive.
Not convinced? Well, it can’t hurt to try! Here are some psychologist-approved décor tips that actually work.
Step 1: Declutter
Zen enthusiasts did get it right! There’s no two ways about it, a cluttered room mess with your head. A disorganized home does not allow clear focus and increases levels of the stress hormone cortisol. A peaceful, refreshing space is one where there’s no clutter, and everything is neatly in its place.
Step 2: Pay Attention to Colours
Colours like red, yellow, and orange send ‘warm’ signals to your brain, sending it into overdrive and stoking fiery and troubling emotions. On the other hand, colours like blue, green and white send ‘cool’ signals to your brain and bring about a sense of relaxation and calm. What’re more, cool colours appear to recede, while warm colours constrict and close in on you.
If you’re already feeling confined and claustrophobic because you’re staying indoors, go light with your colour choices!
Step 3: Lighten up
The quality of light inside your rooms has a direct impact on your mood. The most positive light is sunlight, of course, and experts believe that exposure to sunlight triggers the release of the ‘feel-good’ hormone serotonin. It’s time to open up your windows, and let the sunlight stream in. Besides making your rooms brighter, sunlight is a natural disinfectant and is known to kill most germs.
Step 4: Woody Smells
This might come as a surprise to many, but it’s been proven that smells can work amazingly well as mood enhancers. Specifically, smells like cedar, pine and eucalyptus evoke mental images of cool, shady forests and mountain drives, and instill a sense of peace and tranquillity. So go ahead, burn those essential oils and breathe deep!
Step 5: Go Green
This is something we’ve repeated so often, you must know it already! Filling your home with plants is the quickest way to transform your home interior into a refreshing, rejuvenating space. Plants restore the air quality, increase indoor oxygen, and elevate your mood. They’re also known to reduce anxiety and depression. So get out your gardening tools, and get started!
Step 6: Use Materials that Connect with Nature
When we’re cooped up indoors all day, it’s very easy to lose that all-important connection with nature. Make a conscious decision to bring nature indoors, by using natural materials like sustainable wood, wicker, jute, and bamboo that are eco-friendly and radiate positive energy. Use cotton fabrics rather than synthetic materials, and reduce the number of toxic chemicals in the air.
Step 7: Breathe!
We’re getting flooded with messages and forwards on how to improve our lung capacity, the right way to inhale steam, do pranayama, and exercise. What’s most important, in all of this, is that the air inside our homes should be fresh and clean, so that we can stay healthy! Open up windows at opposite corners of the room to allow the breeze to flow through. Replace thick drapes with light curtains that will not block the flow of air.
Step 8: Soothing, Flowing Water
There’s something very calming and refreshing about the sound of flowing water. Especially if you live in a noisy neighborhood, installing a small indoor waterfall will do wonders for your sense of peace. You can fit it with a motor that will recirculate the water, creating a soothing background sound that instantly lowers stress.
Step 9: Create a Detox Zone
In a world that’s increasingly virtual, we tend to spend more hours online than we do in the real world. Even when we think we are relaxing, we are actually watching television or playing online games. If you want to balance your mental equilibrium, you should set space aside for a detox zone at home—a space that’s completely free of all screens! Do yoga, meditate, or simply catch up with your thoughts.
Your home should be your oasis of peace in an increasingly chaotic world. For this, it’s very important to make the right design and home décor choices that will create positivity and good health. Need help? Our HomeLane lifestyle gurus are at hand!
