You may think of your home as just a place to rest your head, spend time with your family, or work. But did you know that the layout and vibe of your house can affect your mental health?
Read on to find out how our surroundings can affect our mood and how to create a space that keeps you calm.
1. Keep It Light
Being in a house with little light can negatively affect our mood, especially in houses with few windows. Invest in lots of soft, warm lighting in the form of lamps around the house to keep your mood boosted with their warm glow.
Some lights on the market are made to mimic natural light, so if you’re unable to get outdoors or the weather is gloomy, opt to use one of these innovative lamps instead.
2. Separate Work and Play
In the modern age, more of us than ever work from home. While working from home comes with many mental health benefits, some of us find it trickier to separate our professional and personal lives when they take place in the same building.
To avoid working too hard or blurring the boundary between work and real life, put your home office in a designated part of the house, and avoid leaving any work items around your lounge, kitchen, or bedroom.
If you lack space and have to work from your bedroom, divide the room into two parts, or invest in a folding desk so you can leave your workspace behind at the end of the day.
3. Create a Comfortable Bed Set-up
One of the easiest ways to ensure that your home positively impacts your mental health is to make sleep simple. When we sleep well, our mental well-being improves, so making sure your bed is conducive to good sleep is incredibly effective.
Adjustable beds - such as this one from Flexispot - make sleeping well simple. These innovative bed bases help to reduce snoring and sleep apnea - two common conditions that can make sleep more difficult.
If you’re a fan of reading or meditating before bed, an adjustable bed can make this easier by providing a headboard that you can adjust until you find the perfect incline angle for your late-night activities.
Another way to ensure the perfect sleep setup is by using comfortable pillows, cushions, and blankets.
Use blankets to layer up your bed so you can adjust the temperature as desired and avoid over-heating or becoming too cold.
4. Personalise Your Space
What transforms a house into a home is making it feel like our own personal paradise. Personalise your space with photos of loved ones, your favourite books, and memories.
If your cupboards are full of souvenirs such as tickets and boarding passes from your travels, set up a pinboard in your lounge or kitchen and pin these keepsakes up to remind you of happy memories.
5. Go Green
To bring the outdoors indoors, invest in some greenery for your home. Filling your space with plants not only looks beautiful, but plants can also help purify your home’s air by removing nasty chemicals.
Adding a plant to a space can give a much-needed hit of colour. If you have shelves that look empty, invest in a spider plant or another dangling plant to drape over the side of your shelves.
6. De-clutter
Clutter can cause stress, and having too many items on show at once can lead to overstimulation. As the saying goes, ‘tidy room, tidy mind.’
De-clutter your space and get smart with storage by storing your items in storage solutions under your bed or tucked away in cupboards.
If you struggle to keep on top of clutter, put aside a non-negotiable weekly hour during which you commit to tidying your space and getting rid of unnecessary clutter.
An easy way to get rid of items you’re not using regularly is using the 12-month rule. If you haven’t used or worn an item during the last 12 months (unless, for example, it’s a holiday item and you haven’t been on holiday), get rid of it.
7. Invest in Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is the centuries-old tradition of using scents to affect your mood. Scents such as lavender and lemon balm are associated with calmness, so they’re perfect for use in the bedroom.
Scents such as peppermint and spearmint are great at restoring harmony, whereas frankincense is said to focus the mind. Invest in scented candles, an essential oil diffuser or a reed diffuser to keep your home smelling amazing.
The Bottom Line
Setting up a calming environment in your home is crucial for ensuring you sleep well and enjoy positive mental health outcomes.
Including aromatherapy, plants, and personal items in your home can make the space cosier, while touches such as an adjustable bed in the bedroom can ensure your sleep needs are met.
