Do you want to create a health home? Do you ever think about how much time you spend at home? Do you think about how the place where you spend a lot of your time might affect your health?
Not only is buying or redesigning a house a financial investment, but it is also an emotional one. This one building provides safety, growth, and comfort. Could the design of our homes have an impact on our health?
We not only believe that a home should be liveable, beautiful, and kind to the environment, but we also think it should be healthy for its occupants. In this article, we will share with you seven simple principles that we use when we design houses. These principles can contribute to a home that is healthy for its occupants.
Want to Create a Healthy Home? Consider These 6 Areas
1. Organization
The organization goes through your entire house, but they focus on your kitchen and bedroom because that is where you eat and sleep. These are two of the most important things that have a direct impact on your wellbeing.
“Mis en plaz” is a French saying that means “everything in place”. This also applies to every room in your home, not just the kitchen. Having everything prepped, stocked, and organized in each room can make a big difference.
If you don’t have enough food in your fridge, or if the food you do have is barely eaten, you’re probably constantly looking for the same kitchen tool because it doesn’t have a home yet. This can impact your ability to cook because things are difficult to find and it’s dark and stuffy in your kitchen.
When your kitchen is organized, it’s easier to find what you need and to cook efficiently. This also makes your kitchen feel more inviting and pleasant to be in. This design makes everything more accessible, easy to find, and clean up, which makes the experience more enjoyable overall by removing opportunities for frustration.
Organizing your kitchen in a way that sets you up for success in cooking healthy meals is key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Having all of the necessary ingredients and tools on hand will make it that much easier to prepare healthy meals, and help you avoid last-minute unhealthy choices.
If you are trying to sleep in a bedroom that is cluttered with clothes, unfolded laundry, and shoes, it can be difficult to relax and fall asleep. To make your bedroom feel like a retreat, keep it tidy and uncluttered.
2. Quality and Impact of What You Own
There are some things where the quality really makes a difference in how well it works or what it is used for.
If you’re tossing and turning all night, it may be time to upgrade your mattress to a higher quality. I would definitely recommend Avocado Mattress – the materials it is made from are sustainable and it’s a great product!
The same goes for things in the kitchen. What tools do you find yourself using most often that could use an upgrade? What are some things you can invest in to make your life easier?
When considering investment pieces, most of us cannot afford to purchase a bunch of new, expensive items all at once. For example, the Vitamix is a high-speed blender that’s an expensive piece but so worth it!
Make a list of things that would improve your daily life and prioritize them based on how much they would improve your life. Start with the things that would have the biggest impact and work your way down the list.
Materials such as wood, stone and fabric can all contribute to the ambience of a living space. How the materials for our homes are sourced and how they are made can play an important role in how we feel about our home and its consequences on the planet.
Consider the provenance of a material before choosing it. Was it ethically produced, what is its carbon footprint? We are ultimately the sum of our choices. When making decisions for your home, try to make the best choices possible.
3. Create a Vibe
This is the fun part–something that can really influence your space, but not enough people really take the time to explore.
You want to create an atmosphere in your home that makes you feel the energy you want, whether that is cozy, airy, relaxing, or uplifting.
The way we perceive physical space can be influenced by color alone from a psychological perspective. For example, did you know that blue-painted walls or blue elements in a room can actually promote feelings of tranquility and relaxation? What about the color yellow which can make people feel happier or more alert?
Your surroundings have a big impact on your mood and energy levels. Creating a space that is aligned with your goals and makes you happy is important for your well-being.
Natural Lighting
If your home gets a lot of natural light, take advantage of it! Natural light is more peaceful and economical than having lights on all day. We turn off all the blue lights and switch to beeswax candles when it gets dark. We can also turn on salt lamps that give off a warm amber color, which is more relaxing.
Being exposed to natural light makes us more in tune with our natural body rhythms and helps us to better tell time. There is a correlation between low light exposure and health and wellbeing. Let’s use an airport analogy (why not). What is the difference in how you feel at Luton airport, which has few openings to the outside and little natural light, compared to Stansted airport, which is open on all sides and has a skylight? So, even though the daylight doesn’t make the stress of security go away, it’s probably more relaxing to walk through the well-lit space at Stansted, which was designed by Foster and partners. The reason why more architects book flights from Stansted is because (made-up fact).
A general guideline is to place “service” areas like bathrooms, storage, utility rooms, etc. closer to the edges of the building plan to ensure that the living spaces get the best natural lighting.
Plants and Nature Elements
Not only do plants improve air quality, but they also make you feel closer to nature, which can be calming, and make your home more cozy. We fill our home with plants because we love nature, and we want to change the energy in the room.
The air we breathe is essential for our health and wellbeing. Up to 50% more pollutants are ingested inside homes than outside, so the materials we use in our homes and how we ventilate them can have a big impact on the quality of the air we breathe every day.
Prioritise natural ventilation to allow healthy movement of air. This means ensuring you have a way to regulate air flow by opening windows and vents. This may sound obvious, but think of some of the modern glass spaces you may have seen in magazines. These spaces seem to offer little in the way of opening windows.
Scent
There are a few things you can do to make your home smell nicer and healthier at the same time. We choose to use essential oils instead of candles or strong scents like perfumes because they can trigger headaches for some people. Most candles contain chemicals that can be irritating to our health over time, so it’s better to choose a simple essential oil blend, which is also more economical.
Coziness
Get cozy with a few fluffy blankets, your favorite pillows, a weighted blanket, or a comfy rug. There are so many different things that people think of when they think of the word “cozy.” Adding more of those things to your home can help you feel more relaxed and comfortable. This might help you relax at night or follow a stress-reducing practice.
Your spatial surroundings contribute to your sense of wellbeing. We’re not just talking about more space, but better designed space. A good living space should have a combination of tall ceilings and cosy spaces. It’s the idea that people need safe, comfortable places to retreat to, as well as opportunities to see what’s going on around them. This text is discussing the idea that people need both safe places to retreat to, as well as opportunities to see what is happening around them.
This means that, with clever design, most houses can have a combination of living and dining areas, no matter how much space is available. Making one part of the house more generous can make the whole house feel bigger.
4. Art and Decor
The way our surroundings look – from the pictures on our walls to the colors we choose for our home – can have a big impact on how we feel. Creating a space that feels joyful and peaceful can help us to relax and recharge.
In 1942, art therapy was created as a way for people to express emotions without using words. This form of therapy has been shown to be effective in helping people heal from trauma, reduce stress and anxiety, and cope with depression.
Hanging artwork in your home that makes you happy can help remind you of your wellness vision and health goals.
You can make your environment more pleasant to be in and align its energy to match yours.
5. Sound
Probably the most underrated of the seven. The acoustics in most buildings are carefully designed and considered, but not in homes. Background and environmental noise can be harmful to your health and can prevent you from sleeping well at night. Your home’s design can help reduce or eliminate distractions.
Think about surfaces that can help absorb sound to create a more relaxing atmosphere. This effect can be achieved with a variety of household items such as curtains, rugs, bedding, and sofas. It can also be built into the architecture of a room with fabric panels or perforated/textured surfaces on the ceiling.
We designed rooms specifically for music therapy when working with the charity Nordoff Robbins. We used curved walls and walls that were not parallel to create an interesting space. these principles of softer and non-parallel surfaces can be applied to good effect, like the sloped ceiling panels in our Vault House dining room.
6. View
The view from your living space can make a big difference in your daily happiness, and no matter what type of home you live in or where it is, there are ways to improve the view and outlook from your home.
The science that supports the beauty of nature is known as ‘scenic-ness’. A study that was conducted in the 20th century in the US showed that patients in the hospital recovered much quicker if they had a view of a tree outside of their window. It is beneficial to prioritize nature, whether it is a large tree or a small potted plant, because it can improve your view.
There are some simple things you can do inside your home to take advantage of and enjoy an outside view. For example, you can use timber or sheets of plywood to line the inside of your window frame, like many architects do.
If you use slimmer window frames, it will make the window opening appear larger and the view will be improved. We’ve seen it on many of the houses we’ve worked on: we kept the same window opening and replaced the existing window with a new, thinner-framed one. It is always surprising how much of an impact a small change can make, especially when it comes to saving money that would be spent on making a larger structural change.
Summary
More than 30% of people would be willing to pay more for a property that would improve their wellbeing, according to the UK Green Building Council. We have hopefully helped you focus on design principles to use when developing your own home designs.
We all know the old saying, “a healthy mind in a healthy body.” But we have a different version: “a healthy mind in a healthy home.”
Leave a Reply