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Interior designing tips for better mental health and wellbeing
Whether you prefer a minimalist or a maximalist approach to home design, the way you furnish your home, paint your walls and arrange your belongings can significantly impact your sense of security and well-being. Here are interior designing tips for better mental health and wellbeing
We've all experienced the feeling of heading home after a challenging day and it could be due to work emergencies that caused anxiety, a fight with a family member, losing an important game or the loss of a loved one but when we're shocked or upset, our instincts guide us to retreat to our personal spaces to unwind, recharge and seek spiritual or social protection. Our personal spaces at home play a significant role in many moments of our lives as these areas serve as the backdrop for numerous important and stressful periods hence, it's essential that they offer comfort, support, and positive emotional energy.
While so much of our life is beyond our control, our homes are places where we have total jurisdiction. Whether you prefer a minimalist or a maximalist approach to home design, the way you furnish your home, paint your walls, and arrange your belongings can significantly impact your sense of security and well-being.
Children's behaviour makes this evident as they create nests in their bedrooms, filling them with things they love, to personalise their space while keeping it safe from the influence of parents or siblings. A "keep out of my room" sign is not an act of rebellion but an attempt to create a private haven.
In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Keith Menon, architect and Co-Founder of Spiro Spero explained how to maintain positive mental health and well-being and suggested tips for enhancing your home and office space to promote positive mental health and well-being:
1. SUNLIGHT LIGHTENS YOUR MOOD – DESIGNING ROOMS WITH LIGHT
For Homes
If you live in a city, you’re probably frequenting an office and you have a place to call home. If most of your time is spent in these two spaces, you need to understand the influence the space has on your mood and stress levels. Stress is the root cause of most issues plaguing young and old alike.
- Sunlight and a little plant: We all don’t get equal amount of sunlight pouring in through the windows. But whatever sunlight comes your way, maximise it. If you can put a mirror there, maybe a small plant in front of it - a simple money plant would do, if other plant’s are a stress. Sunlight is essential for human cells to perform in a healthy manner. Soaking in some sunlight between 8 to 10 am when the UV index is low really impacts the functioning of your body, mentally as well as physically. Watching a live plant grow stimulates your mind towards positivity, growth, patience and connects you a little to nature.
2. EXPANDING YOUR HOME’S SPACIOUSNESS CAN EXPAND YOUR SPIRIT
- LITTLE CHANGES: From time to time, change something. Move a piece of furniture somewhere else. Add another frame, or replace the image in an old one. Paint something different. Get a friend to help. Amazon & Flipkart have a host of cheap hacks from sofa covers, rugs, stick on wall coverings for kitchen - all at reasonable pricing. Maybe one little thing a month and soon you’ll see how this affects all aspects of your life positively and takes away a lot of stress from your head.
- FEEL AT HOME: Cars, Bikes, Homes, Office Desks are all vessels that when you occupy, you breathe soul into. So they reflect you. You need to modify things to first work for you. And then work on the aesthetics. We tend to not work on rental homes even slightly because we don’t have a sense of ownership. Wherever you live, you need to first feel like it’s home. You’re probably not going to go change the floor and redo the kitchen - but sometimes fixing little things like broken knobs and rusted corners is rewarding for both, the house and you.
- OFFICES: You may be a messy desk person or a stickler for perfectly placed things - either way, personalise your desk. Put up photos, notes, quotes. Get a cushion for your chair if it’s uncomfortable. Keep a sweater if it’s too cold, get a dustbin if you don’t have one. Always expecting someone else to sort your life out isn’t going to translate to a stress-free work environment.
Bringing his expertise to the same, Kunal Sharma, Founder and CEO of Flipspaces, suggested how to enhance the atmosphere and mood of your home and office space through minimal changes:
- Open Floor Plans
After spending a good amount of time working by themselves remotely, employees returning to the office need to interact with their peers and feel the collective energy in the offices they work in. Open floor plans allow you to eliminate walls and physical barriers between your employees.
Open office designs facilitate seamless collaboration between your employees as they can see each other while working at their workstations. It prevents them from being locked in their cubicles and creates a vibrant work environment.
- Green Or Living Walls
This can be treated as an extension of biophilic design, but it is much more prevalent in office designs. Green walls or living walls are walls that are wholly or partly covered by vegetation. Depending on the maintenance you can afford, you can choose to have natural or artificial vegetation on your office walls. Such designs instill a sense of freshness and give an exotic look to your office.
- Sustainable Design
Sustainable commercial designs have a direct impact on the health of your employees. When you replace toxic materials and articles with more sustainable and greener alternatives, it improves the physical well-being of your employees. This reduces absenteeism and makes your team members attend the office regularly.
A sustainable workspace is designed to minimize waste, conserve energy and minimise carbon footprint to safeguard the environment. Interior designers and architects actively develop sustainable designs based on their clients’ requirements without affecting the desired outcome.
Sustainable commercial designs are made up of six major elements – energy, air, light, water, materials and furniture.
