In the second article on designing the space to live the life you planned, we look at how you can change your home or office which will cost very little.
- Your house or office will smell like something. It is inevitable. Our world creates odours and our noses process them, regardless of whether they’re of cookies or compost. For very little money, you can dramatically change your life by lightly scenting areas in your home or office in ways that align with what you intend to do there. The smells of lavender and orange are relaxing, for example, as discussed in the first article this month (titled: FREE!). You can add lavender and orange smells to your home, for instance, in all sorts of ways, through actual lavender and oranges or scent diffusers of varying costs, whatever works best for you. Read the linked to article for other science-based scenting suggestions.
- You have to buy replacement light bulbs from time to time, so making sure that you have the right mix of colours doesn’t boost outlays. The colour of light bulbs is “warm” or “cool” and whether a bulb is warm or cool is marked on its package. Buy bulbs made with clear glass surfaces, those made with tinted glass, if used inside, will add stress not bliss to your life. Warm bulbs are best for mingling, relaxing, and thinking creatively, particularly when fewer lights are turned on and those warmer bulbs are placed in tabletop or floor lamps—in nature we tend to experience warmer light lower on the horizon or on the ground (thing campfires and dawns/sunsets), so warm light is most effective lower in our world. Cooler light, especially when spaces are more brightly lit (e.g., more lights are turned on), helps us energize and concentrate and is most powerful when overhead (or at least ceiling mounted).
- Just like you periodically need to buy light bulbs, every so often you need to change the filter in your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. Don’t let your filter become vintage, keep it perky and fresh. Research consistently shows that our mental and physical performance (and health) improve when ventilation systems are doing their best work.
- Our brains get tired. When we spend time focusing, whether we’re trying to solve a puzzle, resolve a challenge at work, or to keep our teenage children from doing another silly thing, our stocks of mental energy are depleted. They can be restored in all sorts of different ways. For example, when we look at nature scenes (not dessert-y ones, however), our mental energy tanks are topped up. Creating a green oasis outside your home may require tremendous outlays of resources, however, particularly if you live midway up an inner-city apartment tower. Adding a plant (discussed below) or a tabletop fountain or a fish tank (whose price will vary dramatically, depending on your choices) will also help restore cognitively. There are also really low-cost ways to mentally restore yourself. Go online. Print out images of meadows on lovely Spring days or local woodlands, whatever seems welcoming and positive to you—always act in accordance with copyright laws, however. Visit our sister company Journal of Biophilic Design for free downloads from their image library. If you have a printer that can produce colour images you can print out a couple of images and place them where you see them as you work, try to relax and restock, etc., for the cost of ink and paper.
- While you’re printing away, print images from your holidays and other events or locations that are personally meaningful to you. Keep visual clutter in check (remember to emulate one of the residential interiors designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, complexity wise) but make sure you have reminders about you of what you value about yourself (that’s why the image of you getting that diploma, winning that race, or doing volunteer work is so important) and the life you live (the nature pictures that you’re printing may keep your commitment to preserving the natural environment top-of-mind, for example).
- Whatever effect you’re trying to create in a space, make sure all of the sensory experiences there are consistent, if you don’t whatever you’ve planned might go dreadfully awry. For example, if you’re trying to create a relaxing bedroom, make sure the visuals, textures, scents, and soundscape are all relaxing.
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