In the fourth of our articles this month looking at the different design options you can try to improve your home at different price points, we suggest some tips and furnishings which cost a bit but are worth it! See what you think.
- You can improve the acoustic situation in your home by making sure that there are enough soft surfaces in place to muffle echoes. Echoing makes us tense. It can keep us from talking, for example. If you have a room with bare floors and only hard surface (not upholstered) furniture in it, for example, you may be able to rotate a rug or curtains (no natural light blockers, please) or upholstered/cushioned furniture into the space without spending any money at all and eliminate echoes. If all of your “soft stuff” is already in use elsewhere, careful purchases can help eliminate echoing issues.
- Plants cost money and they require upkeep over time. The plants that boost our wellbeing, mood, and cognitive performance, all while mentally refreshing our tired heads, are green and leafy and may be almost free. You can choose to spend more for plants, but you can also choose to spend less. Only one or two plants should be added to any one room or interior view because more can increase visual clutter to uncomfortable levels. Lifelike artificial plants pack the same psychological wallop as real ones and if you just can’t keep a plant alive are a good investment—just remember to dust them periodically.
- When we’re in a space that features natural materials, we’re more comfortable. This means soft, flannel-like cottons and wools are better options for pillow covers and throws than artificial fibres; investing in the “real” stuff is, from a psychological perspective, money well spent. Similarly, if you’re redoing your floors, or even thinking of redoing your floors, installing hardwoods can pay off psychologically as seeing wood grain is a powerful de-stressor. In any room, wood grain should cover less than half of the surfaces—when more wood is used its return diminishes.
- If you’ll be re-upholstering or re-wallpapering or adding a rug keep in mind that curving lines relax us and straight ones bring thoughts of action and efficiency to mind. Add a paisley type rug to your bedroom and a geometric one to your laundry room.
Calming design, using curls, plant life, soft tones.
- If the furniture in your home, particularly, in spaces for mingling and hanging out with others, doesn’t have enough seats in it (for the size of gathering you expect to have) so that everyone can sit on a chair whose legs are about the same length (see above) investing in some furniture, so all heads are about the same height above the floor is a good idea. Tuck those floor pillows away out of sight or use them on those seats with legs if they’re the right size for that.
The furniture is a bit dark here, but the soft blankets, rugs, natural light is good. Note if you’re an introvert this is a bit “open plan” so creating a smaller “nook” for them by dividing up the space with a screen or bookcase is good. Note the chair heights are all the same which is good for positive interactions as a family or with friends.
- Extraverts love open plan layouts, but introverts do not. They really do not. If you are an introvert and find yourself, somehow, living in an open plan home, however you came to be there, you should consider putting up dividers/walls of some sort to create separate zones in your home, for cooking, for eating, for socializing, for working, etc. Depending on your “architectural situation” these dividers might be true walls, that reach from the floor to the ceiling or freestanding screens, or tall bookshelves or something else. If you’re an introvert sharing with an extravert, focus on screening off the areas where you will work and relax.
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