What’s up and What’s down
We think a lot about the vertical surfaces (walls) in the spaces where we find ourselves, but not so much about the horizontal ones, the ceilings and floors. Science is clear about how they...
Probably worth it!
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...
More elbow grease than cash required!
Most of us need to paint from time to time and depending on the colours on your walls now, you might decide that repainting sooner is a better idea that waiting. Have a look...
Really Low Cost
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...
Colours and Taste
Regular readers of The Space Doctors will already be aware of the weird fact that the colours we surround ourselves with or look at while we’re eating affect how much we eat. for instance,...
Healthy Eating – Aided by Design!
The weather finally turning warm each year is a wonderful moment. It’s that time when we can leave our homes without the coats and sweaters that have encased us for months. Our moods near...
Designing your Yoga and Meditation Room
Yoga and meditation are routes that lots of us take to getting and staying mentally and physically healthy. Anyone who’s done either knows that there are some places where yoga or meditation seems to...
Eating out!
Restaurant Design Eating out is fun, and restaurants are often create places to spend time. Restaurants are also designed to encourage you to eat, particularly items that have great profit margins. Design significantly influences...
Colours Seen and Temperatures Perceived – “Science News”
The warmer the colour of the light around you, the warmer you feel. This might seem obvious, but studies continue to prove this the case, with significant results. So if it’s cold outside, maybe...
Designing to Boost Brain Performance – “Science News”
This is a tough time to be a human. Humankind needs to creatively resolve a multitude of challenges in the weeks and months and years ahead. That makes this a good time to apply...
Home Office, Home Design Challenge
Creating a home office where people work to their full potential, and have a reasonable level of wellbeing while doing so, is a lot more challenging than heading off to IKEA and bringing home...
Designing In Awe – Why and How
There may not be any broader mental state we could talk about in this issue, which focuses on designing to boost brain performance, than awe. The spaces and objects in our lives which are...
Helping Our Memory Work Better, Via Design
Design decisions can help our memories work just a little better. In this article, we’ll cover how design can support the memories of those of us with regular old brains, specific issues raised by...
Red = Risk, unless you’re in China
Can seeing Red negatively influence Stock Market Liquidity? This is an interesting piece of research. We have written before about how the colour red influences our choices. In this month’s round up of Science News,...
Blue is Best
We like blue birds, which makes sense because humans definitely have a soft spot in their hearts for blue places and things. In this month’s science round up, there was more evidence that a...
Where You Sleep…
This is SUCH an important list! Are the colours featured the not very saturated but relatively bright ones that humans find relaxing? Blues are good colors for bedrooms because we associate them with feeling...
Spaces for Mingling
How to design for Mingling We have had a whole issue on this in April 2021 so be sure to check that out. But one of the most important aspects of our lives as...
Colour Me Moral – “Science News”
Chan and Meng found that “it seems that people have been conditioned to see objects in white color as potentially ‘morally good’ and those in black color as potentially ‘bad.’ In the current inquiry,...
When the Red Light doesn’t Necessary mean Stop – “Science News”
Pontes and Williams’ recent research is useful whenever people are trying to encourage or discourage people from gambling, taking risks. The investigators share that “In general, people make more risk averse choices, gambling less...
Light Your Restaurant with Warm Bulbs – “Science News”
If you’re a regular reader of The Space Doctors, then you’ll know that light makes a difference to how you feel and how you react to a situation. Here we share some research that...
Outdoor Plants
First, let’s talk about outdoor plants. The research consistently shows that mental refreshment and lower stress levels flow most smoothly and certainly from looking at green leafy plants. If you live in a desert,...
Art and Light
Art and other decorative elements can be great additions to gardens, particularly ones that have an organic curvy form, since they’re relaxing to look at, but what’s designed to be seen but missed visually...
Making Space for Meditating
Meditation is, for many, a spiritual activity, and for all a relaxing, calming one—but no matter why people have decided to meditate, studies indicate that it has positive repercussions for their minds and bodies....
Design for Exercise – how to make the most out of your exercise
‘Tis the time for exercise. Nothing inspires a person to spring into action, body management-wise, faster than the prospect of leaving the house in a summer ensemble that’s snugger, in a debilitating sort of...
7 Ways to Boost Work performance at Home
You can use neuroscience to develop spaces where you work to your full potential and, more probably, achieve the goals you set yourself (including those New Year Resolutions you may have set a while...
Which Colours work best when working from home?
The first question that you probably have about spaces for work is what colour you should paint their walls. Science has answers to those questions. The colours that are best for surfaces, walls and...
Well Wood do you know? We all need Wood
Salvador, after completing a literature review, reports that “A literary review based study revealed wooden materials in interiors and objects to have a positive psychological influence in humans, with a pacifying and relaxing effect.” Salvador. 2019. “Human...
Not the Same Old Oval Office
Most offices, even if they’re used by well-known people are unseen by most of us. Titans of industry and even many public officials spend their “office hours” working in places that only their professional...
Fractal Patterns have remarkable benefits…
Robles and colleagues make it official—natural fractals really are a visual plus! They determined that adults and children as young as 3 respond to these fractal patterns in the same way. The Robles, Taylor,...
What you wear can influence what you eat…
Wang and colleagues link clothing worn and food selections made, it may be possible to apply their findings more generally, but whether this sort of extension is reasonable will need to be directly investigated. ...
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