Learning Spaces – 2
One of the first questions that gets asked about the design on a physical learning space is what colours the walls and ceiling should be painted. Matte (not glossy) surfaces are generally the best...
Add Vertical Nature
You may have seen Vertical Gardens, beautiful, stunning nature landscapes of greenery, plants, flowers, mini trees and more. There is increasing evidence that these have many positive effects on us, not just reducing VOCs....
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...
Live near Greenspace – If you can!
The more greenspace we are surrounded by, the happier we are. Kwon and colleagues report that “By measuring the urban green space score (UGS) from high-resolution satellite imagery of 90 global cities covering 179,168...
Design and Physical Health
Design can support physical health in more than the expected ways. Use of safe materials, ones that don’t off gas toxins, for example, is an obvious design-based route to physical health. Design can make...
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...
Green Buildings are Worth More! – “Science News”
So yes, the news we’ve all been waiting for! Things we knew anyway, that green spaces, green and environmental features are better not just for the environment, but also make us better creative and...
Value of Time in Nature – “Science News”
New research shows that the more time we spend in nature the more generous we are, it creates a sense of transcendence. Castelo lead a team that confirmed previous findings and determined via lab...
Scents Meet Virtual Reality for Wellbeing – “Science News”
Virtual Reality has taken a turn for the better by incorporating smell! There is a new report which uses views and smells to augment the virtual reality to create calm spaces in nature for...
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...
Fixing the Home Office – Before or After You Move!
Satisfaction If you can’t do what you consider a good job at your job in your home office, you’ll be miserable. So what do you need to do? The same self-identity mentioned in the...
Post-COVID Home Design
The single most important message, design-wise, we can draw from our experiences during the pandemic related lockdowns is that we need to make sure our homes, going forward, provide us with options as to...
Why ADHD Children Need Green Space – “Science News”
Research by Thygesen and colleagues indicates that spending a little extra to provide greater access to green spaces for children may be money well spent. The Thygesen-lead team reports that when they reviewed data...
Water Features
Now, for the water element. If a river or stream or pond or lake or ocean borders your property, great. Make sure people in your yard or garden have an unobstructed view of it. ...
Get Ready for Mingling!
Not being able to be in the same place at the same time with friends and family during the pandemic has made us even more interested in doing just that. Humans are a social...
Importance of Greenery during COVID – Biophilic Design does it Again!
In another of our science-based research short reports we bring you this lovely study. Dzhambov and teammates probed links between the presence of indoor and outdoor greenery and the wellbeing of people during the...
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,...
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....
Value of Green Spaces
A paper published in the Journal of Happiness Studies confirms the value of regularly spending time outdoors (which indicates how important that we have ready access to outdoor areas near our homes, etc.): “Previous academic studies...
Water Magic
Intentionally adding water to a space is a good idea, as long as that water stays where it belongs—rogue water from a broken pipe is a psychologically debilitating stressor. Looking at water that’s gently...
Plants a Plus
Adding a green leafy plant to any sort of space in which you find yourself is a good idea. Research has directly linked looking at green leafy plants to: Lower stress levels Mental refreshment...
Restaurant Plants
Yildirim and colleagues found that people have a positive response to plants in restaurants and it is logical to extend their findings to other situations in which people may be eating. The researchers found...
How to prevent mental exhaustion and distraction when Working from home?
Whether you’re doing mental or physical work, the space you are in should come complete with lots of natural light. Natural light is good for our mood and that has benefits for how good...
Bake-Off a Winner!
Are you following The Great British Bake-Off? If you are, that’s great because Bake-Off’s sets are doing all sorts of good things from an environmental psych perspective. The Bake-Off happens in a tent, which...
Biophilic Design Inspiration
What is Biophilic Design and why should we know about it? Biophilic design makes us feel comfortable and relaxed in a way that nothing else does because it recognises and respects the conditions that...
Biophilic design is growing!
Biophilic design uses the same design principles indoors that we’d find in an outdoor space where we feel very comfortable. In a workplace design study utilising biophilic design elements such as plants, water (a...
Indoor plants
Indoor plants are a magic elixir, poised to make our lives better, as long as we remember to water them (or dust them if they’re good fakes). Research shows that being around plants boost...
English