Ever wondered how professional interior designers approach wellbeing to create a healthy home for their clients?
We’ve been working on some dream design projects (both in Oz and the UK) over the past year and have collaborated with some truly inspirational and innovative wellness brands too. We wanted to share with you how we’ve approached some of these interior design projects and what it really means to have a healthy home.
If you’ve decided to follow us on our journey so far, it’s probably because you’re super invested in improving or maintaining your overall health, and you’ve been looking for new ways to apply those principles to your home – which is great! You’re our kind of person!
We’ve always been interested in our health too and have made it our mission to discover the many connections between where we live and our total wellbeing. These connections have already benefited us and our clients greatly and we believe it can benefit you too.
1. the healthy home connection
“There’s no place like home” – The Wizard of Oz
As you’ve probably caught on by now, our process and design ethics are centred around creating holistic spaces. That means that we apply our key criteria to make sure all of our projects encourage healthy and sustainable living throughout the day and night. From how materials are produced all the way through to the impact a space has on the person living in it, whether that be emotionally or physically – we consider absolutely everything.
It’s a well-known fact that our fuelling and recovery take place where we live. As Dorothy rightly said (many times), “there’s no place like home” – and there really isn’t.
With that in mind, your home should be optimised for peak performance, whether you’re eating, working, doing chores, socialising, relaxing or sleeping. It’s why we personalise our designs to enhance emotional and physical wellbeing, from heated floorboards that keep you grounded on crisp days to aromatherapy in your shower to help you de-stress.
Our advice: Think about how you feel in each area of your home. Does it suit your lifestyle? What’s working and what isn’t?
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2. thoughtful materials
We’ve known for a long time now that toxic elements in our home can really make us sick. As a result, we’re always looking for natural, non-toxic choices that have a low impact on the planet and human health. It’s a well-known fact that many household paints, flooring and carpets contain VOCs (volatile organic compounds) that can cause some seriously harmful side effects.
Our advice: do your research on the products, materials and finishes in your home. Are there areas of your home that negatively affect your mood, wellbeing, energy and focus?
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3. lighting the way
Never underestimate the power of light in your home for boosting health. Sounds simple, but light has the ability to change our mood as well as our perception of space. It affects our hormones, circadian rhythm, cognition and immune system, so it’s worth paying extra attention to how natural and artificial light works in your home. When designing a room, we always focus on letting natural light in and encourage the flow of light from day to night.
Our advice: Look at how and where the natural light falls in your home throughout the day. Are you making the most of each kind of light to suit how you use that space?
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The effects of blue light on your wellbeingz
4. connecting to nature
Humans come from nature, and biophilic interior design helps us to reconnect with it. By bringing natural elements into our home we reduce the negative impact of artificial elements in our lives. Natural materials, colours and plants have been proven time and time again to bring many health benefits, such as reducing our stress levels. In our design projects, we go much further than simply introducing plants to our interiors. We also focus on views outside, especially towards nature, and always seek out plant-based fibres such as hemp or linen.
Our advice: Consider what inspires you in nature. How does it make you feel and what can you do to emulate that in your home?
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5. calm your space, calm your mind
“Enjoy the peace of nature and declutter your inner world” – Amit Ray
It’s so important to remember that it’s not just what you buy that matters in your interior, but also how you arrange and display it to maximise your joy at home. Organising our belongings and making order out of chaos is so fundamental to improving our mental wellbeing. Even the process of decluttering can have a therapeutic effect. Sprucing up your home can help to remove visual distractions and therefore quieten the noise in a busy life. This in turn allows us to enjoy the spaces we live in more freely.
Starting the process of decluttering can be emotionally taxing but if you persevere through it you will make your home an instantly calmer space (which consequently creates a calm mind too). For example, when we design, we’re always thinking of new ways to include well-designed storage which helps to hide visually unappealing objects and free up space to display the objects our clients truly love to see.
Our advice: Look at what you have on display at home. How does it make you feel? Do you feel calm, energised, anxious or depleted? What can you remove or hide from view?
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Celebrate minimalism & improve your wellbeing
Would you like to know more insider tips on how to use interior design to improve your wellbeing? We have some exciting courses coming up in 2021! Email us and we’ll send you more information on dates and topics: hello@consciouscribs.com
