How To Decorate Your Home To Improve Your Mental Health
I want you to imagine walking into your home and being in a room that based on the smell, decorations, furniture pieces, and lighting reduces your stress and improves your mood.
- Did you know that adding certain colors to your home can impact your mood?
- Did you know that a messy room compared to a clean room can shift your level of stress?
Below are key ways that you can begin to make your home a space aimed at supporting your mental health.
How Lighting In Your Home Impacts Mental Health.
Vitamin D comes from the sun and the sun has a wonderful impact on mental health. The impact is seen in improving your sleep cycle, and regulating your blood pressure, and immune system.
One helpful tip is to increase the hours and amount of sunlight coming into your home. You can begin by opening the blinds, changing out the curtains to ones that are lighter and allow more light lines, and increasing the time that you spend in front of the light.
I personally love to read or work right next to the window. This gives me front seats to the sun. Read more on vitamin D and mental health here and here.
Cleaning Your Home Can Improve Your Mental Health
Did you know that cleaning your home can be considered a form of exercise?
I read this interesting study recently that looked at how endorphins can be released from vigorous cleaning. What is really neat about this is by mopping your house, cleaning the baseboards, or doing loads of laundry you can release endorphins.
Endorphins are produced to help reduce depression, stress, and anxiety. They increase pleasure and reduce pain. They are also known to improve mood and increase your self-esteem.
So, get your cleaning bucket and start pumping out those endorphins. Read more on endorphins here.
Scent In Your Home Can Improve Your Mental Health
Have you watched Modern Family?
There is this neat episode where Jay opens his freezer, and the smell of the food reminds him of his childhood. He ends up shedding a few tears. That’s the power of smell. Research shows that certain smells can take a person back to situations and experiences in their life. This can alter one’s mood. For Jay, in the show, it altered his mood.
In your home, consider what scent brings you calmness. Let’s say that the scent is Lavender. Try to add a lavender candle or oil diffuser to your bedroom. For the next 7 days evaluate how your sleep improves due to the calming smell of lavender.
Artwork and Décor Can Improve Your Mood
I have these two giant pictures hanging in my office. They say, “Today is a good day for a good day”.
They are written in simple cursive blank ink on a white and gold canvas. The artwork reminds me of the importance of slowing down and appreciating the small things. The words nudge me to repeat the affirmation and thus shift my mindset to a positive one. The softness of the colors brings me balance.
In your home start with one room. Perhaps that sitting room or your office space. Let’s say that you pick the sitting room. Think about what artwork and décor you could add in that would provide a positive impact on your mental health.
This may include adding artwork that reminds you of special moments in your life or a weighted blanket that rests on your comfy reading chair.
Colors In Your Home Can Improve Your Mental Health
Are you familiar with psychology and colors?
Blue is known to be a color that fosters hope and peace. Green is typically connected to calmness and nature. Yellow has a brightness to it that connects to joy.
Walk through your home and take inventory of the colors. What colors do you on the bed? What colors do you see on the walls? What colors do you on the small items of décor?
Start small with one room in the house. Try to pick a few colors that can theme the room. For instance, you can bring some green into your home office to cultivate growth and freshness. Or you could go with orange to spark a feeling of kindness and warmth in the room.
Organize Your Home To Improve Your Mental Health
How do you feel when you walk into a perfectly clean hotel room?
When I ask people this question, they typically tell me that they feel a lot better compared to a messy room. I assume you would answer in a similar way.
Walking into a messy room can increase cortisol levels. This is your stress hormone. From this point, you can begin to feel a bit more stressed and overwhelmed. From this point, you may even be to procrastinate due to seeing just how much you have to clean.
The key item I want to share with you is that keeping a clean home can have a positive impact on your wellness.
You can start by creating a to-do list aimed to give you one to two cleaning tasks. Work your way to addressing the mess and slowly bringing organization to your home.
