We all want a happy healthy home.

When life stresses you out, the last thing you want is for your home to create even more tension.

Turn your place into a welcoming oasis with just a few, simple interior design strategies that will calm you and leave you breathing easier.

Create Maximum Light

The more windows, the brighter the room. And the brighter the room, the better your mood!

If you can’t adorn your home with more windows, try artificial light. It will help reduce depression, agitation, and seasonal affective disorder. Also, exposure to sunlight, on your deck or through a window, provides vitamin D, prevents bone loss and reduces the risk of heart disease.

An added bonus of many windows is the ability to see outside. People have a built-in inclination to seek out nature. Viewing nature helps minimize anger and stress and boosts pleasant feelings. If your home’s design can’t offer a view, bring nature inside with plants, flowers, and an aquarium.

Add Plants

Speaking of plants, caring for them releases chemicals in your brain that cause happiness, making you more relaxed.

Plants are known to help memory and attention span, and improve concentration.

Using plants in your interior design also benefits your physical health. The greenery purifies the air by removing toxins and assists us with our breathing. Plants will reduce fatigue and lessen the chances of catching a bug.

Bring the outdoors into your design by first taking a good look at your living space. Walk around the rooms to see where plants will look the best.

Once you’ve decided where to put them, determine which plants will complement the rest of your design. Certain houseplants, such as a parlor palm or bird of paradise, are more popular and fare better in Minnesota than others so choose wisely.

Use Color

Color has long been known to affect our mental well-being, but adding or changing color in your home’s design takes some thought. You’ll need to know how you and anyone who lives with you react to certain colors.

For instance, warm colors like red, orange, and yellow can give you warm fuzzies, or they might make you angry or hostile. Cool colors like blue, green, and purple are often calming, but for some people these colors generate feelings of sadness or indifference.

Even if you rent and can’t change the color of the walls, you can still add pleasing hues to your design. Rugs, throw pillows, and paintings are just a few of the ways you can boost your mood just by walking in the front door.

Declutter

Picking up after yourself and others in your home helps keep it clutter-free, but less can be more when it comes to interior design, as well.

Decluttering gives you less to stress about, alleviating anxiety and depression. It can also help you sleep better and lessen allergens in your home.

You don’t have to go full minimalist with your design to reap the benefits.

● Add an interesting-looking trunk in the bedroom to store things in and enhance the room.
● Make sure any items on display are separated and easy to view.
● Clear your counters.
● Keep the number of throw pillows on the sofa to a minimum.
● Create lighter window treatments.

It will take some experimenting with these suggestions before you find the perfect interior design for your health and well-being. But once in place, you may look forward to going home at the end of the day even more than you already do!