If you missed the Wellness Expo at Celebrate St. James this past April, the presenters all talked about ways to keep folks healthy. My contribution to this day was expressing my feelings about our homes being a very important part of being well, staying well, and having a sense of peace and happiness in your life. Following is what I shared that day and what I would like to share with you:
- Our homes can enrich our lives or diminish them.
- Clutter – is the enemy of good design
- Good design makes you feel good!
Tips for a healthy home that make good sense
- Keep it dry
- Keep in clean
- Keep it safe
- Keep it well ventilated
- Keep it pest free
- Keep it contaminant free
- Keep your home maintained
- Keep it thermally controlled
A good and healthy design is environmentally friendly, but also
- Has a good space plan
- Has quality furnishings that are safe and long lasting
- Is pleasing to the eye, both yours and others
- Gives you peace of mind and control over your environment
- Make you “happy”!
Good design is not about how expensive your new look is, but about how comfortable, satisfied, and happy it makes “you feel”. Here are some suggestions for design projects that can make you feel better as well as make your home look better.
Create a place to keep your personal paperwork. Perhaps an underutilized room can be allocated as a home office as well as an occasional guest room. If that is not possible, an armoire that doubles as storage and computer space might be placed in a den or kitchen. Think about expanding your home by utilizing attics and basements as appropriate “living space” and make them cheerful and inviting.
Collect and display your prized possessions in a neat and orderly fashion. Bookshelves can do wonders for a space, especially if they have closed storage bottoms. They can be built or bought, painted or stained and generally take up little depth in a room while adding architectural interest.
Use your walls to express yourself. Artwork, needlepoint, photographs and other wall hangings can definitely accessorize and complete a room. Display talents as well – perhaps photography or watercolor. Frame them neatly and uniformly, especially if there is a large collection. Get them out of the closet (which frees up that space) and put them where you can see and enjoy them.
Put a little music in your life. Whether its audio equipment, from a single radio, to a vast array of new technology, to a piano that plays itself, your home can provide you and all who visit a sense of peace and harmony that only music creates.
Add some plants. You don’t have to have a green thumb. Good quality silks will do. Find some accessories that compliment your basic furniture. Lamps, pillows, throws, and candles – all add a psychological as well as physical warmth. Try a new area rug, either on a bare floor or on a plain carpet and see how the effect of pattern and color can immediately brighten a room.
Then perhaps a possible new paint color will emerge. There’s nothing like a coat of paint for a clean fresh look, especially since you are then forced to clean up the clutter before you put everything back.
Window treatments, custom, ready-made or made by you, if you are able, can add immeasurably to the finished look of a space. You can create warmth and still allow natural light to wash your room if you consider framing your windows rather than covering them.
Perhaps your home is a “work in progress” for lack of time, money or even interest. Perhaps it’s too big to be tackled all at once. Good intentions are a start – but a plan is the only way it will happen. Put it in place, set goals and stick with it. Sounds very much like a plan for ourselves as well, doesn’t it?
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