‘Home is where the heart is’, one of the most proverbs of modern culture, and which simply translates into your home will always be the place where you hold the greatest affection and feel the most comfortable, no matter where in the world you are. In the modern world we live in, the meaning behind this proverb has increased in emphasis, as we are always are looking for small pieces of comfort as we rush about.
While this proverb has increased in importance, the Danish have been perfecting the feeling of comfort and deepest affection for the home for many generations. Often accredited as one of the happiest countries in the world, it is heavily believed this is down the sense of Hygge. Hygge is one of the defining features of Danish culture and emphasises the importance of what makes you feel comfortable in the home.
With the increased awareness of mental health today, our wellbeing has become one of the most important things to be aware of in our daily lives. With watching your wellbeing, the feeling of ‘Hygge’ is worth considering in your home and understand how your home makes you feel.
If you believe your home needs to change, this piece is for you and going to give you an insight on how you can transform your home into a wellbeing haven. A haven which makes you comfortable and a place where you can focus on yourself. In doing so we are going to focus on 4 key areas.
1. Colour
For the more interior-design savvy people amongst us will probably be more up to date with the current trend of colours in homes, for the rest of us who may be out of a loop, choosing the right colour is a challenging prospect.
The colour of your house is one of the important elements of your home and defining features in making it the most comfortable it can be. The colours you decide are based on the space, the purpose of the room, size, alongside your taste. You must consider all these factors when choosing the right set of colours for the home and the feeling you want to give off. If you are trying to give out a warmer feeling to a room, you should approach warm natural colours that will exude positive energy, if you trying to give a calmer nature to the room, softer and cooler colours can help you relax.
How you feel in a room can often stem from the colour of the room.
2. Natural Light
Moving nicely on from colour, natural light in the home is such an important factor. Often in our lives, we are surrounded by artificial blue light either in the office, light from our phones or on a train. The amount of natural light we see on a day to day basis can translate into levels of anxiety and has been proven that the more natural light we see can relieve levels of anxiety and have an overall positive impact on our wellbeing. This is not to say you need to start cutting holes and spending thousands on new windows, there are several simple ways of maximising natural light in the home.
Many of us today are installing home offices as working from home is becoming more common in modern working practices. Although you will be predominantly placing yourself in front of a computer for the day, this is also your chance to increase the amount of natural light you can get by simply re-arranging the layout of the room. One of the easiest ways is to move your desk next in-front of or next to the window or move a chair next to the window, a chair which may be your favourite to sit in when you are reading a book or the paper.
A niche but clever way of bringing in more natural light into your home is to install mirrors where natural light comes in. This is not a way of trying to blind people in the room or a way of increasing your vanity, but by installing mirrors natural light we are equally balanced throughout and fill the room, lighting up the room more than just from one source.
3. The Garden
The garden is overlooked from the role of aiding our wellbeing, but it can be so influential in improving your quality of life. Several studies have proven that the practice of gardening is extremely beneficial in decreasing levels of anxiety, but the overall atmosphere of your garden is often overlooked. We believe your garden should be seen an extra room and pay an equal amount of attention as the interior of the house.
Transforming your garden into a wellbeing haven does not need to be a complicated project which requires months and months of work, and with the wide abundance of professional help and garden clearance services available, it is far easier than you think.
The ultimate goal you want to achieve in your garden is to de-clutter as much as possible, utilise all the space which may be unnecessarily taken up. Through taking down certain plants to increase the amount of sunlight your garden gets during the day to creating a place where you can relax and have some time yourself, transforming your garden does not need to be a complex project, often the more simple the better. Think of your garden as your outside living space, create a garden which makes you feel comfortable in but also one which you can enjoy with friends and family.
4. The Bedroom
Arguably the most important room in your house for relaxation and this reason is going to be where this article ends.
A good night’s sleep is vital in relieving stress and our mental health in general. With this is in mind, your bedroom needs to be designed to maximise your levels of relaxation and levels of serenity in the room. This is where you need to consider what makes you relaxed, what makes you feel comfortable, obviously soft comfy pillows or blankets will, but you must think on a wider basis, consider the atmosphere of the room. Take into consideration the previous two points this piece has covered, lighting and the colour of the room are two extremely important factors that can set the tone for the feel of the room, for example, calmer softer colours are more sorted to a bedroom then a warmer more vibrant colour. Furthermore, you need the correct lighting in the rooms both natural and artificial, duller corner or wall lights will increase the levels of relaxation in the room and promote you to go to sleep, alongside blinds or shutters which let some light in the morning. There a combination of routes which can follow to maximise the most out of your bedroom. Away from the interior of the room and on a final point, there are several studies which promote banning the phone/ laptop and tablet from the bedroom argue by having these in the room the quality of sleep is worse when these are present.
