Interior Design Tips That Can Reduce Stress

Your surroundings can directly impact your mood, but did you know that they can affect stress too? How you design your home can either increase or reduce stress. This article will go over interior design tips that can reduce stress and choices that may be contributing directly to your stress.

Lighting: Dim or Bright?

Lighting can have a direct impact on our nervous system. While it may seem counterintuitive, dimmer lighting can have a more relaxing effect. We usually think of light as energizing, but this only counts when we’re out in sunlight. While the sun’s rays do help our bodies produce vitamin D, this doesn’t apply to artificial light.

Due to our circadian rhythm, exposure to bright light tells our adrenal glands to produce cortisol, the hormone that makes us alert. People who are consistently stressed already have higher cortisol levels. Any unnecessary addition to that hormone level can send our nervous system into fight or flight. If you can, throw on a pair of sunglasses or turn on a mood lamp instead of an overhead light.

Calming Colors

Have you ever stopped to look at brand logos and their different colors? If you have, you may have noticed some striking similarities. For instance, many fast-food brands use the colors red and yellow. These colors affect the brain’s hunger signals. The same concept works for other colors and emotions.

Over-saturated colors like neon and bright pastels can have the opposite of a calming effect. Remember that we only see color due to light; bright colors produce more vibrant lighting. Conversely, less saturated and cooler tones can create a dimmer and more soothing environment.

Clutter and Chaos

Organizing your living space is one of the best interior design tips to reduce stress. Mental health and cleaning are clearly connected. A cluttered space that is difficult to navigate or relax in is unpleasant to our senses.

Regardless of how you feel about minimalism as the preferred aesthetic, we all need to arrange our spaces carefully and ask ourselves whether we’re creating a relaxing environment. You can prefer an eclectic or maximalist aesthetic and still organize your home in a stress-reducing way.

Regardless of your preferred aesthetic, we should all take a moment to ask ourselves whether our homes are the safe havens they’re supposed to be.

Photo – Maksim Goncharenok