Last Updated on December 23, 2024 by Tanya Janse van Rensburg
Upholding mental wellness should be one of the top-most priorities in everyone’s mind.
Not only does mental health impact your psychological well-being, but it’s also inextricably linked with your physical health.
Because of this, it’s essential to ensure that your environment nurtures mental wellness.
While navigating the complexity and nuances of human emotion is a lifelong ordeal, the power to design a space that positively contributes to one’s mental state is within your grasp.
With a fair bit of effort, anyone can create a space that nurtures mental wellness.
A user’s perception of their room can be a defining factor of their overall mental wellness. If a room is messy and uncomfortable in some way, it can negatively affect a person’s cognition and mood.
Then, this begs the question: what should you do to design a space that’s good for your (and potentially other people’s) mental health?
We’ll answer that for you and flesh out some elements that can help you nurture mental wellness. Let’s look at mentally uplifting design elements you should know about!
Research consistently shows that the presence of plants and flowers in your living space can significantly improve your mental health.
These green elements not only reduce stress but also enhance your state of mind, creating a detoxified environment by removing CO2.
If your room lacks these green elements, fix that!
Prioritize getting a potted plant or cactus to spruce up your space. Even a little plant on your desk or at the corner of the room would do.
Many types of houseplants can help nurture mental wellness.
Some popular choices include aloe vera, money plant, air plant, echeveria, and anthurium. For a low-maintenance plant, you can also opt for succulents.
Of course, you’ll have to tend to these plants, water them every week, and keep them near sunlight to keep them alive.
Palettes of soft hues are a good choice for walls and floors if you aim to indulge in a relaxing atmosphere.
Light blues, greens, greys, and violets exude calmness and tranquility, which can make you feel less stressed and anxious.
Another good colorway includes neutral, light colors like white and off-white. These colours bring a sense of calm to an enclosed space, which can make a room feel gentle and easy to relax in.
In general, try to avoid bolder shades of red, blue, and yellow colors as paint. Not only do they look tacky, but they’re also quite stimulating, which can make it hard for your mind to relax.
So, at the very least, keep the palette of your floors and walls light and airy. You’ll be more likely to be in a positive mood and relax as a result.
Furniture is a must-have for any space, regardless of the underlying function of the room.
While you can buy any aesthetically pleasing furniture in your local furniture store and call it a day, if you want to improve your mood and mental health, it’s a good idea to choose furniture with mental health-boosting properties.
For instance, when choosing a chair, instead of hard-seated wooden chairs, choose chairs with rounded edges and plush seats.
In addition, make sure that you’re comfortable when sitting on such a chair—when vetting for one, make sure that it’s ergonomic, soft, and absorbent (or however you’d like it based on your specific criteria).
Chairs aren’t the only things that have mental health properties—a mental health table can also be a good fit for your room.
These tables are round, tamper-proof, and weighted—safe and sound for preventing unwanted injuries.
Another essential element of a mental health-boosting space is natural light. Natural light, particularly sunlight, is a crucial element in a space designed to boost mental health.
It illuminates the room during the day, acting as a potent mood booster and a deterrent for negative feelings like moodiness and depression.
While artificial light can also bring light to a room, it doesn’t have the same effect as sunshine on brightening the environment.
As such, if you’re building a room with people’s mental health in mind, ensure you have enough strategically placed windows to bring in light.
You can also maximize natural light by placing mirrors to reflect light all over the room.
When there’s enough light, the space will feel enlivened and energizing, which you and others in the room can absorb and reap the benefits of.
Clutter in your living space can be a significant hindrance to your mental health. It not only makes it difficult to focus but also dampens your productivity and overall mental state.
A clutter-free environment is, therefore, essential for maintaining a positive mental state.
Let’s face it: no one wants to see random junk lying on their room’s surfaces if they don’t even look pleasant.
To fix your negative mood from a cluttered-looking space, try to minimize these distractions by organizing your desk and shelves to hold fewer items.
Storage solutions, such as desk organizers or shelf dividers, can help you segregate items and place belongings in designated spots.
By concealing your random trinkets, you’re creating a peaceful, distraction-free environment that can help you remain productive and stabilize your emotions better.
An alternative to stuffing your belongings behind drawers and compartments is removing them from your room altogether.
Too many random items lying around can accumulate over time and make your room feel more like a hoarder’s closet.
This can be a stressful and overstimulating living situation, which can give rise to many forms of mental distress.
As such, once your space starts getting too packed for comfort, consider eliminating these pieces of clutter from your physical environment.
You can either dispose of them, sell them, or donate them.
And once you’ve cleansed your house from all these random trinkets, you can feel more focused and healthier.
If you want to go the extra mile, consider adopting a minimalist mindset in your living room and around the house.
Contrary to popular belief, this lifestyle approach is not about deprivation but about focusing on what truly brings you joy and peace, reducing distractions, and enhancing your mental wellness.
This lifestyle approach emphasizes the beauty of having only the bare essentials to reduce distractions. This can transform a space into something simple yet functional, a serene setting for many individuals.
Sight isn’t the only sense you have to make happy—your scent and hearing should also be paid close attention to.
Certain aromatic scents, such as lavender, tea, and citrus, are great for promoting relaxation and reducing stress.
You can find them as essential oils and diffuse them with a diffuser. Sweet scents in scented candles can also perform a similar job.
In addition, installing soundproofing materials like a door sealer can help stop external noise from entering your room.
When entering your room, you can feel transported to a pleasant and fragrant new world, truly leaving your worries behind and enjoying the environment.
In wrapping up, it's clear that the spaces we inhabit profoundly influence our mental wellbeing.
By inviting nature inside through green elements, bathing our surroundings in soft, calming colors, and basking in the glow of natural light, we create sanctuaries that not only please the eye but also soothe the soul.
By decluttering our immediate view, we can cultivate areas of peace that allow our minds to roam freely and creatively.
And, as we've learned, the power of a subtle fragrance paired with the tranquility of a quiet ambiance can elevate a room from simply being a space to being a source of rest and renewal.
Whether you're rethinking your home office, refreshing your living area, or designing a new space from scratch, keep the principles of mental wellness at the forefront of your design strategy.
Small changes can significantly impact everyday environments, transforming health and happiness havens.
If you think this conversation about mindful design has inspired you, please don't stop here.
Transform Your Space, Transform Your Mind.
Take the first step towards a revitalized living environment that supports and enhances your mental health, and watch as the positive effects ripple into every aspect of your life.
