You might think that decorating is something you mostly do for practical reasons and to create an environment that you enjoy looking at, but actually the way you organize and design your rooms can have much more profound effects on the way you feel when you're in your home.
When you decorate your rooms you will create many subtle signals that impact on your psychology on often an unconscious level and this can impact on your happiness and general mood in a number of ways.
Here we will look at some of the ways that décor influences psychology.
Space Most of us feel more at ease when there is lots of space and room around us and can feel more anxious and claustrophobic in smaller and more closed in spaces.
If you want to make a room that can put you at ease then, look into ways you can create the illusion of more space - by using fewer furnishings and fittings, by letting lots of light in with large windows, and by using light colours in your painting and your flooring.
Mirrors can also help a great deal as they reflect more light around the rooms.
Colour Colours have a big effect on us and can alter our mood in a number of ways.
The colour green for instance have been shown in many studies to help us relax, to slow down our heart rate and to lower our blood pressure.
The reason for this is that we associate the colour green with natural settings with ample resources.
In the wild green would have signified water, prey and vegetation and so of course we've come to feel at ease around these colours.
Blue is also a very relaxing colour for similar reasons, while the colours red and orange are more likely to make you feel anxious or aggressive.
Better than just using the colour green is to actually include plants and flowers in your décor which will be even more effective at evoking a natural environment.
Using water features can also help this cause, particularly as they also create a calming sound and refract light in a very serene way.
Comfort Soft surfaces can also help us feel relaxed and more 'snug' in an environment - particularly as these soft surfaces will also likely act as heat insulators keeping your rooms warmer.
If you want to make your room for comfort, then use lots of rugs and cushions and a nice fluffy carpet to create a space where you just want to lie down.
A crackling fire to create more warmth and positive associations can really finish this off, as can warm colours such as deep browns and burgendys.
On the other hand if you want your room to be an active room and avoid sending people to sleep there, you can alternatively use 'cooler' colours like whites along with more minimalist patterns and lines.
Personal Feng Shui Often we feel comfortable or less comfortable in a space for reasons we can't quite put our finger on.
Sometimes a space just feels to 'crowded' or isolated and this will largely be a matter of personal preference.
The solution is to provide lots of seating solutions so you can choose what works best for you at any given time.
When you decorate your rooms you will create many subtle signals that impact on your psychology on often an unconscious level and this can impact on your happiness and general mood in a number of ways.
Here we will look at some of the ways that décor influences psychology.
Space Most of us feel more at ease when there is lots of space and room around us and can feel more anxious and claustrophobic in smaller and more closed in spaces.
If you want to make a room that can put you at ease then, look into ways you can create the illusion of more space - by using fewer furnishings and fittings, by letting lots of light in with large windows, and by using light colours in your painting and your flooring.
Mirrors can also help a great deal as they reflect more light around the rooms.
Colour Colours have a big effect on us and can alter our mood in a number of ways.
The colour green for instance have been shown in many studies to help us relax, to slow down our heart rate and to lower our blood pressure.
The reason for this is that we associate the colour green with natural settings with ample resources.
In the wild green would have signified water, prey and vegetation and so of course we've come to feel at ease around these colours.
Blue is also a very relaxing colour for similar reasons, while the colours red and orange are more likely to make you feel anxious or aggressive.
Better than just using the colour green is to actually include plants and flowers in your décor which will be even more effective at evoking a natural environment.
Using water features can also help this cause, particularly as they also create a calming sound and refract light in a very serene way.
Comfort Soft surfaces can also help us feel relaxed and more 'snug' in an environment - particularly as these soft surfaces will also likely act as heat insulators keeping your rooms warmer.
If you want to make your room for comfort, then use lots of rugs and cushions and a nice fluffy carpet to create a space where you just want to lie down.
A crackling fire to create more warmth and positive associations can really finish this off, as can warm colours such as deep browns and burgendys.
On the other hand if you want your room to be an active room and avoid sending people to sleep there, you can alternatively use 'cooler' colours like whites along with more minimalist patterns and lines.
Personal Feng Shui Often we feel comfortable or less comfortable in a space for reasons we can't quite put our finger on.
Sometimes a space just feels to 'crowded' or isolated and this will largely be a matter of personal preference.
The solution is to provide lots of seating solutions so you can choose what works best for you at any given time.