How Interior Design Affects Mood
Have you ever given any thought as to how the design of your space can affect your mood? If you’re design-obsessed like me you have. One of the reasons that I love interior design is that our surroundings can lift us up. Did you know a harmonious home can increase productivity & boost creativity?
Even for those who are not in-tune to design, the feel is there even if they are not consciously aware of it. The entire study of Feng Shui is based on this theory. After doing some research on Feng Shui, I realized I’d have to level my house and rebuild from scratch to follow it exactly. However, I do like the concept, which is all about energy, balance and flow.
It’s important when space planning to keep a couple of thoughts in mind. First, you want the furniture in the room to be balanced. You shouldn’t have a lot of heavy furniture on one side of the room with only small, delicate furniture across from it. Keep it visually balanced. Next is traffic patterns, you want to be able to move freely around the room, In Feng Shui this allows the energy to flow as well.
Color is a huge component of the mood of a room. This article is an interesting read on the subject. It leans more towards color in fashion, but the same concepts apply in interior design. In Feng Shui, light colors and natural materials are believed to have a positive effect. Earth tones, and blue and greens being tied to nature, can also have the same uplifting feel. Most colors fall into either a warm or cool category. Examples of warm colors are red, orange and yellow. Cools consist of blues, greens and purples. Black and white are neutrals and gray leans toward cool, while brown is usually warm.
Lighting=energy in Feng Shui. Studies show lighting can actually alter our brain chemistry. It can change not only the mood of a room but also the perceived size of a room. Many businesses, for example restaurants, will hire lighting design experts A brightly lit room creates an upbeat feel while a darker room can create a more intimate atmosphere. There are 3 types of lighting; ambient, task, and mood. Ambient provides overall illumination. Task is provided for specific functions of a room such as reading. And mood is usually accent lighting. Your goal is to have a combination of the 3. Be sure to vary the direction of the light as well as the height. Using incandescent bulbs gives off a soft glow that is usually the most flattering. Fluorescent lights are the most unflattering and cast a bluish-green light. Did you know cool white fluorescent lighting has been legally banned in Germany? Read more on that here.
Lastly, I’d like to leave you with a must read link regarding cleaning & decluttering. It’s a Feng Shui article about the ancient practice of space clearing. Its speaks of clearing the “dust and dirt of human emotions”. I love that.
This is why, often times when someone comes home to a messy house, they are instantly cranky, especially the design-obsessed! I hope my husband is reading this post. 😉
