There are a number of different ways we can all improve our mental health. For some, this means seeking professional advice and counselling, whilst for others, applicable self care tips can make a real difference on an everyday basis.
When it comes to mental wellbeing, our home plays a vital role. It is the environment in which we spend the majority of our time, and it is often one of the first places to exhibit signs of deteriorating mental health.
The way in which we fill and decorate our homes can therefore have a big impact on our wellbeing, where certain design choices are likely to make us feel better than others. Peruse this guide for advice on decorating your home with your mental health in mind.
Considerate Home Decor
Each area of your home serves a different function, and therefore has different practical and aesthetic requirements that can be met while considering your mental wellbeing. Here’s a list of different household spaces, with suggestions of how to utilise them to benefit your mind.
Bedroom
Having a good night’s sleep is one of the key ingredients for good mental health. This means making your bedroom into a soothing sanctuary for restfulness. One way to do this is to have a good declutter, where a tidy room reflects a tidy mind. Storage containers that can be tucked under the bed, or aesthetically pleasing laundry baskets can be used to organise clutter and create a more relaxed space.
Other ways to help you unwind in the bedroom include investing in peaceful lighting, where you have dimmer switches or soft bedside lamps that help you to transition from bright daytime lighting to a softer evening light. This can be complemented with blackout curtains or blinds to ensure you can sleep past daybreak in the summer months.
Having strict boundaries with work and technology usage can also help to keep your bedroom space restful. Working from home separate from your bed can keep this as a space for rest, whilst removing phones and laptops from the room at night can assist you in switching off.
Bathroom
Creating a bathroom environment that supports your mental health is all about developing an appropriate atmosphere. For day-to-day usage, your bathroom space needs to be practical, but it can also provide a destination for wellness, where you block out time for a soothing shower or a self-care bath. This can be achieved by investing in scents, candles and relaxing bath products to ensure you have everything you need when the time comes to unwind.
Adding a touch of greenery to your bathroom can also provide a boost to your mood. Seeing these plants every day brightens your home, where the nurturing and plant tending process is scientifically proven to decrease anxiety and stress levels. They also boost air quality, which can leave you feeling happier and healthier overall.
Your type of shower can also be utilised to boost your mood, where various types can offer different benefits. For instance a rainfall shower head delivers a range of calming benefits by massaging the head and scalp, whilst a steam attachment can help you to achieve a soothing spa experience from the comfort of your own home.
Office
Your busy work schedule can be a major source of stress and anxiety, where hybrid working policies can threaten your home sanctuary with this negativity. In order to counteract this, it is important to set up your office space with your wellbeing in mind. This includes keeping things organised, where clutter can add to your stress levels.
Having materials to allow you to freely write or doodle can provide an outlet for excess energies, whilst a comfy office chair supports your back and nervous system, boosting your mental and physical well being.
Having a system in place that facilitates regular breaks is also essential in a home office. Investing in a planner, table clock, or timer can allow you to keep track of how long you’ve been working, and ensure you get the breaks your mind and body need. Having a workplace separate from the rest of your home is also ideal if possible. Having separate stationery and equipment that you use just for work is important to help you destress at the end of a hectic day.
Garden
Gardens provide an excellent space to unwind and process stress. Even if you only have a small outdoor area, tending to plants or growing a small batch of fruit and vegetables is a great project for channelling your energy and giving you something to focus on outside of the day-to-day stresses.
More specifically, you can design your garden with your mental wellbeing in mind by focussing on sensory experience. Water features, combined with tall grasses and strong smelling plants such as lavender can create a multi-sensory space that will help relieve stress and focus the mind. A sheltered seating area can also provide an all-weather space for meditation and reflection, where you can step out of your busy life and find a moment of sanctuary.
General Tips For Wellness At Home
More generally, there are several ways you can boost your wellbeing throughout the different areas of your home. These include allowing for maximum levels of sunlight to enter your space, whether through enlarging your windows or replacing heavy curtains with lighter blinds. Sunlight exposure, even indoors, is proven to release serotonin and energise your mind and body, as an essential ingredient for wellness.
Choosing specific colours for your walls and furniture can also help to boost your mood. Blues and greens remind us of nature, and therefore help us to relax and unwind in our interior space. Light neutral colours and earth tones can also be beneficial, where they can make a room feel welcoming and secure. It is recommended to avoid saturated colours and clashing prints, which can increase stress levels and disrupt sleep in the bedroom.
Lighting throughout your home can also be geared towards wellness. Ideally natural light will be the priority, but in darker homes or in winter artificial light cannot be avoided. If this is too bright and harsh it can raise stress levels and affect sleep, so it is recommended to invest in LED or low energy bulbs as an alternative, which are also more energy efficient. A lamp that mimics your natural circadian rhythm can also be very beneficial for improving sleep.
Is Your Mental Health Deteriorating?
There are several recognisable signs to look out for if you suspect your own or someone else’s mental health is beginning to deteriorate. These include increased or abnormal signs of clutter, especially if your home is usually tidy. Other signs would include an inability to open blinds and curtains, as well as an unwillingness to leave the house. Conversely, excessive cleaning or workaholic tendencies may also indicate that something is amiss.
Key Counselling Training
We can all employ self care tips to improve our day to day mental health, both at home and in the workplace, but it is also sometimes necessary to seek professional help. If you’d like to learn more about mental health care, then why not sign up for one of our accredited counselling courses today.
Key Counselling Training is a fully certified training programme available in both classroom and remote learning formats, where our physical branches are situated in Torquay and Birmingham. We offer a range of courses that cover many key counselling specialisms, including couples counselling, child and adolescent counselling, and cbt therapy training.
These courses result in an accredited qualification that you can then use to authenticate your own counselling work. You could end up with a Level 2 certificate in counselling concepts, a Level 4 diploma in therapeutic training, or one of our other valuable qualifications.
Alongside our accredited courses, we also offer a variety of events and workshops on a number of vital topics, such as attachment, conflict resolution and imposter syndrome. In addition to this, we provide a free personal counselling service which is available to access remotely or in person.
For more information about this or any of our other services, then contact us now, and we’ll be happy to help.