Design Ideas to Enhance Your Life in 2024

It's a new year! Always a great time to take stock and contemplate what could change in your life to make it happier and healthier. We've got some tips on how to enhance your life with the following design ideas.

Better with Biophilia

via The Spruce

Biophilic Design is the idea that bringing people in contact with nature through design has physical and mental health benefits. One way you can implement biophilic design in your home by bringing in and caring for houseplants. Plants help clean your air, reduce stress and improve productivity. You may think you don't have a green thumb but there are low maintenance plants that anyone can cultivate. Home Depot and Lowes have a wide variety of affordable plants, as well as local garden centers. We always try to support small, local business whenever we can!

Another thing to consider is natural light. Maximize your daytime exposure to sunlight by opening shades and draperies fully. When designing window treatments, we make sure to hang draperies at the very edge of the glass to keep as much natural light coming in as possible. If you have blinds, pulling them all the way to the top each day, instead of just opening the slats, will really brighten rooms and give you access to better outdoor views.

Indoor air quality is so important. We spend about 90% of our time indoors, and most homes do not have adequate air exchange or filtration. Consider a whole house air filtration system. If you have allergies, this could really be a game changer for your health and quality of life. We are putting one in our new home and I will be very happy to not have to use so many portable air purifiers, like we do now.

via thegritandpolish.com

Paint!

Paint is one of the easiest and least expensive way to transform your spaces. Do you want to feel cozier in a room that feels stark? Or what about brightening up a room that feels drab? Color affects mood and selecting new hues for rooms that may need a refresh can make a big impact.

There is a lot of research linking warm shades to feelings of excitement and cool shades with relaxation. The key is to select colors that you personally prefer and resonate with. Don't worry about trends, instead, give some thought to what you are drawn to and spend some time looking at rooms on Pinterest or Houzz. A theme will emerge.

Accessorizing

I'm sure I have talked about this in a past post: Clutter is stressful! You don't have to be a minimalist, but making sure the objects in your spaces are intentional is important. Think about what it is you want to be looking at every day, and how these objects make you feel.

Start with one room and take everything off your surfaces. Instead of returning them to where they were, think about how they could be arranged differently or moved to another room. Or, if you don't love it, maybe it's time for that thing to be donated or sold.

January is a great time for taking stock of our homes. It's cold and dark, there's not much going on socially, and everyone is feeling relief from the holiday frenzy. It's a natural time for a reset. Take some time this month to think about the simple changes you can make to enhance your home during 2024. I promise you won’t regret it, and if you need help, reach out to us!