Why Your Home is the Key to Better Health
How to instantly improve mood, sleep and stress levels
Your home can be the key to better health, better sleep, better relationships, and an all-round better life. Your home can also lock you into a damaging relationship, drain your energy, and devour your money. Every choice you make about your home influences your life. With every dollar you spend on your home, you cast a vote for the kind of life you wish to live: what you value, how you will be treated, and whom you will let in. If you’re like me, you are highly affected by your environment.
We crave the beauty and calm depicted in glossy home decorating magazines – not just because the pictures are pretty, but because we imagine that if we could just get our homes close to that ideal, we’d enjoy less stressful, more contented lives. The truth is your home can directly improve your wellbeing and contentment. It can help decrease your stress level and increase your happiness. But not necessarily by looking like the cover of an interior design magazine.
I became a designer by chance, not by, well, design. Nearly a decade ago I found myself divorced and living in a house that constantly reminded me of my failed marriage. I got tired of living somewhere that reverberated with sadness, loss, and defeat. After about six months of feeling stuck, I repainted the walls and refurnished the house (and it didn’t take buckets of money). Here’s what I discovered: Changing what I saw around me transformed how I saw my future. While I hadn’t moved physically, I had moved on psychologically.
I started my design company, Seriously Happy Homes, because I’m passionate about helping people experience the transformative power of the home. I feel a special connection to those who are in life transition or who may feel frustrated, or trapped, like I once did. So, while I did go back to school to earn a degree in interior design, I didn’t start my company out of a love for design per se. I started it to help people use their home as a tool for change. To this day I don’t really care whether you buy a new sofa. I do care that your home is working for you! The following quiz will help you think through your level of contentment at home...
How happy is your home?
Answer each question with a rating of 1 to 5, 1 being least like you, and 5 being most like you
1 Not at all true, never true, or not at all like me 2 Not as true as I’d like, rarely true 3 Sometimes true, half the time true 4 More often than not true, frequently like me 5
