How to Design Your House for a Healthier Lifestyle
These days, a house can be a lot more than four walls and a roof. Technology continues to advance around us, and there are some exciting home upgrades that have emerged in recent years that will not only beautify your home, but make it a more healthful and functional environment for everyone that lives there. Make your home more than just a place you sleep and keep your things–make it your dream living space.
Maximize Natural Light
If you are building a home, or drafting blueprints for a future project, don’t skimp on the windows and skylights. There is something magical about natural light, and a home that is set up to take advantage of the sun’s rays will outshine those that don’t.
Consider the angle you are building your home on, and how the sun will strike your windows throughout the day. With a bit of planning, you can get free natural light all day, saving on energy bills, and getting more vitamin D in the process.
Include Water Features
Water is one area that the average homeowner can greatly improve, and there are some budget-friendly options available. If you are on municipal water in the United States, chances are that your water is pretty good. After all, the US has some of the best water treatment infrastructure in the world.
However, just because your water is safe to drink doesn’t mean it is as good as it could be. Water is the universal solvent, and it picks up trace materials of darn near everything it comes into contact with. By installing a certified water filtration system, you are taking a big step in protecting your home and everyone in it against waterborne contaminants.
When considering a water filtration system, look for one that has both sediment filtration and activated carbon. These two filtration media together will remove a lot of the problematic elements in water, and the carbon will improve the taste and odor of your water, reducing chlorine, disinfectant by-products, and volatile organic compounds.
If you have very hard water, a water softener is a natural choice as well, and you might consider a reverse osmosis system under your kitchen sink to get the cleanest drinking and cooking water possible.
Use Non-toxic Materials
This one seems like a no-brainer, but it’s not as easy to implement as it sounds. How many synthetic chemicals are used today in the manufacturing of consumer goods?
Almost no one is in a position to know what all of these new synthetics are, or how they operate, as novel compounds are being formed nearly every day, and the number of human-synthesized toxins in our environment is now alarmingly high.
Educate yourself on some of the most common and dangerous toxins in commercial products, and avoid them. Buy lead-free paint, and use solvents and glues that are VOC-free whenever possible.
Add Indoor Plants
No human-made artifact will ever possess the simple elegance, timeless beauty, and biological utility of a plant. If you want to spruce up your living quarters, then you can’t go wrong with green, growing things. Plants tend to cheer people up, and they produce life-giving oxygen, removing the carbon dioxide that we breathe.
There is also a special feeling from being surrounded by living things, and a house full of plants has a distinct feel compared to a sanitized, plant-free space, which can often feel sterile.
Ensure Proper Ventilation
Air flow is important for a variety of reasons: good circulation and ventilation help people to breathe easier in the home, it keeps dust from getting overly thick, and can help to refresh the smell of tired furniture and carpets.
If you live in a heavily polluted area, or it is too hot or cold for open windows, then you might consider an air purifier. Loaded with HEPA filters, a purifier can make a world of difference for your breathing, especially if you have allergies, asthma, or another breathing condition.
Incorporate Ergonomic Furniture
Furniture will make or break a room. If you are building a new home, you can start thinking about the furniture at the same time you are drawing up floor plans.
Try to incorporate sofas, chairs, tables, and desks into spaces naturally, without breaking up the flow of foot traffic in a room, or dominating the space through loud colors or designs.
The goal is to choose and place furniture in such a way that the space has a type of organic aesthetic unity. Consider the colors you are choosing, and how the go with the countertops, floors, and walls. Make sure to have sufficient accommodations for all anticipated guests, and so forth.
Create a Designated Exercise Area
For fitness aficionados, a designated home exercise area is an excellent choice. Even if you aren’t a regular gym-goer, setting aside a designated space for moving your body may help you to develop better exercise habits.
Even 30 minutes every other day goes a long way in maintaining health and quality of life, and there are many ergonomic and space-saving workout options, such as small walking treadmills that can be stowed in closets or under couches, or kettlebells, which offer a wide range of exercises within a relatively small space.
Use Calming Colors
The space around us affects us psychologically–clutter in our work environment can lead to cluttered thinking, and bright, busy colors can be a distraction and subtle source of stress.
Paint your walls in calm, neutral colors, like eggshell or ecru. Not only will a more plain wall be easier on the eyes generally speaking, but it also makes for a much more muted and appropriate backdrop to display art and family photos on your walls.
Install Air Purifiers
If you’ve ever suffered from seasonal allergies, or had a reaction to mold, dust mites, or any other airborne contaminant, then you know first hand how beneficial air purifiers can be.
Breathing can be a miserable experience if you live in a wet or marshy area, or if you have high levels of pollution in the ambient air. An air purifier will make your home a bastion of breathable air, and you will notice your sleep improving as you breathe better.
Optimize for Noise Reduction
Sound-proofing your space, or at least installing noise-reducing materials in your walls can be a nice upgrade, especially if you live in a busy city. It’s tough trying to get a new baby to sleep if your neighbors are blaring their music, so for people in dense urban housing, sound reduction can be a boon.
Use Natural Fabrics
Many fabrics today are synthetics, containing petroleum-based plastics. Some clothing may irritate some skin, and if you want to remove synthetics from your environment, clothes are a good place to start. Opt for natural fabrics like cotton and wool. These breathe easier, and don’t contain plastics.
Create Outdoor Living Spaces
One of the best things we can do for ourselves is to get more fresh air and sunshine. Even if you don’t have a large yard, you can still make use of the space you do have. Plant some flowers or herbs on your balcony or in a window planter–if you have access to community gardens or local parks, those are great ways to slip out and get some nature time as well.
Designate Tech-Free Zones
For quality family and interpersonal time, think about setting up some rooms and spaces as “tech-free zones.” It’s good to turn all of the screens off sometimes, and just sit down and have a conversation. Technology brings many benefits, but it can overtake our lives, and damage our mental health, if we aren’t careful.
Integrate Smart Home Tech
There are a lot of smart home options these days, from camera doorbells to smart thermostats, and much more. Some home tech may be considered a bit invasive, but you don’t have to go the camera-in-every-room route to take advantage of some of the cool capabilities of modern smart home design.
Plan For Easy Cleaning
Build or organize your space in such a way as to minimize tough cleaning jobs. Carpet is a magnet for all manner of gross things, and if you’ve ever steam-cleaned a carpet, you know what I mean. Hardwood flooring or tile is much easier to clean that carpet, so save yourself the headache up front and ditch the permanent rugs.
The Bottom Line
Homeowners have more options than ever before when it comes to building an ideal, personalized, living space. Smart tech, advanced filtration options, solar panels, and ergonomic furniture worked naturally into living spaces are just a few of the ways that you can love your home more.
