Decorate efficiently and enhance the purpose of your home environment

In recent years, as we have become more used to spending time within our home for work or for fun, we have realized the dramatic importance of home decor and design. Many people have designated dedicated spaces for work or entertainment in their homes.

Decoration such as art work, pictures, handcraft, plants, fidget toys is a way of enriching an environment. Research has shown that enriched environments increase neural production in adult brains, by stimulating the hippocampus, a region of the brain involved in the formation and recall of memories. Likewise, environmental enrichment has been linked to the reduction of stress and anxiety hormones, which are linked to the damaging and death of mature neurons. This means that decoration is far beyond an aesthetic concern, besides enhancing cognition and mood it can prevent brain aging and promote mental health if done right. However, to take advantage of these health benefits, it is essential to add the right type of enrichment to your environment. Excessive objects without purpose and order, can only contribute to the reversal of these desired effects. 

While there are a couple general pieces of advice we are going to discuss here, this task requires a lot of sensibility as what defines a good home office is highly subjective and relative to the type of work you do. If you are dealing with work that demands extremely high levels of concentration, you will certainly aim at reducing the amount of superfluous visual information to the minimum and use colors that enhance attention, rather than divert it. However, if your work demands some level of creativity, you will need to think of strategic decorational objects that can inspire you, stimulate your mind without capturing your focus for too long.

Same goes for your entertainment environment. There is no general formula for this, as it highly depends on the type of things you do in your free time in that space. If reading and meditating is your thing, the decoration will be radically different than a happy hour type of environment in our home, where the purpose is to have a drink, welcome friends and watch movies, for example. 

Using Color Effectively

For environments where you need to be productive, neutral color palettes are usually the key. However, some neuroscientists are unveiling the effects of specific colors in certain mental functions and are finding that warm types of color, such as yellow, red and orange, seem to have greater effects on memory. You can find a bright, subtle shade of these warm colors to paint in one of your walls in your work environment. On the other hand, cool colors seem to have a soothing effect and work great for relaxing hangout environments.

For a fun and laid back environment, vibrant colors can add a feeling of joy and excitement. These do not need to go on walls, but can rather be applied in edgy decorational items of pieces of furniture.

See things on a different light

Lightning has the very powerful ability to change the mood of a whole environment in and of itself. In a work environment, it is important to have bright lights so that you do not have to force your eyes. Investing in multiple lighting options, such as table lamps, is a great choice to make sure your working area will always be well lit up. On the other hand, a softer warm light scheme can set the tone for a casual environment and make you feel cozy and ready to relax. A more accessible option to create a relaxing and ethereal atmosphere with less investment in lightning is candles. Beautiful candleholders, aromatic and colorful candles to spread around your home will make a natural way of changing your lighting scheme and setting a comfortable atmosphere around. 

A lighting piece that adds sophistication and creates a great relaxing atmosphere. Get it from sooqbeirut today.

Plants work anywhere

Getting some nature into your home environment is always a good choice, as plants not only visually enrich an environment but they also absorb stress and tension making up for a more relaxing environment more in line with work or leisure activities. 

Each Art in its place

There are great art pieces for any environment. While you should be cautious with artworks that are overstimulated in a home office, you can allow yourself at least one item to sparkle your creativity and allow for a little bit of fun in a very serious and productive day.

This Senatori mug is a great idea for an artistic object that is also functional and can help you steam off some pressure from an intense work routine during your coffee breaks.

In casual environments where the purpose is to have fun, you can let loose and go wild with the decoration and disposition of art pieces. Adding a creative piece of digital art is a great and modern way to get the creative juices flowing and prepare the vibe for a fun night-in alone or with friends.

Written by Yasmim Franceschi exclusively for sooqbeirut
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