Designing Your Home to Suit Your Mood

Most people dream of having their perfect home. A place to lay their heads in at night, to create happy memories in, to enjoy each other and some to expand their families in. Your home is supposed to be your little haven from the hustle-bustle of the world and daily stress at work, college and the like and the hassles of dealing with other issues and people in general. You need not own a palatial bungalow or a giant penthouse with all the luxuries to feel at peace with your little world in your little space. Whether you live at modest residential flats in Mumbai a major bustling city or a chic studio apartment in Paris, your home is meant to be your own place to relax, unwind, enjoy and develop as you see fit.

They say that calm homes breed calm, happy people and its definitely holds a big grain of truth. If you feel a sense of dissatisfaction or unease, when you enter your own home it can surely affect your mood in general and how you deal with people as a consequence. In fact, it has been proven time and time again that your room design, the interiors and how things are placed can impact your mood – strange but true! In fact, even scientists nowadays are opening up to new research about how architectural and design elements can affect different parts of the mood and psyche and how spaces can affect your creativity, focus, calm and more.

Since most people nowadays need a respite from their busy lives in busy metros, feeling a deep sense of calm and peace in your own home is the least we expect.

Let's take a look at a few things you can do to help make that a daily reality -

• De-clutter – This is one of the main things that affect how you feel about space as well as in it. Excessive clutter literally and figuratively makes one feel like they are being swamped and overwhelmed. It can make you grumpy and definitely leaves you with a nagging dissatisfaction whenever you are in a cluttered room. It is also one of the simplest fixes, so don't make excuses about being busy, try and keep a weekend or just a day free to rid the home of all unnecessary clutter and reorganise.

• Change the colour – People have been discovering that colour plays a big role in how space affects our mood and reaction. Not only will you find theories about it in the Eastern philosophies of Vastu Shastra and Feng Shui, but also in science. Therefore, it will help to accessorize your home with colours that give you happiness. Whether you want a cheery shade of yellow, a calming pale blue, orange to invigorate or more, pick your colours wisely since you will be seeing a lot of it!

• Redecorating – Redecorating your room can greatly impact your mood in it. Sometimes even rearranging the furniture to a more convenient or aesthetically pleasing arrangement to your eye can help. Don't just fill it with artefacts, paintings or whatever because your interior designer told you too. Fill the space with pieces that are evocative of happy, fun memories, have beauty and has splashes of your personality. Whether it is a cosy throw on your sofa that gives you colour and warmth, fresh cut flowers that fill the room with their scent or a beautiful vase that reminds you of a recent holiday, make your home and its rooms remind you of things you enjoy!

These are just a few things you can do to foster a calm, pleasing environment in your apartment and house. You can look for loads of tips for mood lighting and aroma and colour therapy as well!