Heal the Children Month! Use Your Space to Promote Children’s Healing and Growth

When it comes to our health, and the health of our family, we often think of outside factors that might be able to help. Such as doctors, our environment at school, the people we interact with, and so much more. The reality, though, is that we often overlook our own space as a way to promote children’s healing and growth. You can use your space to minimize stress, increase joy, bring people together, and even improve your health and well-being. To top it off, these changes can be simple and they don’t have to be super expensive or time consuming. The smallest changes can make a big difference! Check out these tips and tricks to learn more.

Use Nature to Nurture

Studies have shown that simply stepping outside can lower your heart rate, blood pressure, and stress levels. Increasing the amount of nature in your home can improve your health and also encourage healing. Use nature to nurture yourself by:

· Increasing natural light – open the curtains, install a sky-light, or even install mirrors across from windows to increase the sunbeams that brighten your space. Concerned about energy costs? Try using window tint or gauzy day-time curtains to help filter out the heat.

· Plenty of flowers and greenery – even if you don’t have a green thumb, you can increase the number of potted plants in and around your home. It increases the oxygen levels in your home, cleans your air, and so much more.

· Nature Artwork – whether it is a scene of the beach or a photo of a beautiful plant, if it gives your eyes access to a nature scene, then it can be helpful

Simplify, Declutter, and Decorate with Meaning

Not only should you arrange your furniture to encourage interaction, but you should also make sure that there is space. Mentally when we are in an uncluttered space we are better able to decompress. Therefore, remember that when you are decorating to ensure that you only fill your home with items that are meaningful to you. Examples might include:

· Photos of family and friends

· Meaningful objects and religious symbols

· Personally-created or collected artwork

Choose Relaxing Colors

When you’re decorating, you’ll have spaces where you want to stimulate your family to interact with each other, such as the living room or the dining room. Colors that promote interaction include reds, oranges, and yellows. If you’re decorating for health, relaxation, and growth, then try using blues, greens, and violet. These colors help us feel peaceful and well-rested.

Bedroom Tips

When your bedroom is dark and clutter-free it can help you wind down, relax, and sleep much better. Try darker shades of paint, blackout shades, and comfortable bedding that feels soft against your skin. Speaking of bedding, a cool room with a weighted bedspread is a nice trick that helps you improve sleep. Your bedroom should be a sanctuary for relaxation. Another trick that helps is to eliminate lights from electronics, clocks, and phones in the bedroom. If you have to have an alarm, use one with red lights instead of blue, white, or yellow. Turn your phone upside down at night and use tape to cover any other lights that may interfere with your sleep.

Remember, at Desired Designs our goal is to always help you create a space that is relaxing and representative of your personality and tastes. There isn’t a project that you have that is ever going to be too big or too small for us because we work with a wide range of budgets and scope. It would be our definitive pleasure to help you design your life with a custom touch, contact us today to learn more.