This may sound strange coming from someone who edited ELLE Decoration magazine for 13 years, but I don’t care what colour you paint your walls or which wallpaper you choose.
What I do care about, though, is that you love it — in other words, that your home makes you feel relaxed and happy. The good news is that even according to Instagram, ‘Designing for Happiness’ is one of this year’s top interiors trends.
Finally we’ve seen the light! Out goes decorating in the ‘colour of the year’ and in comes designing your home for pleasure, not bragging rights.
This has never been more important. Thanks to the pandemic, many of us have spent the past two years largely at home. We are also in the middle of what has been dubbed ‘the Age of Anxiety’. For all our technology, we are at heart primal, emotional beings, and we need to feel safe and protected to be happy.
In short, a happy home is a healthy home. So, from tossing out your toaster to revamping your lighting, here’s my quick-start guide to achieving a happy, healthy home.
Key to creating a happy home is the palette — the mix of materials, finishes and colours you choose to surround yourself with (file photo)
COLOURS OF HAPPINESS WITHIN THE HOME
Key to creating a happy home is the palette — the mix of materials, finishes and colours you choose to surround yourself with.
Scientists at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, in Melbourne, found that the colour you paint a room can make you feel calm, upbeat or sad. My golden rule is to choose six core colours to use throughout your whole home.
Use tones of these for walls and upholstery, then choose two accent colours — more impactful shades that you use sparingly or for small accessories. The result will feel harmonious without being limiting in terms of design.
BUY YOURSELF BEAUTIFUL BASICS
If the ‘touch points’ — those smaller, essential components of your home, from door handles to knives — are too small, uncomfortable or inadequate, they will be a daily annoyance.
Find designs that feel good in your hand, and you’ll wonder how you ever lived without them. They are the one thing I’d recommend you splash out on. Quality knobs, light switches, taps and handles can be expensive, though, so replace old ones gradually as your budget permits.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE ADDED TEXTURE
Stroking an animal or enjoying a hug triggers the production of oxytocin, the love hormone. A real mix of textures to touch at home is therefore vital for our wellbeing.
Stroking an animal or enjoying a hug triggers the production of oxytocin, the love hormone. A real mix of textures to touch at home is therefore vital for our wellbeing (file photo)
After all, why have identical flat cotton cushions on your sofa when you could have linen, wool, knits and sheepskin? You can never have too many cushions — they should be squishy and comfortable, not immaculately karate-chopped in the middle like a fortune cookie.
Don’t forget earthy textures, too — things like sisal, rattan, plywood and cork. These are incredibly grounding because they connect you directly to the natural world. Finally, tiles. Never consign them only to the kitchen or bathroom.
OPEN WINDOWS EXTRA WIDE
Daylight boosts serotonin, our happy hormone, so it’s essential to get as much natural light inside as possible. My favourite trick is to fit extra-wide curtain rails, so open drapes stand completely clear of the glass.
If you’re having curtains made, make sure you request this, as it’s not standard practice.
This is particularly important in small rooms, so you focus on the view out. And clean your windows! It’s such a simple thing to do, but can let in 50 per cent more light.
Daylight boosts serotonin, our happy hormone, so it’s essential to get as much natural light inside as possible (file photo)
CREATE A LIGHT PLAN TO WIND DOWN
Alongside natural light, artificial lighting can have a huge impact on our health — so much so that designers have now started exploring the concept of circadian lighting, which follows our natural sleep/wake cycles in tone and brightness.
Such systems are still in their infancy, but there are other ways to work with your body clock. Simply follow the light outside — as it gets dark, turn off overhead lights and use smaller table lamps to help your body wind down.
SLING OUT YOUR KITCHEN GADGETS
Research from UCLA in the U.S. has found that cluttered and disorganised homes raise our levels of stress hormones (file photo)
Clutter is the arch-enemy of calm. Research from UCLA in the U.S. has found that cluttered and disorganised homes raise our levels of stress hormones.
Nowhere is this truer than in the kitchen. To work out what you really use, empty all your cupboards of cooking utensils and equipment. Stack it together and for the next ten days, select only what you need from this pile, then put those items back into your empty cupboards after use.
Crucially, when you go to make your next meal, choose only from what has been replaced into those cupboards.
Look at what is left out at the end of this period and ask yourself how much of it you really need to keep.
TOSS AWAY THAT ‘TOXIC’ TOASTER
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), indoor air should have no more than 25 micrograms of fine particulates (toxic particles) per cubic metre — yet the average toaster emits 300-400, and burnt toast propels this up to 3,000-4,000. That’s more than 150 times the WHO limit (file photo)
This may sound controversial, but if you have a grill in your oven, ditch your toaster.
Why? Because according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), indoor air should have no more than 25 micrograms of fine particulates (toxic particles) per cubic metre — yet the average toaster emits 300-400, and burnt toast propels this up to 3,000-4,000. That’s more than 150 times the WHO limit!
Paraffin wax-based scented candles are also on the banned list. Paraffin wax is a by-product of the petroleum industry and breathing in the fumes is allegedly as bad for you as second-hand cigarette smoke.
For a cleaner burn, choose candles with cotton or paper wicks, that are made from beeswax or GM-free soy wax and scented using only pure natural essential oils.
INDULGE IN LEAFY GREENS
Luckily, houseplants are veritable air-cleaning ninjas. NASA research shows they can remove up to 87 per cent of air toxins within 24 hours.
Try introducing an areca palm, or a snake plant (aka mother-in-law’s tongue), which releases oxygen and absorbs carbon dioxide during the night, making it ideal for bedrooms.
And if you’re hopeless at keeping real plants alive, don’t worry – research shows that just looking at images of foliage lowers your blood pressure. So paper a wall with leafy green wallpaper instead.
Try introducing an areca palm, or a snake plant (aka mother-in-law’s tongue), which releases oxygen and absorbs carbon dioxide during the night, making it ideal for bedrooms (file photo)
GET RID OF THE PLAYROOM
Nothing is sadder than pristine children’s rooms decorated in the same style as the rest of the adult home.
Kids need to express themselves — let them choose the wall colours (often bright), pin all their pictures up (often wonky) and display treasured items.
Similarly, ditch the playroom — separating children’s spaces from ‘grown-up’ areas denies them their rightful place at the heart of the family.
By all means factor in good-looking storage to collect everything up at the end of the day, though.
USE YOUR BEST CHINA EVERY DAY
Keeping ‘best’ sets of cutlery or crockery for ‘special occasions’ when you have guests implies you don’t deserve to use them.
This is a subtle dig that goes right to the core of self-esteem. Start dining like a champ off that fine porcelain every day — every moment can be a ‘special occasion’ if you let it.
Michelle’s book, Happy Inside: How To Harness The Power Of Home For Health And Happiness, (Ebury, £20) is out now.
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