This article is an adaptation of the article that originally appeared on the wellness website the Soothe.
What is the definition of a healthy home?
To start thinking of how to design for a healthy home, it is important to first identify what a healthy home means. A healthy home is a home free of diseases. Ailments are common in our normal bodily functions but that does not mean there isn’t something we can proactively do about them. It is all about identifying any major triggers that could activate such conditions. One example of what I’m talking about is being very conscious of perhaps a child’s sensitivity to chemicals in household products that may not even bother adults.
A happy and healthy mental state also contributes to a healthy household and that is why self-care and wellness are particularly important especially at this time with the virus and with more people increasingly spending large chunks of time in their homes.
We also contribute to a healthy home by providing air sanitization especially after an event such as after completion of our renovation projects. This is available as an exclusive package with ProCare Cleaning Company for our homeowners. Find out more about their sanitizing services here.
1. Common Interior Design Requests That Are Bad For You
Many homeowners do not realize that marble is more porous than many other types of slab surfaces and quite unsuitable to use as kitchen countertops for food preparation as some of the food particles may seep into the marble and stay there and harbor harmful bacteria that may prove to be harmful in the long run. For marble surfaces to be safe, professional sealing should be added to the list of maintenance for your home if you have these surfaces installed especially so in the kitchen! Another tip with these marble surfaces is to choose a polished surface as opposed to having a matte countertop finish simply because it will be easier to seal the surfaces in the long run. Lastly, as an alternative to marble, we suggest opting for quartz countertops. Dekton has one that comes in a marble finish.
2. Create Space with Wellness in Mind
According to Cherlynne Clews, founder and owner of To Be Calm, fragrance connects with us on an emotional level like none of our other senses and therefore we can use this to great advantage at home by simply using a fragrance that is appealing to you and other household members and use different types of fragrances in different types of rooms. For example, the living area typically should be a place where people feel relaxed, uplifted, and comfortable to mingle. Using citrus-based fragrances like lemon, bergamot, lemongrass, mandarin, or neroli - all clean, fresh-smelling scents, will create the perfect atmosphere to engage in conversation, watch a movie or just spend time together. In contrast, the bedroom is our special sanctuary and calming fragrances like lavender and geranium can help to create a relaxed and soothing atmosphere before rest and bedtime.
With so many of us working from home these days our home-offices or work-stations are locations where we want to feel comfortable but alert and able to focus on the tasks at hand. Fragrances like peppermint, eucalyptus, and grapefruit are the perfect perk-me-ups for keeping our minds engaged.
Maybe you also find it important to have a designated area for yoga and meditation and that space needs to be able to let you practice in a way that supports you both physically, mentally, and emotionally. Do consult with us as we have planners and decorators that may be able to plan and suggest solutions to your convertible room needs.
3. Interior Design Features to Enhance Family Bonding at Home
Close family ties also contribute to healthy connections and a healthy state of mind. Having rooms that are dynamic and can easily convert for multipurpose uses are especially great to have to adapt to different family member needs and activities. It can be nice to be able to create sections in an otherwise open space with the use of curtains or movable panels when your child is having a friend over to play while elderly parents are watching the TV in the living room. This sectioned off area could then later be taken apart again for family bonding purposes such as dinner and to extend the view of the room area.
Installing dimmers in lighting is also another helpful tip to cater to the different family members in a household as older people probably prefer if the lighting is brighter while younger peepers may be more sensitive to harsh light.
4. Use of Uniquely South East Asian Materials
We can reap the benefits of natural materials found in tropical climates such as in Southeast Asia and that includes incorporating hardwoods such as teak furniture in your home. Teak is a highly durable wood material and thought of as an exquisite option for furniture — it’s high natural oil content and tight wood grain make it a durable material that is resistant to the weather and pests such as termites. They are most popularly known to be well suited as outdoor furniture due to its high resistance to weather and rotting so they are a great option as furniture for your balcony. Teak comes in a wide range of tones from light, to medium, to dark woods. Teak is thought to regulate body temperature when you sit on them, perfect for those hot and humid days.
Another very commonly used wood in Singapore is rubberwood. This is found in a whopping 90% of our furniture mix. Rubberwood is derived from the rubber tree and some people refer to them as white teak or Malaysian oak. However, this wood is not suitable for outdoors and best reserved for indoor uses only. They make great storage solutions, perfect for compact living on our little red dot.
5. A Healthy Home Amidst a Global Pandemic
COVID-19 has rudely disrupted our lives and taken over to become the new normal. To reduce its transmission, we as humankind have largely changed and adapted the way we live around this highly contagious disease. According to an online poll, the most requested features resulting from the pandemic is for homes to have clearly defined spaces and this holds true especially at the entrance area where people are just coming in from the outdoors. It’s helpful if we start designing entrances like those found in Japanese homes (Genkan). The Genkan consists of an enclosed entrance area where people who just recently came in from outdoors could conduct their due diligence — sanitize your hands and temperature check! Our daily lives have now gone on despite the pandemic still lingering and in worse case scenarios in some countries, news of waves and evolved strains of COVID-19 come about leading to extended lockdown periods, and therefore, having an area preceding the homeowner's actual living space lends to guests or even the delivery that arrives an adequate space to first disinfect before stepping into the house. This is a very sensible practice — to change the way we think about healthy interior design ideas for the home.
So these are just some of the interior design tips for you to create a healthy home in 2020! What other healthy home ideas and habits do you have in mind? Feel free to contact us via our WhatsApp to discuss more on how to implement these ideas for your future home. When you are ready for a consultation, follow the link to complete our Interior Personality Assessment (IPA) Analysis and we will arrange for a suitable Designer to attend to you. Our current waiting time is 2 weeks but with our detailed questionnaire, we will be able to guide you through the process and help you get a clearer picture of your needs in mind. We hope that this article will help you start the discussion on how to create a safe environment for you and your family members. Be healthy and stay safe!
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