One of the biggest trends I have currently seen unfold in the building world is the focus on home wellness amongst renovations, and new home builds. It might be hard to imagine the commonalities between home improvements and wellness, but it turns out, there is a lot. Your house has a significant impact on your health and well-being. You may not realise it, but the materials you use in your home, the way you layout your rooms, the placement of windows and even the lighting installed play factors in our happiness and longevity. So this month, I would like to outline a few simple ways to design your house for wellness.
The kitchen is the most frequently visited room in the house, but unfortunately, one of the rooms I find with the most design flaws. A kitchen should encourage healthy eating and enable you to prepare healthy meals easily. My first suggestion is to design a kitchen with multiple work zones, meaning a lot of counter space. You don’t need a large kitchen to achieve this. If you do have a small kitchen, install ample storage, so you don’t need all your appliances and cooking materials stored on kitchen tops. You also want to be strategic about where you place the counter space. I suggest having a large space near your sink and cook-top, so you don’t have to move so much between prepping and cooking meals. The second work zone should be at some distance from your first as this will allow a second person in the kitchen to work without crowding one another.
The next most used room is your living room. Since we spend a lot of time here also, you want to ensure you have good air quality. The simplest way to bring fresh air in is to open up the windows. Unless you live in a highly polluted area, then the air in your home will be more polluted than the air outside. So, when designing your living room, I suggest making it on the outside of your home so you can install windows that open up, and not fixed windows.
Air quality in the bedrooms is also of significant importance as this is where we come to rest and recover each night. Consider installing flooring that is easy to clean and incorporate windows that open up to provide airflow. I would also recommend avoiding too much furniture and clutter in the bedroom to reduce the accumulation of dust. As it is a place of rest, consider implementing block out blinds to make the room as dark as possible as this will ensure deep sleep.
I hope these few suggestions will help you consider wellness when designing or renovating your home as it will greatly impact your happiness and longevity.
Turrell Building | 9653 1003 Shop 3, 362 Galston Road,Galston 2159 www.turrell.com.au
