Subtle Home Improvements for Better Mental Health

Your home is one of your biggest investments and also one of your greatest assets when it comes to your mental health. Give yourself permission to make small (or large) improvements that help you live your best life. These might include anything from enhancing the coziness of your bedroom to adding indoor plants to updating your work-from-home technology. Insight on these and other suggestions below.

Start With Scent

You may not realize it, but the scents that you breathe in can affect your mood each day. Studies have shown, for example, that vanilla can bring about feelings of relaxation and joy. Look for natural ways to enhance the aromatic environment throughout your house. This might mean baking cookies with lots of natural vanilla or adding Soap Essential’s vanilla cinnamon soap bar to your shower routine.

Enhance Your Home Office

When you work remotely, you’ll likely spend more time in your home office than you do in your actual home. A few things you can do to be more efficient here, which will improve your mood, are to install the latest technology on your computer and to have a maintained and organized storage system. A newer operating system or updated software will reduce computer downtime while organized digital and paper files will lessen the frustration of searching for lost or misplaced paperwork when you need it the most.

 Bring the Outdoors In

According to Affinity Health, houseplants make you more productive, improve air quality, quell depression and anxiety, and can improve your memory. There are many different types of plants that are both easy to care for and that will have these positive benefits, including garden mums and spider plants. No green thumb? That’s okay, even simply looking at artwork that depicts nature can have many of the same effects.

Satisfy Your Slumber Needs

Sleep is more than just the time that you rest each evening. When your eyes are closed and your mind has drifted away into unconsciousness, your body and mind have a chance to heal. If sleep is a constant struggle, consider changing your mattress. When you sleep on your side, choose a softer mattress, which will conform to your curves and give you better spinal support. Back and stomach sleepers may fare better on a firm sleep surface.

Plant A Garden

Planting an outdoor garden may even offer more benefits than bringing houseplants in. Whether you’re planting vegetables to eat or flowers to improve curb appeal, the mental health benefits of gardening can’t be underscored enough. Seth J. Gillihan Ph.D. tells Psychology Today that getting your hands dirty helps you develop a growth mindset, connect to the world around you, and reduces stress while giving you a chance to exercise. An added perk of prioritizing your landscape is that it can even improve your home’s value.

Change Colors

Just as scent stimulates your olfactory senses to improve mood, so too can color. Make sure your home and each of its individual spaces is painted or accented in colors that help you best utilize each area. Pink or green, for example, are great bedroom colors as they promote calmness and peace. Purple or black may boost your confidence, and these make excellent home office colors provided that you have lots of natural light around your workspace.

While home improvements, such as adding a hot tub or completely remodeling your kitchen, can absolutely improve your mood, you don’t have to go to these extremes. Small updates, like adding plants, improving your home office efficiency, or spending an afternoon planting a garden, are inexpensive upgrades that will be a benefit to your mind, body, and soul.

Do you have questions about Soap Essential’s handcrafted skincare products? Reach out to us today online or by calling 801.414.0083

This article is contributed to Soap Essential by April Robertson at TidyHome.info.