Studies suggest the way you style your home can have a subtle but powerful impact on your health. What better time to invest in a healthy, happy home than during the beginning months of a New Year? From greenery to crockery, small updates can turn your living space into a happier, healthier home!
Looking to remodel or brighten a room or two? Create your own Home Design Wishlist at gifthero.com.
Insist on a device-free bedroom — Many of us like to wind down by reading online news or catching up with Facebook, but the light emitted from the devices could, according to a Harvard Medical School study, be throwing off your circadian rhythm and leading to a poor night’s sleep. Invest in a pair of orange glasses or an app like Twilight. Both allow you to use your device at any hour. All that said, create a charging station outside the bedroom, so you eliminate the need to check your phone or tablet in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning, a habit that can disrupt sleep, raise stress levels and leave you feeling anxious.
Downsize bowls & glassware — Halving your plate size can cause you to eat 30% less, according to a recent study. By downsizing bowls, plates and glassware, you’ll eat less and feel fuller because of the optical illusion of bigger portions. (Tip: Science advices you choose tall, narrow glasses to replace smaller, shorter ones.)
Place greenery all around your home — According to NASA, houseplants are a great way to improve air quality. Visit your local greenhouse to choose plants based on the sunlight in your home, house pets and small children, and the lifestyle you lead. There are plenty of beautiful plant stands available to make adding greenery to your home a stylish decision. For the kitchen, add Garden in a Can for both added greenery and fresh herbs all year round.
Create a home playlist — Music is a terrific way to destress. Relax your mind and drown out street noises after hours, with a home playlist created on Spotify. Invest in a stylish speaker that complements your home’s style, like the Tube Audio or MAONO (which also works as a vase for fresh flowers).
Lower thermostat at night & opt for lightweight sheets — Our tendency in the winter is to keep the thermostat higher and use thick flannel sheets to ward off the cold, but experts from the National Institutes of Health found that sleeping in a cooler room may cause you to burn more calories overnight while you’re asleep. Instead of flannel, opt for lightweight linen sheets.
Add a mirror to your dining room — Placing a mirror in eating areas like your dining room can unconsciously influence you and your family to make healthier decisions, according to researchers at University of Central Florida. One Kings Lane offers an array of wall mirrors to match your home’s interior.
Eat on colored dinnerware — Portion sizes of food look smaller against a contrasting color, a study at Cornell learned when dinner party guests were given a choice between a white plate or red. White china might be popular, but it may not be the healthiest. Dinner guests who chose white served themselves 22% more food than those who used plates of contrasting hues. And small plates make a great gift! Shop at West Elm, Pier 1, or CB2 for contrasting cookery.
Create a space for regular relaxation Most of our home is labeled for cooking, eating, bathing, sleeping. But do you have a dedicated space for relaxing? This year, set up a corner for yoga and meditation (affirmats store away easily), or revisit shared spaces to explore how you can infuse relaxing colors and routines into them. It may be as simple as adding a chaise to your master suite for reading or setting time aside as a family to use the dining table for coloring and crafts (TIP: kiwicrate offers hands-on fun in art, science and engineering).
See the entire list of Healthy Home items at Gift Hero. How are you making your home healthier this year? Tweet us at @GiftHero and let us know.
