5 Ways Your Home Affects Your Mood

You might not think about it often, but there’s a good chance you’ve noticed how much the state of your home can affect your feelings and stress levels. From minimalism to all-white decor, it seems every year there’s new wisdom circulating about steps you can take to rearrange your living space and improve your quality of life.

This information can easily be overwhelming, but it’s important to consider with how much time we spend in our homes. And if it really makes a difference (and it does) then we should do what we can to adopt some of those lifestyle improvements, right?

Absolute Storage Management thinks so, and we want to help you understand how to stay happy at home, as well as how your home affects your mood and what you can do about it. From organizing the space under your bed to moving unused furniture into a storage unit to make room for a home office, there are many steps you can take to make your home a place you truly love to be.

How Your Home Affects Your Mood

From light to clutter, your mood can take a hit if your home environment suffers in any of a variety of areas—some easier to remedy than others. When your mood or mental health is on a downswing, it can impact your relationships, your productivity, your emotional stability, and even your ability to enjoy the things you love.

Here are a few ways you can curb that feeling, and move toward a better home for your health.

1. Brighten Things Up

The first step you can take involves getting more light into your room to make it bright. If there’s anything blocking natural light from entering your space, clear that out of the way. If your shades are always closed, open them up. Natural light is scientifically proven to have an invigorating effect on us in a way artificial light doesn’t.

However, if natural light is in short supply, then electric light and candles are a great alternative to shift the mood. Some living situations don’t allow for candles, of course, but if your space does allow them, it’s a great way to create ambience and even add calming or uplifting scents to an otherwise dreary room.

In the worst case scenario where none of these options are available, try to step outside and bask in the sunshine during a short walk a few times a day. This alone can make a big difference in improving your mood.

2. Clean and Organize

Piles of dishes, sticky floors, and corners plugged up with mountains of trash are not conducive to a happy environment. A fast track to a more calming, welcoming household is to make sure that when you’re inside, it’s clean and at least somewhat organized. Too much clutter adds a burden of stress and it can be hard to relax.
To the best you are able, try to organize your home a little more, one room or even one space at a time. Color coordinating your closet, labeling and organizing spices or ingredients, creating storage space beneath your bed—there are endless ways to improve upon this area of your life and stay happy at home.

3. Be Mindful of Roommates and Partners

While we can’t provide a criteria for the type of people you should be living with (or who would be good for you), if you find yourself feeling apprehensive around the people who share your space, that’s probably a red flag that something needs to change. Either talk with them to create a compromise that benefits each of you, or consider changing roommates as soon as your lease and income allow for it.

4. Color and Décor

Whether you’re repainting rooms in a house you own or updating the color scheme of bedding and artwork in a rented room, color can play a major role in how you feel in a certain area of your home. Unless you’re aiming for a specific aesthetic, there are certain colors you may want to avoid due to the effect they may have on your mood. Red tends to be really harsh, while dark blue can be sombering. Similarly, neutral tones like white, gray, and black can each have their downsides, either making a room feel too dark, or too sterile. Each of these has their place and can work well, but they need to be intentional.

Commonly reliable colors include yellow, light blue, and soft nature tones like green and brown. If painting isn’t an option, consider temporary wallpaper or wall hangings to bring together your vision.

5. Separate Home and Work

With the popularity of working from home on the rise, many people are finding themselves spending more time in their living spaces rather than in an office. While the elimination of a commute and casual dress code is appealing, it’s important to make sure you have the home office necessities you need so your performance doesn’t suffer with the change in scenery.

Few things impact your mental health and productivity as much as containing all your activities to a single location. When determining where to set up shop, keep your bed in a different room from your workstation, and away from the space where you have fun. This separates the activities in your mind and allows you to more easily fall into the desired mood when necessary. Without that, a sense of repetitiveness can start to build, making you feel sour in the long run.

How to Stay Happy at Home with Self-Storage

If you’ve started to feel claustrophobic with the amount of stuff you have, or even if you have a modest amount of belongings but some of it just doesn’t fit with your current living space, there’s a fast and affordable way to get those things out of the way without the hassle of selling them.

Keep your items organized outside your home, but easily accessible, with the help of a self storage unit. Absolute Storage Management offers a network of storage facilities to keep your items from standing in the way of redecorating your home. Store just a few pieces of furniture, or move entire rooms into storage and start from scratch as you perfect the space you call home.

Find your nearest self-storage facility in Arkansas, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and beyond, and start your home transformation today with the help of our knowledgeable staff and clean, affordable, and convenient self storage spaces. Still have questions about the process of renting a unit? Find answers frequently asked storage questions or explore storage tips to keep in mind before you start your self storage journey.

Your mood affects your home, and you deserve to have the best space you can!