Harness the power of the home

PERHAPS one of the most iconic movie lines of all time is from the final scene of the 1939 classic, The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy awakes in her own bed to find herself surrounded by family. She looks around at the people she loves and repeats three times: "There is no place like home."

For generations since, this one line has symbolised the concept of home: love, safety and belonging. But after weeks of lockdown, it is perhaps only natural to ask, does this classic notion of the home still hold true?

For the lucky ones, our home had been a safe zone during the "circuit breaker", but for others, it felt like a prison. For everyone, the confinement has highlighted the impact that habitat has on our health, both mental and physical. As we emerge from lockdown, many of us will be re-evaluating our priorities.

Many homeowners are now considering clean air systems, hygienic materials choices, and acoustic upgrades. The long confinement with children and family has led many to prioritise a need for personal space and to re-evaluate the practicality of open-plan room layouts. Unsurprisingly, following a global shortage of loo rolls, toilets with integrated bidet functions are enjoying unprecedented sales worldwide.

Such changes improve the functionality of our homes in the post-Covid world, but the true power of the home is its role as a platform for wellness. When health has become our most valuable asset, prioritising self-care and well-being has never been more important.

Just like much of the animal kingdom, the need for a home is imprinted into the human DNA. A home provides us with security, identity, love, familiarity and privacy. Can changes to our homes make a difference to how we feel, behave and perform?

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We experience our environment through our senses, and changes in light, space, geometry, scents, colour, texture and sound impact us in real physiological ways. Advances in neuroscience have enabled scientists to measure brain activity, metabolic and hormonal reactions to our habitat, proving that design choice impacts our health, behaviour, moods and how we interact with others.

As a residential designer, I know that change begins at home. Bedrooms that encourage sleep will boost our immunity. The right colour and intensity of artificial light can change our mood. Targeted design choices will improve our concentration or make us more creative or more friendly. Of course, design cannot cure us of disease, raise our IQ or change our base nature; but it can soothe us, lower blood pressure and improve our mood - like good nutrition and regular exercise.

This approach to design is as much science as it is art but, above all, it is personal. The starting point is understanding what makes you feel good and being confident enough to ignore passing trends and the preferences of others. Consider how you use different rooms and the time of day you use them, to determine the ambience and functionality that will make the best use of your spaces.

In these strange and stressful times, with so much beyond our control, there is something profoundly comforting in being able to focus on what we can change to improve our well-being, and harness the power of the home for happier, healthier lives.