Thursday, March 7, 2013

Struggling with depression? Change your home decor!

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I suffer from depression and I live in a terrible place for someone suffering from depression. I grew up in Arizona where it was always warm and bright and sunny. I now live in Virginia where it is often overcast, rainy and cold. After my daughter was born three years ago I had some wicked Postpartum Depression and have felt unbalanced ever since. I've tried medications and while they helped they brought on a host of other problems.

It's been snowing a lot here and for some reason I get especially depressed when that happens. I don't want to go back on an anti depressant so I looked up ways to help improve my mood that I do have control of. And I came across a very interesting article on WebMD about changing your home decor to improve your mood. Here is what I learned.

"What color you paint your walls isn't just a matter of aesthetics. It's a tool that can be leveraged to affect emotions and behavior."
Leslie Harrington, color consultant

Living Room
Warm tones such as reds, yellows, oranges and earth tones such as browns are inviting and encouraging. They also stimulate conversation.








Kitchen
Kate Smith, another color consultant, says that if you have happy childhood memories of being in the kitchen she suggests that you paint your kitchen with a similar color scheme as that of the kitchen of your childhood. If you do not remember a particular color scheme from your childhood reds, yellows and blues are great in a kitchen.







Dining Room
Red! It whets the appetite, encourages eating and stimulates hunger!





Bedroom
Blues, greens and lavender are calm and soothing. It is thought that the deeper the color the more pronounced the calming and soothing effect.







Bathroom
Kate Smith, color consultant, says that if you wouldn't wear the color don't paint your bathroom that color.
White is a typical bathroom color as it makes people think and feel clean.




This was a fun post to put together. I feel cheerier already!

Enjoy!



Sources:
WebMD
Lynn Chalk
Joy By The Yard
Decorate23
Pinterest

1 comment:

  1. Great post! I definitely find that a clean and organized house makes me happier. I showed my husband a study that said that women's stress hormones rose when they come home to a messy house. (Interestingly,the men's did not.) So, if he wants me to be less stressed, help me clean the house!

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