Question? Have you considered how your furniture, lighting, or accesories promotes or hinders your health and wellness in your home?

My #1 Tester and we call him Bob Bob. 

First, I must again reiterate this fact.  80% of our time is spent in 20% of our spaces working on laptops or mobile devices, eating, reading, watching TV, socializing, or merely hanging out.  This 80% timing spent in 20% of our home spaces & life should be a big wow or a holy cow to all of us. Think about where you land in your home or condo or apartment. Then, quickly assess how many other of your spaces are rarely used on a day to day basis. Do these rarely used spaces have better furniture and lighting and accessories then where you land for 80% of your home life?

The Red Egg

Now ask yourself, is this space really and truly comfortable or just your spot to crash? Here are 3 main components your 80% time must provide for you in order to promote, not hinder home wellness in your own very personal and special spaces. 

Norwalk Furniture

1.  FURNITURE 

Yes, your furniture you sit in daily really does matter in your overall wellbeing. Day after day accumalative effects of poorly designed or inappropriate furniture will have adverse results in neck, back, shoulder pain or discomfort and even headaches. 

Select furniture that is ergonomically proportioned for you, not the masses! Take note of the pitch of a chair, the seat depth is a biggie, as well as the height of the arm and backs whether chairs or sofas. 

My furniture mistake in our upstairs sitting area was to select a sectional  in order for more room for grandchildren and others. But I sacrificed my comfort and wellness by being uncomfortable because the correct easy chair, ottoman, and lamp is my happy place for me and my boomer body.

Norwalk Furniture

 Wesley Hall Chairs 

And BTW, many outdated recliners are enemies of our backs due to improper pressure on wrong areas of our backs. Now today however, the choices are spot on and available to giving us comfort as well as being kind to our  backs. 

And do not forget these same principles for our home offices. Oh how we neglect ourselves by making do with any old office/ desk chair that we might have “left over”.  Again, I have been guilty of this very thing, so I know many of you also are living lots of your life in “left overs” that are not right for you. 

Mitzi’s “Repurposed Desk”Hooker Furniture 

2. ACCESSORIES 

Oh my, can accessories have an adverse effect on our health and well being merely by having way too many accessories. LESS IS MORE is so smart for this wellness topic. I often use the metaphor that our homes are like a visual buffet of what we must visually digest in any space. Clutter is not healthy or peaceful due to the unconscious sorting it requires from us visually and mentally. The difference between clutter and well selected accessories is fairly obvious to most of us. However, there are those that cannot give anything away or need to display every single thing anyone has given them. Plus these folks continue to buy tons of lower priced items. I call this syndrome ’‘the little stuff disease” and it is epidemic in some homes. The antidote is to buy smart when selecting accessories. Purchasing a $500.00 mirror versus purchasing 4 of $89.00 whatevers is the same amount of spent money, nevertheless the result is overwhelmingly more positive for our spaces.

John Richards Showroom

Tripping over too much furniture is understood. However this also holds true with too many accessories, not to mention trying to control all the allergy causing dust.

3. LIGHTING

Visual Comfort 

 Wildwood Lamps

Fact: we need at least 4 times the lighting at 50 then we did at 20 years old. Now I would wager to bet you that most of the 80% time in our favorite spaces haven’t been considered with this lighting fact.

But good news! Today our lighting options are “brighter” than ever with more choices and options for hanging pendants, chandeliers, wall sconces, and of course the jewelry of our rooms, lamps.

Lighting and healthy well being in our homes are kissing cousins with books written on this critical subject. Critical subject, Mitzi, really? Yes, because how many falls have occurred due to poor lighting? Eye strain and stress by poor lighting? You betcha. Glooming spaces with not enough lighting affect our emotional wellbeing in the same way that too much incorrect glaring lighting does to us. 

So all and all, we certainly do have a stake and an opportunity in the health of our homes by our spending choices for furniture, accessories, and lighting. In the trending movement to have a smaller footprint or perhaps with downsizing endeavors, buying smart will become more relevant and who knows, even our next status symbols.

I would value your comments or experiences on this topic since we are all trying our very best, to live our very best, now and in the future.

Living and loving life together,

Photo Video/ Lynn Byrne, C.R. Laine- Tobi Fairly, Zach Taylor, Wesley Hall, John Richards, Madcap Cottage- Jason Oliver Nixon, Hooker, Jonathan Charles, Linda Lane Design, Norwalk Furniture

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