As our lives continue to become more fast-paced, juggling families, careers and the rising cost of living, it's common to experience a lot of anxiety due to dealing with increased stress. But it is possible to help counteract this stress by creating a serene home that's specifically designed to calm the body and mind. Follow these great tips to design an interior that will restore peace and tranquility to the chaos of daily living.

 1. Good lighting is integral

When it comes to creating serenity in the home, having good lighting is integral. Where possible, make the most of using natural light even adding skylights to lighten darker areas of your home. Also, when installing artificial light choose softer lighting or add a dimmer switch to make your rooms glow.

2. Don't overclutter your space

As more homes are being designed with open plan living in mind, don't overclutter your space, interrupting your connection with your outdoor environment. As nature has the ability to calm your mood, being able to view your natural surrounds without unnecessary objects impairing your sight is crucial for you to feel relaxed. Instead, focus on adding interior elements that fit seamlessly with your exterior environment and don't feel artificial.

3. Opt for a muted colour palette

The colour palette of your home interior also directly affects your mood. Bright colours are known to help energise the mind, while a more muted colour palette is calming. Think shades of white and soft pastels to achieve this look.

4. Functionality and serenity go hand in hand

A functional environment helps to decrease the stress of everyday living. Depending on each individual's personal issues with their space, by making it more functional, stress levels will start to abate. For example, if there's a lack of storage in the home leading to increased surface clutter, by installing additional storage this will inspire a more tidy home. In conjunction with this, it also eases the mind as there's no longer the recurrent stress of feeling the house needs cleaning.

5. Keep the senses engaged

By engaging all the senses, you can create an environment that's more calming. Whether it's smell, touch, sight or sound, each of these senses will enhance the aesthetic design of a room and when your senses are engaged, it has a flow-on effect that positively impacts on calming your mood.

6. Designate your space

When designing your home interior to help achieve serenity, by designating space you can create a better work/life balance. For example, if you work from home have specific zones for your office, entertainment, relaxation and meditation. This makes it easier to separate your work life and home life, so when you leave the office you can shut the door, effectively leaving your work-related stress behind you.

7. Don't overcomplicate your interior

Often when designing an interior there's the danger of overstyling it, so it feels complicated and artificial. Harmony in your home environment is achieving a balance between over and understyling it. An example of this is contrasting clean lines, such as a marble benchtop, with rustic accessories or features.

These are some simple and easy tips to help calm and restore the mind and body through styling your home interior. If you don't know where to start and would prefer to leave the task in the hands of the experts, contact our friendly team of designers at Jarvis Interiors today. Our interior designers are experts at using colour, sound and light therapy to enhance environments and improve our clients' health and well-being. Contact us now for further information.