Be Happy

BE HAPPY! Recent research has shown that your home is key to happiness....

The home is so key because it is literally is the seed of our identity, a place of our core values, where we connect with ourselves and family

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What makes you happy? Your job? Your income? In fact, recent research has shown that the answer to this question is actually your home. ‘If you are happy with your home, you are almost certainly happy in life,’ reported a recent report by Danish think tank, the Happiness Research Institute. The Good Home Report found that the home is ‘almost three times more important than what we earn and five times more important than our employment status or whether we have children.’ Why? ‘Our homes shape our lives,’ says Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute, ‘The home is so key because it is literally is the seed of our identity, a place of our core values, where we connect with ourselves and family,’ continues design psychology coach and interior designer Rebecca West, author of

Happy Starts at Home: Change your space, transform your life (CICO Books). ‘And between the ages of about 30-50 years old, the home is especially powerful as it rooted in our identity and who we want to be.’

Victoria Harrison gathered together research from around the world on the relationship between the home and happiness for her book Happy by Design (Aster). She says, ‘If our home is not supporting us, we’re missing a trick.’ But what makes a happy home? Choosing a look and style that reflects the way you live and what makes you feel good. ‘You need to reshape your home according to your life,’ says Rebecca. ‘It’s about where best to invest your time and energy in your home to make it work better for you.’ Here’s what to consider...

WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE? ‘Often we make changes guided by what’s “right” or current, unconsciously trying to keep up with the Joneses without realising what is motivating our decisions,’ says Rebecca. ‘Your home is supposed to make you happy and help you reach your goals so you need to identify how to make your home work for you.’ How? Write down your priorities, and then choose just three that are fundamental such as being able to have guests over to stay. ‘Does your home meet these needs? If not, what one thing can you change that could get you closer to having a home that aligns with your top three priorities,’ says Rebecca. ‘If you live with a partner, use this eÝercise to find common ground so you can create s«ace for both of your needs to be fulfilled.’

START SMALL ‘It’s the little things that make a difference and that build momentum for doing the larger things,’ says Rebecca. ‘So dust, change the light bulb, organise a drawer... These kinds of maintenance repairs also cause stress so get rid of every little stress that you can. Complete just one home repair a week, and within a month you’ll find yourself feeling calmer and more in control of your emotions and home life.’

GET THAT SPACIOUS FEELING It’s not the actual size of the home that matters, but whether it feels spacious. ‘Feeling like we don’t have enough space was one issue that had the greatest impact on having happy home,’ says The Good Home Report which suggests rearranging your home to give it a greater sense of space. Look around you; is there too much furniture making rooms feel cramped? Being able to walk comfortably around furniture will give a room a sense of yow that makes its siâe feel comfortable. De-clutter and have a space for everything. ‘Research discovered that women who described their living spaces as “cluttered” or full of ºunfinished «roects» were more likely to be de«ressed and fatigued than women who described their homes as “restful” and “restorative”’’ says Victoria.

¼Decorate using colours that you find easy to live with,’ says Victoria. ‘Research found yellow to be the happiest colour - if you like it, add a few pops of the colour through accessories such as a lampshade or a cushion.’ Other ways to add personality include a gallery wall of your favourite photographs or pictures, add a quirky table lamp or brighten a room with favourite patterned wallpaper.

SLEEP WELLL Create a bedroom that helps you get a good night’s sleep. ‘Without restorative sleep and rest, life becomes unbearable,’ says Rebecca. ‘Everything feels hard. On the other hand, when we are rested, we are able to focus and accomplish more.’ Use black-out blinds to keep out daylight, choose tranquil colours instead of energising ones, and again, ditch the clutter as the issues surrounding it will fill your mind and make it hard to slee«.

ENTERTAIN! ‘Our homes are happier when we invite people to share them with us,’ says The Good Home Report. ‘This increases our pride in our homes as well as the emotional connection we feel with where we live.’

GO GREEN Access to green space makes a big difference to our happiness levels but even bringing greenery indoors through house plants has a huge im«act. ¼Several scientific studies have shown that plants in an indoor environment can also lower blood pressure, reduce stress and impact our overall health in a positive way,’ says Victoria. NASA’s now widely-quoted research found that plants emit negative ions which help reduce airborne microorganisms, giving us a euphoric feeling too.

SCENT SMART Victoria describes using scent as ‘decorating with an invisible layer’ that can affect the way we feel. ‘Ingredients in a fragrance work on our subconscious, releasing hormones which, among other things, give us energy, lift our mood or enhance sensations of pleasure.’ Choose a scent according to how you want a room to make you feel. ‘Generally, citrus is energising, lavender and jasmine are calming, vanilla and amber give a cosy feel but there are no hard and fast rules; go with what you love.’

The three properties in this issue all feature owners who have had a real hand - literally - in creating their homes, and love them all the more for it. On the next page is a beautiful house in which the homeowners did all of the work themselves, expertly combining old and new. On page 038, a maisonette was renovated and a penthouse built on top of it to create the perfect home for all the family, and on page 046, extending an old house has created a wonderful escape