Feeling good in your own home – staying cozy & healthy at home

Feeling good at home and its impact on health

Hello from Essen! My name is Nina Hamann-Hensel and I am the Managing Director of the Möbel Hensel furniture store in the beautiful district of Altenessen. Furniture and furnishings are my passion, which I enjoy sharing with my customers and employees.

Feeling at ease in your own home is something that is extremely important to me Personally. The home is, after all, the place where everyone can retreat to and recharge their batteries. This is also one reason why I like to help others feel comfortable in their own homes. In fact, everyone can achieve this with a few simple means. And, as research suggests, not only can a beautiful home have a positive effect on your well-being, but possibly even on your health.

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Feeling good in your own home – but how?

Before we get onto the topic of health, let’s first ask ourselves a question: What is it exactly that makes a home beautiful? Or rather, what helps us feel comfortable in our homes? Not every cozy home is “beautiful” by classical standards. I’ve met People who, in my view, live in utter chaos, yet they feel completely content there.

This illustrates perfectly how our comfort zone is something that is totally individual. What pleases one Person can be uncomfortable for someone else. No wonder, then, that even science says that our home can, conversely, say something about our character: https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wissen/leben-gene/psychologie-ein-blick-genuegt-1544016.html   The ways in which someone sets up their feel-good home are therefore different for each Person. I also experience this every day through my work at the store.

Feeling good at home in a natural environment

Nevertheless, there are things that probably do increase the sense of well-being for most People in their homes. These include natural materials, such as wood, stone or other naturally-occurring substances. For example, one study I read showed that nurses in hospitals with access to an area with natural furnishings felt much more at ease than a comparison group did. Although this study was not directly about the sense of well-being in your own home, I would be surprised if these results were not transferable.

I have also discussed this phenomenon extensively with the naturopaths Farid Zitoun and Christian Rüger from Naturheilzentrum Bottrop. Precisely because the latest video by the Bottrop-based youtubers is about the many effects that our homes can have on our well-being and even our health. The whole topic is fascinating, not least because the design and the materials used at their naturopathic practice were also selected for maximum well-being and health gain.

Lots of light and plants for greater well-being

One great example of the interaction between well-being and health is light. For instance, a positive effect of light-flooded rooms on health was found in one review: https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/healing-environment/what-impact-does-environment-have-us. This applies to both natural and artificial light. And everyone can take something from this for their everyday lives: Opening the curtains often and generally providing enough light obviously already helps.

Plants can also have a positive effect in several ways. Not only do they bring us closer to nature and thereby increase our well-being, but they can simultaneously improve air quality and filter out pollutants, as Quarks reports: https://www.quarks.de/gesundheit/das-bringt-es-eine-zimmerpflanze-aufzustellen/. Chrysanthemums, green lily, and common ivy evidently perform particularly well here – and they look beautiful too – which is also great for making you feel good at home.

Do you feel good at home?

Our dwellings, our homes, can have a noticeable effect on us and affect our well-being and possibly even our health. I hope you know the feeling when you’ve been on the road a lot and just look forward to going home. This means you’ve probably already done quite a lot right and set up your place in such a way that you can feel comfortable in your own home. If, on the other hand, the ceiling is constantly crumbling around your head or you even find yourself avoiding the place, it’s a sign that you do not feel comfortable there. You can do something about this, and natural furnishings, set up in accordance with your wishes, can be an important first step.

If you have any questions or perhaps need one tip or another, just write to me or contact me at the furniture store. This isn’t work for me, but a passion, and I am very happy to be assist you here with help and advice on furnishings.

My Personal recommendation: If you want to do even more for your own well-being, I can refer you in good conscience to Farid Zitoun and Christian Rüger from Naturheilzentrum Bottrop – or you can take a direct look at the informative and insightful video by the two bloggers. I like it!

Sharing is part of my profession, e.g. when it comes to planning. What I’d really like now is for you tell me what you do to make yourself feel completely at ease at home. I’d be very excited to read your comments. Thank you in advance for them!

Regards,

Nina Hamann-Hense

More on the topic in the article: Residential Psychology & Homing.