In recent years, studies about the human brain and human personalities have taught us that the answer to “What makes us us?” isn’t as simple as “nature” or “nurture.” Instead, a complex set of genetic and environmental factors shape our personalities and encourage or deter us, moment by moment, from being our best selves.
Here are seven ways the interior design environments you inhabit shape your personality – and how to use these facts to build spaces that support you:
1. Want to be calmer? Tame your primal anxieties.
The human brain evolved in the African Savannah, and its more primitive structures still feel safest when the environment mimics a savannah view. Darker floors suggest nature or a field, lighter ceilings remind us of the sun, and the ability to see “into the distance” helps convince our fight-or-flight center that no lions are lurking to eat us. To create a calmer personality, design with the Savannah in mind.
2. The happiness you feel in sunlight isn’t just “in your head.”
The body uses sunlight to produce vitamin D, which has a profound effect on mood, pain sensations, and other functions. In an interior space, windows, skylights, and strategically-placed full-spectrum lighting can increase your exposure to sunlight, making you a happier and healthier person.
3. If you can decide what matters, then the interior design is up to you.
Have a goal you want to reach? Design your work-space to give you the boost you need to reach your goals. Dynamic shapes, bold colors, and the placement of “reminders” like photos in your line of sight can all help keep you on task.
4. Space can make you feel more extroverted.
A 2010 study in Housing Educators tracked the extroversion and introversion of designers alongside the spaces they designed and found a strong correlation between direct entries and open interiors and outgoing personalities. If you want to encourage socialization, design can help.
5. Color has a profound effect on feeling.
For focused, detail-oriented types, color in a space is often an afterthought. But decades of studies have shown that colors have a profound effect on our moods – and thus on our responses to other people and to life’s challenges. To create a mood of drive or creativity in the office, incorporate red or orange; soothing colors like blue and grey are best for relaxing spaces.
6. To get organized and finish your work, think line.
The 2010 Housing Educators study also found a strong link between spaces that make use of straight lines and grid patterns as visual organizers, and people who were known for staying organized and completing their tasks. Work-spaces can benefit from a similar approach.
7. To develop a more creative personality, let spaces flow.
While organization, clear lines, and sharp delineation between spaces may encourage organization and step-by-step completion of tasks, the opposite is also true: a more open space, using half-walls and encouraging “flow” between public and private spaces, can encourage “thinking outside the box.”
The interior design professionals at Ron Nathan Interiors can help you design a space that helps you become your best self. Contact us today to learn more.
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