Homebase Life Improvement Campaign

Over the coming months I’ll be working with my friends over at Homebase, who have partnered with design and well-being expert Oliver Heath, to see whether improving your home environment can also improve your life. Can a new dining table, a lock on the bathroom door or a fresh coat of colourful paint really make a difference in your mood and overall well-being? Well, I’m going to find out. Here’s the theory behind the campaign…

I have to say, I’m pretty excited about this collaboration. I love our home. Every single inch of it. But we haven’t got the best out of it yet and we seem to be always fighting a losing battle with clutter; I’m not a naturally tidy person. And yes, most of the clutter is mine. Yarp. I’m ready for a change though and a room make-over is always a good motivation.

Oliver Heath specialises in creating happier and healthier homes, and he believes by working out the problem areas in a home, no matter how small, can improve the days we spend on this lovely planet of ours. I mean, I get giddy when I’ve changed the bedding, so I’m thinking along those lines times 100. So folks, my home office is going to be my tester pot.

Not only has the home office turned into a dumping ground, which is hardly conducive to a relaxing environment for someone who works from home 3 days a week, it’s pretty uninspiring. I’m a creative person, so walking into a room that doesn’t feel quite ‘me’ sometimes makes me opt for the dining table downstairs, which seems wasteful when I have a whole room to work in. It has some great pieces of furniture in it that I love but somehow it all needs pulling together. Five key areas that I’d like to change about our office are…

All images in this post via Freunde von Freunden

Colour. First up, I’d like to give a heads up to Freunde von Freunden, my favourite website to look for interior inspiration. The homes/businesses always look perfect to me; lived in, real, and packed with personality. That’s all I ever want for our home. I’m not looking for perfection. I just want each room in our house to represent a bit of us.

The office needs a hit of hue to bring it back to life. Like the awesome yellow desk above I need to be less afraid of adding colour to a room, I tend to stay safe with colourful accessories rather than furniture or walls.

Storage. Instead of using storage to hide away things we hardly ever use I’d prefer to use it as a way to display things that we love. I like the idea of displaying favourite books and prints on shelves like this. Great for a daily dose of inspiration.

Plants. The office gets quite a lot of light most of the day so it definitely deserves more plants, but not just cacti that I usually opt for. Having plants in your direct vision is scientifically proven to reduce physical and psychological stress. I’ll have me some of that, thank you. I love this planter, a perfect example of how you can decorate a room with plants.

Art. I’ve talked about this in a recent post but if there’s one easy way to change the look or feel of a room it’s with art. We have lots of it but I think the walls need to be a different colour (currently white and green in office) to really make the artwork stand out. Know what hue I’m opting for? Here’s a clue.

Pet friendly. Polly follows me wherever I go so I need to make sure the space is safe, organised and cosy too. Wires and other chewing temptations need to be out of site. Oh and space for her comfy bed too.

I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with my progress, then in a month to actually test whether the changes have really improved my working environment. Best get started!

♥

Disclosure: Collaborative Post