A more traditional approach to interior design places less emphasis on outward trends and more emphasis on how our environments make us feel, from improving sleep to creating a welcoming environment. Investigating the “feel-good house” craze is Daisy Woodward.

Our surroundings influence how we feel. The concept of changing the appearance and layout of your home to enhance your sense of well-being has a long history, from feng shui to the Scandinavian pursuit of hygge. Environmental psychology, the study of how people interact with their environment, did not become an academic discipline until the late 1960s, making it even more modern in terms of interior design. The idea of enhancing our interior homes can help us be healthier.

According to Jean Whitehead, senior lecturer in interior design at Falmouth University, the epidemic has boosted our society’s concern for health. Surprisingly, during the lockdown, “indoors” came to signify “at home,” and as a result, many of us began to care more about how our homes made us feel than how they appeared, at least in terms of trends.