There has been an interesting shift in American lifestyle over the last few years. Unlike before, many people are spending their time indoors. According to the EPA, Americans spend almost 90% of their free time indoors. This is probably due to advancing technology that has facilitated remote work options and the adoption of mobile apps that allow families to order meals and groceries online.

Regardless of the case, many people don’t know the connection between their homes and their overall well-being. Homes play a significant role in your overall health and happiness. As such, home upgrades designed to improve comfort, such as wainscoting from Doors Plus, adding greenery, and smart home technologies, shouldn’t be treated as a luxury anymore.

How Home Upgrade Can Improve Your Health

Most people initiate home renovation projects to improve property value, especially if they intend to sell soon. Very few homeowners upgrade their homes to improve their quality of living. Nonetheless, besides making your home modern, spacious, and comfortable, some renovations benefit your physical and mental health. Health benefits of home upgrades include:

1. Better Air Quality

Volatile organic compounds are very common in homes due to off-gassing. Old kitchen cabinets, vinyl flooring, carpets, and other things in your home can release these compounds, causing nausea, headache, noise, and throat irritations. Prolonged VOC exposure increases the risk of kidney, liver, and CNS damage, cancer, and memory loss.

However, replacing old cabinets or flooring materials with environmentally-friendly products with low VOC levels can eliminate these risks.

2. Reduced Stress

Stress is a common issue among many adults. A 2020 poll found that 60% of Americans are stressed by their work and daily activities. Stress causes headaches, stomach upsets, and other serious health issues. Unfortunately, you can’t relax and rejuvenate to face these daily challenges if your home isn’t appealing or unsafe.

However, you can reduce stress through renovation by:

  • Adding bedrooms to ensure everyone has their private space
  • Creating a home office to make working from home attractive
  • Upgrading outdoor areas with decks, patios, and outdoor kitchens
  • Expanding entertainment space with home theater, game room, or family room
  • Transforming an unattractive and outdated kitchen

3. Promotes a Healthier Diet

Though you may not notice, cooking isn’t enticing in a tiny kitchen with old appliances. As such, most people start relying on processed or take-out foods. While take-outs taste good, they are loaded with toxic sugars, unhealthy fats, and carbohydrates that affect your health. Conducting a kitchen remodel can change your feelings and attitude toward meal preparation. For instance, a gourmet chef with convection features makes cooking healthy meals easy to satisfy your taste buds.

Home Remodels that Promote a Healthy Lifestyle

Below are simple home upgrades that can promote healthy living.

1. A Kitchen Facelift

A recent study found that one-third of participants who completed a kitchen remodel led a healthier lifestyle. They agreed that they spend more time with their families at home cooking. The kitchen is a central gathering point in every home. However, because of frequent use, kitchens are prone to wear and tear, making it important for homeowners to prioritize kitchen renovation.

Apart from refreshing your kitchen space, you should consider making additions, such as kitchen islands. The kitchen island provides additional space for preparing meals, storing items, and a gathering area.

2. Upgrade Your Finished Basement

If you’ve converted your basement into a space for recreation, consider adding a bathroom as one of its fitting finishing touches. The goal of this basement bathroom addition is to enhance the experience of using the space to relax, entertain guests, work with minimal distractions, and so on.

Having access to a toilet, shower, or other bathroom facilities when you need it means convenience and promotes personal hygiene. Adding a bathroom to your basement also increases your home’s property value.

3. Paint Rooms with Uplifting Colors

Repainting your home with uplifting colors can also change your home significantly. Color psychologists have for decades claimed that room colors have subtle effects on mood. While there’s uncertainty about which color makes people feel differently, bright warm colors are considered uplifting and cool colors have a calming effect. Consider these paint colors that can boost happiness:

  • Yellow cheers you up – Like sun rays, yellow color naturally evokes positive energy.
  • Sky blue is rejuvenating – Sky blue is known to improve sleep. It is a good choice for bedrooms as it helps the body rejuvenate.
  • Green promotes optimism – Green can help you energize and promote excitement.
  • Violet is mindful – While it’s a dark color, violet promotes relaxation, helping you focus and reflect.

4. Bring in Natural Light

Bringing in more natural light is appealing, economical, and beneficial to the skin. With an estimated 40% of Americans suffering from vitamin D deficiency, letting more natural light into your home can improve your health. Vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of depression, hair loss, and fatigue. You can increase natural light in your home by:

  • Installing large windows and doors – Expanding your doors and windows increases the amount of natural light entering your home. Replacing your old, solid exterior door with a garden or patio door blurs the lines between indoor and outdoor space.
  • Adding more mirrors and shiny objects – Adding more mirrors not only makes your room appear larger but also doubles the amount of light entering your room. Decorative wall mirrors, silver photo frames, metallic finish on the ceiling, and metallic light fixtures can brighten your space.
  • Choosing a bright color palette – Colors can reflect or absorb light. Dark colors absorb light, while light colors reflect light. Opt for warm colors like light gray, white, and tan for your rooms.
  • Light window treatments – Swap the heavy draperies in your window for light, airy sheers that let in more daylight.
  • Add skylights – Use skylights to bring more light in high-traffic areas, such as family rooms and bathrooms.
  • Trimming trees and shrubs covering your doors and windows – While landscaping can help improve curb appeal, you should tame greenery that lessens light coming into your home.

If you can’t bring in enough natural light, make artificial light healthier. Most people still rely on traditional incandescent lights in their homes. If installing a skylight or adding windows proves impossible, picking the right bulb for your home is a perfect option. Human-centric lights, such as LED lights, have wavelengths that mimic natural sunlight.

Endnote

Installing smart home technology, making bedrooms tech-free zones, and restricting airborne pollutants by servicing HVACs also promote healthy living. These upgrades and renovations impact your daily life at home and will certainly improve your health.