LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter 1

       What Is Environmental Psychology and Why Does It Matter?

      What Kind of Home and Workplace

      Are Best for You?

      This can be a difficult question to answer.

      Designing homes and workspaces is tough. Have you found yourself:

      •Perplexed before a sea of paint chips at your local home improvement store?

      •Wandering glumly through furniture stores?

      •Endlessly cycling from one real estate showing to the next with an agent who is less and less concerned with finding you a home and more and more interested in getting you to buy something, anything, so the agent can move on to other clients?

      •Decluttered and living in a string of desolate interiors?

      •Opening your Pinterest account and just sighing?

      The design-confused phase of your life is ending. You can take control of your physical world. The science-based information in the pages to come will show you how to create spaces where you and your family and friends can live your best lives.

      With science, you can answer questions such as:

      •What color should you paint your dining room?

      •Should you use warm-colored light bulbs or cool ones in your office?

      •How do shapes and patterns—on wallpapers, upholstery, or elsewhere—influence how you think in a space?

      •How do room dimensions influence you psychologically? Can you use paint to make your living room feel like it’s a more comfortable size or shape?

      •In what ways do sounds affect your mental state? How should you soundscape places where you need to concentrate or think creative thoughts?

      •Why does smell matter? How can you use scents to relax and feel less anxious? Remember things? Boost your mood?

      •How do textures influence you emotionally? What should your bedroom rug feel like underfoot?

      AND, perhaps the most important question of all:

      •How are your personality and the best design approach for you really related?

      You can use science-based design to develop interiors that align with your personality and support your real psychological needs—places where you feel comfortable, or creative, or whatever else you have planned. The pages that follow are packed with concrete, science-based design insights—in everyday language—that can be used to help you craft places where you can achieve your life goals.