Cuddledown's summery "Koi" bedding collection
So – this week happens to be National Bike to Work Week, and Maine is a particularly bike-friendly state. However, the weather here in the northeast is clearly not being cooperative (and that’s the understatement of the year!) With the chilly, grey, gloomy, rainy, drizzly, dank, nasty (I could go on…) weather due to continue into infinity… my thoughts turn to activities that can be done inside, and my eye was caught by an article about “neuroarchitecture” on Oprah’s website (quotes below courtesy of Tim Jarvis
O, The Oprah Magazine.) This hot new field explores research on how factors like light, space, and room layout affect physical and psychological well-being.
“The premise is to consider how each feature of the architectural environment influences certain brain processes such as those involved in stress, emotion, and memory,” says Eve Edelstein, PhD, adjunct professor at the NewSchool of Architecture & Design in San Diego and a research consultant to the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA).
Another researcher, University of Wisconsin’s Richard J. Davidson, PhD., says “One of the keys to a home that elicits a lot of happiness and positive emotion is that it changes to some extent.” In other words, when you get used to your surroundings, eventually that can grow stale, so this research advocates rearranging things, adding in new pieces from time to time, changing the lighting and so on, to give yourself a boost.
That being said – I think it’s time to upgrade the bedroom with some fun, summery, mood-boosting bedding! What do you think? Feel free to post photos of your own “neuroarchitecture” experiments in re-decorating, and share any thoughts you have about how to beat the blues when the weather outside won’t cooperate!
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