Feel-Good Home
Why We Gravitate Toward Beauty in Design
As a new exhibition looks at the power and benefits of beauty, pros explain ways to maximize it at home
We know that walking into an attractive, thoughtfully designed home feels better than walking into a chaotic and cluttered one. But what is it about beautiful design that’s so powerful? People have been curious about the draw of all things beautiful for centuries, and as Sagmeister & Walsh: Beauty, an exhibition examining the question, kicks off at Austria’s MAK Museum of Applied Arts, we turned to a trio of home professionals who specialize in the psychological effect of design for insight into why surrounding ourselves with things we find attractive is so important and how we can make our homes feel even more beautiful.
Whatever the reason, experts say our instinct to make things beautiful isn’t going anywhere. And when it comes to our home and other structures we spend most of our time in, good design has been shown to boost our mood and overall sense of well-being.
Toby Israel, the design psychologist behind New Jersey’s Oasis by Design and the author of Some Place Like Home: Using Design Psychology to Create Ideal Places, cites research in which patients in more beautiful hospital rooms reported better moods, needed less medicine and were released earlier than patients in gloomier rooms. At home, where decor can be more customized and meaningful, those benefits can resonate even more strongly Israel says.
“A home environment, obviously, you can personalize more,” she says. “A hospital environment can’t be so personal that it would turn one person off immediately and please someone else.”
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Toby Israel, the design psychologist behind New Jersey’s Oasis by Design and the author of Some Place Like Home: Using Design Psychology to Create Ideal Places, cites research in which patients in more beautiful hospital rooms reported better moods, needed less medicine and were released earlier than patients in gloomier rooms. At home, where decor can be more customized and meaningful, those benefits can resonate even more strongly Israel says.
“A home environment, obviously, you can personalize more,” she says. “A hospital environment can’t be so personal that it would turn one person off immediately and please someone else.”
Find a local interior designer on Houzz
How to Figure Out What’s Beautiful to You
Israel and others say a home feels most beautiful when it taps into design elements that are specifically tailored to the resident and his or her preferences and experiences.
So how do you zero in on those details? Leslie Wagner, a design psychologist in Michigan, suggests that homeowners and the pros they’re working with look to the homeowner’s past living experiences as a starting point. Wagner, who also works in real estate, says she regularly conducts “environmental genealogies” with clients to get a feel for their taste.
To figure out a design direction for one recent client, for example, she determined that a “law library kind of feel” would be best since the client was a retired law professional. “I interviewed him about homes he’s lived in, homes he’s loved, what his heritage is, what his aspirations are for his new English Tudor home and the feeling that he wants,” Wagner says.
Israel and others say a home feels most beautiful when it taps into design elements that are specifically tailored to the resident and his or her preferences and experiences.
So how do you zero in on those details? Leslie Wagner, a design psychologist in Michigan, suggests that homeowners and the pros they’re working with look to the homeowner’s past living experiences as a starting point. Wagner, who also works in real estate, says she regularly conducts “environmental genealogies” with clients to get a feel for their taste.
To figure out a design direction for one recent client, for example, she determined that a “law library kind of feel” would be best since the client was a retired law professional. “I interviewed him about homes he’s lived in, homes he’s loved, what his heritage is, what his aspirations are for his new English Tudor home and the feeling that he wants,” Wagner says.
Beyond those aspects, the house itself can sometimes lead the way. Wagner was inspired by the blue striped wallpaper from the 1850s she found deep within the walls of the farmhouse she’s restoring, she says. She incorporated the color in the house’s front room. “It can be pulling from your own life or it can be pulling from something you feel the house wants you to express,” she says.
Even if you don’t know exactly what design choice is most appealing, you’ll likely have a sense of what isn’t. “It’s great when we’re in sync; we have a sense of well-being,” Israel says. “But when we’re out of sync — for example, when there are jarring colors, a poor arrangement of furniture or objects that don’t match — we may have a sense that something isn’t right.”
How to Find Your Spirit Colors
Even if you don’t know exactly what design choice is most appealing, you’ll likely have a sense of what isn’t. “It’s great when we’re in sync; we have a sense of well-being,” Israel says. “But when we’re out of sync — for example, when there are jarring colors, a poor arrangement of furniture or objects that don’t match — we may have a sense that something isn’t right.”
How to Find Your Spirit Colors
Where Beauty Makes the Most Impact
Research has shown that certain choices can be particularly beneficial. “Elements such as color, lighting, space and geometry, furniture, and organization all play a role in a person’s mood and ultimately on a healthy quality of life,” says Eve Joss of Florida’s Rooms by Eve. For homeowners and designers eager to make the psychological most out of their designs, Joss offers these more general tips:
Pay attention to color. “Colors have a definite psychological effect on behavior,” Joss says. “For example, the color blue, much like looking at the ocean, will provide serenity.”
Consider how much stuff you have. Photos, books and memorabilia can invoke feelings of comfort and peace, though a sparser space also can feel calming in its simplicity.
Browse storage and organization products in the Houzz Shop
Research has shown that certain choices can be particularly beneficial. “Elements such as color, lighting, space and geometry, furniture, and organization all play a role in a person’s mood and ultimately on a healthy quality of life,” says Eve Joss of Florida’s Rooms by Eve. For homeowners and designers eager to make the psychological most out of their designs, Joss offers these more general tips:
Pay attention to color. “Colors have a definite psychological effect on behavior,” Joss says. “For example, the color blue, much like looking at the ocean, will provide serenity.”
Consider how much stuff you have. Photos, books and memorabilia can invoke feelings of comfort and peace, though a sparser space also can feel calming in its simplicity.
Browse storage and organization products in the Houzz Shop
Look to the lights. A brightly lit space can be an instant mood booster, particularly if it’s filled with natural light.
Focus on exteriors and entryways. More beautiful exteriors and entryways set a tone as soon as someone enters or looks at a home.
Bring the outdoors in. For most people, natural decorative elements like plants, wood, feathers or even a highlighted view introduce instant tranquillity and beauty into a space.
Shop for live plants on Houzz
Focus on exteriors and entryways. More beautiful exteriors and entryways set a tone as soon as someone enters or looks at a home.
Bring the outdoors in. For most people, natural decorative elements like plants, wood, feathers or even a highlighted view introduce instant tranquillity and beauty into a space.
Shop for live plants on Houzz
How to Find the Deeper Meaning
When homeowners are scrolling through photos for inspiration on Houzz, the design psychologists suggest that they be on the lookout for any recurring themes or patterns and that they think about why they connect with certain images more than others.
“It’s looking at those things but then saying, ‘OK, why does this appeal to me?’” Israel says. “There’s something beneath that, that reaches down to our very sense of being, to our very sense of self.”
Positive associations from childhood and other past experiences often drive some of the most powerful personalized design, Israel says, even unconsciously. You may love kitchens with yellow walls and lots of windows because that’s what you remember from your grandmother’s house.
When homeowners are scrolling through photos for inspiration on Houzz, the design psychologists suggest that they be on the lookout for any recurring themes or patterns and that they think about why they connect with certain images more than others.
“It’s looking at those things but then saying, ‘OK, why does this appeal to me?’” Israel says. “There’s something beneath that, that reaches down to our very sense of being, to our very sense of self.”
Positive associations from childhood and other past experiences often drive some of the most powerful personalized design, Israel says, even unconsciously. You may love kitchens with yellow walls and lots of windows because that’s what you remember from your grandmother’s house.
Similarly, certain objects are meaningful because they’re associated with a particular happy vacation, person or time period. And it works the other way too. Israel finds the burnt-orange walls of her office beautiful because they remind her of her Hungarian ancestors, but she says someone else might be turned off by the color’s intensity because it reminds that person of something traumatic.
“I say choose objects that are not just beautiful in terms of their shape or their texture, but also objects that you have a psychologically positive association with,” Israel says. “So, for instance, it might be great to look in a magazine and see a blue upholstered chair: ‘Oh, that’s a pretty chair.’ Then you’re on Houzz and you see another one that’s a purple upholstered chair and you just love that. And then you realize that part of the reason you love it is because your great-aunt who was a special person to you always wore that shade of purple so that resonates positively for you for psychological reasons. So it might be the same nice chair, but it has positive associations.”
The concept of beauty, in many ways, remains mysterious, but experts say homeowners and pros can build an even deeper connection with the homes they love by tuning in to the specific design elements they find appealing.
“For the vast majority of us, beauty is what motivates and moves us,” Wagner says. “We move toward things we are attracted to, be it a human or a painting or a sculpture, so having a home that is expressive of your inner life just makes for an integrated life and a place where you can come home and take a deep breath, sink into the couch and think, ‘Yeah, I made this. This is me.’”
Info: Sagmeister & Walsh: Beauty runs through March 31, 2019, at the MAK Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna. The exhibit subsequently runs at the MAK museum in Frankfurt, Germany, from May 1 through Sept. 30, 2019.
Your turn: What makes your house feel beautiful? Tell us in the Comments.
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What We Can Learn From the Minimalists
Find an interior designer in your area
“I say choose objects that are not just beautiful in terms of their shape or their texture, but also objects that you have a psychologically positive association with,” Israel says. “So, for instance, it might be great to look in a magazine and see a blue upholstered chair: ‘Oh, that’s a pretty chair.’ Then you’re on Houzz and you see another one that’s a purple upholstered chair and you just love that. And then you realize that part of the reason you love it is because your great-aunt who was a special person to you always wore that shade of purple so that resonates positively for you for psychological reasons. So it might be the same nice chair, but it has positive associations.”
The concept of beauty, in many ways, remains mysterious, but experts say homeowners and pros can build an even deeper connection with the homes they love by tuning in to the specific design elements they find appealing.
“For the vast majority of us, beauty is what motivates and moves us,” Wagner says. “We move toward things we are attracted to, be it a human or a painting or a sculpture, so having a home that is expressive of your inner life just makes for an integrated life and a place where you can come home and take a deep breath, sink into the couch and think, ‘Yeah, I made this. This is me.’”
Info: Sagmeister & Walsh: Beauty runs through March 31, 2019, at the MAK Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna. The exhibit subsequently runs at the MAK museum in Frankfurt, Germany, from May 1 through Sept. 30, 2019.
Your turn: What makes your house feel beautiful? Tell us in the Comments.
More
Designing for Pleasure: Savor Your Natural Surroundings
What We Can Learn From the Minimalists
Find an interior designer in your area
Beauty is hard to define, but generally speaking, people find something beautiful if its form, shape, texture, color or other physical traits are in some way appealing. And that appeal is particularly impactful when it’s around us day in and day out at home.
New York designers Stefan Sagmeister and Jessica Walsh examine the ways everyday beauty wields power in fields like architecture, graphic design, city planning and product design in the just-opened multimedia exhibit, demonstrating the many ways that beauty goes beyond being just a superficial trait. Beauty can improve people’s quality of life, the exhibit and its related events argue.
Some researchers think our appreciation for beautiful surroundings evolved from a need to be in sync with the natural world since many shapes and patterns we think of as beautiful, such as spirals and waves, can be found in nature. Gravitating toward beauty also may have started as a way for humans to defend themselves from danger (a more beautiful, symmetrical plant could have been safer to eat than a misshapen one, for example).