The first step to living a healthy lifestyle is to maintain a healthy home. The energy you invest in keeping your space clean, organized, and functional lets you reap multiple benefits in the long term. These manifest as reduced safety hazards, decreased stress levels, and even better focus and emotional management.
Here are seven ways to manage a healthy home.
Replace Your Mattress
If you or any of your family members are experiencing worsening allergies or more frequent asthma attacks, it may be time to clean your mattress. Vacuuming it often can help you rid it of any allergens and dust mites that can cause irritation. Meanwhile, uncomfortable mattresses can prevent you from getting enough quality sleep. In more serious cases, it can even lead to developing diabetes, heart disease, and kidney disease.
Replace your mattress when you notice significant warning signs, such as squeaky springs, sagging, or any lumps and coils. In general, regular mattresses should be replaced after six to eight years of use.
Minimize Noise
Noise pollution contributes to the rise of mental and physical health problems. It impedes our ability to recover from stress, focus on important tasks, and sleep well at the end of the day. Determine if any of your household appliances produce unnecessary background noises. Consider buying newer models, given that they are built to be quieter.
Alternatively, pay attention to your ceilings, walls, and floors. You can reduce any noise by sealing up any cracks and fitting draught excluders or acoustic doors. Increasing the number of soft furnishings, rugs, curtains and fabric drapes, and furniture can also reduce acoustics and echoes.
Get a Humidifier 
Be wary of having high levels of moisture in your home. Over time, excessive condensation can cause mold and mildew to develop. Other humidity issues to look out for include a musty odor, staining, and peeling wallpaper.
Installing a dehumidifier allows you to have more control over your home’s moisture levels. It also reduces the likelihood of having pests, makes the environment unsuitable for the growth of allergens, and improves indoor air quality.
Reduce Clutter
Constantly looking for misplaced items consumes a lot of your time. Fix this simple issue by dedicating at least 20 percent of your room to storage solutions. You can choose from a variety of options, such as open shelving and bookcases, built-in cabinets, freestanding cupboards, and more. Placing items in their dedicated storage units frees you up from having piles of clutter so that you know exactly where your essential items are at all times. Having proper organization systems also encourages you to maintain the space’s order and cleanliness more often.
Embrace Opportunities to Have Natural Light
Being exposed to natural light regulates your circadian rhythm, hormone levels, and overall behavior and mood. Make an effort to clean your windows and pull back the curtains regularly to invite more natural light into your homes. Consider replacing wooden doors with glass panels or having sun tubes or skylights installed. You can also get patio awnings from a professional awning and canopy company so you can spend more time outdoors, too.
Create a Dedicated Work Environment
Having a separate office at home allows you to separate your work from the rest of your home activities. Make sure you have the essentials, such as natural lighting, height-adjustable furniture, a few plants, enough work surfaces and storage options, and a closable door.
In cases where you don’t have an extra room, you can get creative, choose a built-in counter to work on, and close off a corner of your living area. Get a desk specifically designed for home office spaces. Look into standing desks that encourage seamless movement so that you can alternate between sitting and standing regularly. Account for enough surface space for your desktop or laptop, paperwork, and other work accessories.
Adjust Your Kitchen Layout
Design a kitchen that encourages you to prepare your meals in advance more often and eat healthier meals. Most times, this looks like having long counter spaces that allow you to have different work zones as you keep your momentum when preparing your food. Smaller kitchens can make do with two surfaces that span at least three to four feet each. This also allows you and other family members to use the space together without getting in each other’s ways.
Keep Your Home Fresh and Functional
Give yourself and your family the gift of living a well-balanced lifestyle every day. Follow these tips and slowly improve your home. Over time, you will feel more excited to go on about your day and live your life to the fullest.
