Aug 15, 2015
Featured, Health and Wellness
Creating Wellness Spaces at Home and at Work
Here are a few important facts:
- According to the World Health Organization, the cost of stress to American businesses is as high as $300 billion.
- Over the last 30 years, self-reported levels of stress have increased 18 percent for women and 25 percent for men.
- Stress plays a role in a wide array of illnesses, like high blood pressure, afflicting nearly 70 million, and costing $130 billion a year to treat, or diabetes, which 25 million Americans have.
As you can see, increasing stress levels have significant consequences and the problem will only get worse unless we do something to change this course.
One solution to reducing stress levels is through creating Wellness Spaces where people can exercise, relax and focus on health and balance in their own homes and workplaces. This trend in creating specific rooms set aside for health and wellness is on the rise, particularly in new residential communities and progressive businesses.
However, like all design, Wellness Spaces should be created in ways that enhance calm, energy and well-being as opposed to just being a room filled with exercise equipment.
Here are a few of the things we look at when we are designing customized Wellness Spaces for our residential and commercial clients:
- Careful attention to wall and floor coverings. We work to select materials that are organic and natural, yet durable. Color and texture is also an important consideration to allow for easy cleaning but appeal to the senses.
- Flexibility in layout. Wellness Spaces often have multi-uses: a place for mediation; sauna or hot tub, room for dancing; a variety of aerobic and weight training equipment; and solitary and group/family use, to name just a few.
- Smart storage. We focus on built-in storage and clever storage furniture to keep Wellness Spaces open and uncluttered.
- Sensory experience. We incorporate entertainment systems, artwork, special lighting, aromatherapy and drink/snack units into our Wellness Spaces for a total sensory experience. The key is to create the right kind of energy to maximize health and wellness.
- Integration into the home or business. We look at location, flow and integration of design elements to ensure that the Wellness Space is an extension of other spaces.
Currently, we are booking engagements to create Wellness Spaces in order to have them complete before winter sets in. If you are interested in this for your home or business, please let us know.
