Article written by Curtis Fisher.
4 Home Improvement Projects to Enhance Your Mental and Physical Health
Can your home impact your health? The answers to that question may surprise you, since the state of your home can affect your emotional and physical health in several different ways. From influencing your stress levels to reducing your risk of illness, here are just a handful of home improvement projects you can complete to benefit your overall health and well-being.
Create a Backyard Oasis
Did you know that being outside, even if it’s in your own backyard, has been shown to decrease feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression. So if your backyard spaces are currently giving you stress, you should think about ways to spruce them up. For example, if you need more privacy to feel relaxed, then investing in a fence could bring added feelings of calm and happiness. Homeowners can expect to pay around $2,754 to have a wooden fence installed, but costs can vary depending on several factors such as wood type and labor. Lumber can range from $7 to $15 for each square foot while labor charges can cost anywhere from $10 to $30 for each foot of fencing installed. And if you want to add a gate, this will run you an extra $200 – $600. A fence can help you relax, but it can also help add value to your home.
Set Up a Sleep Sanctuary
If you are losing sleep at night, your bedroom could be to blame. This can be especially true if your bedroom is cluttered because clutter has been shown to increase feelings of stress and anxiety. You may not even realize that your chaotic bedroom is what’s causing you to feel anxious or to lose sleep, so make tidying up your bedroom a top priority for your health. Start by sorting any items into piles so you can decide what to keep, what to toss, and what you’re not quite sure about. In addition to removing actual clutter from your bedroom, you should also consider removing anything that makes your brain feel cluttered. This can include a television and other electronics, which tend to make it difficult to get quality sleep. If your bedroom needs a makeover after you’ve cleaned and decluttered, a few budget-friendly tweaks can help.
Deep Clean or Replace Flooring
Carpets and rugs can make your toes feel cozy, but these flooring options can also cause problems for your respiratory system. That’s because the fibers in rugs and carpets are notorious for trapping all sorts of allergens, like dust, pet dander, and pollen. So if you want to keep these decorative touches without sacrificing your health, you should be sure to clean them on a regular basis. If you have pets in your home, investing in a vacuum that can tackle pet hair and dander is a must, so factor this into your home improvement budget. You may also want to have your carpets and rugs deep-cleaned by professionals, which can result in added expense (expect to pay between $125 and $250). If you have more room in your budget, replacing carpets with easy-to-clean flooring can be an even more effective way to keep allergens out of your home and keep symptoms at bay.
Purify and Protect Indoor Air
Getting rid of or regularly cleaning carpets can help reduce the amount of allergens in your home, but you should also be concerned about keeping allergens out of the air. It may come as a surprise, but research has found that air quality in most homes is actually far worse than outside. That could be due to dust and pollen getting trapped in the home or hidden toxins being leached into the air. Either way, keeping your air clean is a simple and effective way to protect your health and well-being. Replacing an HVAC system is the most extensive and expensive method for ensuring the air in your home is clean, but this major improvement project is also one of the best ways to keep your home’s air free of pollutants and allergens that can make you sick.
Your home should be a sanctuary for health and stress relief. So if yours isn’t, consider making some of the changes mentioned above. Doing so could improve your health and your overall quality of life, which is well worth any costs or efforts.
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