the secrets to a good life at home-pg电子官方

how home boosts mental wellbeing

for this latest report, ikea spoke to more than 37,000 people across 37 countries to get to the heart of what creates a better life at home. and the research revealed a clear trend: when a person sees their personality reflected in their home, they’re 1.5 times more likely to feel good about it.

and that matters, because when people see themselves reflected in their living spaces, they’re almost twice as likely to report that their home supports positive mental wellbeing, too.

while that sounds like a solid win for the relationships between people and their homes, there’s a catch: only around 6 in 10 people believe their home actually represents their identity. the number dips even lower for younger people and non-homeowners.

katie mccrory, who leads the life at home report at ikea, acknowledges the power of stamping a home with your own individuality and notes that doing so can feel easier with age. “we’ve always thought that the way you feel about your home has a huge impact on the way you feel about yourself. home is more than just a physical place. it’s an extension of identity, an emotional environment. it makes sense that you feel more comfortable and more secure in places that feel innately yours.”

“home ownership often correlates with age, and ownership is a really important part of feeling like you have control and agency over things like the appearance of your home and how it’s organised. the good news is that you don’t have to own your home to make it work for you, but we can see that for those who rent, particularly younger people, it can be harder to imprint a sense of identity on somewhere they might not be living for very long or where they’re not allowed to hang pictures on the wall.”

memory-filled possessions make homes personal

so how do people go about setting up their home to reflect their personality? an obvious answer might seem to be by surrounding themselves with people they love, but while that is important, the research found that having meaningful possessions matters most.

“it’s not about buying lots of stuff,” says katie. “but just by living in the world and having experiences, you start to acquire things, like photos, objects, textiles and so on, that become memory makers. that’s the most important part of how possessions make home feel like a reflection of identity.”

katie suggests that people could capitalise on that positive connection between objects, memories and identity to make themselves feel more at home. “we often think about the use of colour or textiles, for example, as ways to convey our taste and create the right ‘feel’ for our environment, but i wonder if we give enough consideration to the difference these memory markers can make to our interior design too.”

taking inspiration from friends

taking an identity-led approach to interior design may provide fresh inspiration for those looking to create the home they crave, particularly as the research discovered that almost half of people surveyed said that the media doesn’t adequately represent their life at home.

“we’re so saturated by content these days that it’s easy for us to spot what feels real and what doesn’t,” believes katie. “what we heard from the research is that people are turned off by a lack of authenticity. when we think about what’s aspirational, we have to remember that there isn’t a single ideal that works for everyone. instead, we consistently heard people talk about wanting to see real homes with real people in them. it’s no wonder that younger people, in particular, say they take inspiration from their friends’ homes.”

the power of purpose and privacy

as well as the things they have in their homes, how people use space also has a big influence on how much they see their personality reflected back at them. the report highlights that people are turned off by spaces that do too much or too little, and they instead seek the ‘goldilocks’ sweet spot of purposeful rooms that make good use of space.

that’s a real challenge for families and housemates. everyone needs their own space, but only four in 10 think their home provides privacy for all. for room renters, that drops to just three in 10.

“privacy is like a superpower that helps you feel better mentally,” says katie. “it allows you to properly switch off, recharge, and think about the things you want to do and the person you want to be.