How to create a mood-boosting kitchen
Read our essential guide to creating a kitchen that will have a positive effect on your wellbeing and the environment.
Here are our top ideas for a mood-boosting kitchen:
The importance of wellness in our homes
Both the pandemic and climate crisis have highlighted the importance of ‘care culture’, as many of us are longing for comfort, authenticity and connection - particularly in the home.
Since ‘home is where the heart is’, the move towards natural and sustainable interiors has become front of mind, with people now looking to create spaces that emulate feelings of wholesomeness and sentiment.
Wellness and sustainability are going to be major trends going into 2023, and there’s an intrinsic link between them as being more sustainable often aligns with creating a greater sense of wellbeing.
This guide will take you through a range of wellbeing kitchen ideas that’ll help to bring a positive vibe to your environment, improving your wellness and creating a sense of comfort in the home.
Get the look
Style your space into a comforting haven with natural colours, patterns and textures. Shaker cabinetry, a ceramic sink and traditional metals will create a homely, country cottage vibe.
What is the ‘wellness kitchen’ trend?
In recent years, people have been made to question what their homes should do for them.
Since we’re now spending more time in them, the desire for the home to be a safe and healthy space has increased – which is where this concept of a ‘wellness’ or ‘wellbeing kitchen’ has stemmed from.
It’s no longer enough for kitchens to look good, they need to make homeowners feel good too. Wellness features are now being incorporated into kitchen designs to highlight the importance of physical and mental health in the home.
Revert back to traditional
A key theme that covers both wellness and sustainability is the idea of going back to more traditional methods of producing or preparing food.
Tying into ‘care culture’, being aware of how you’re contributing to environmental issues when you buy, prepare and throw away food is something that has gained great popularity in recent years. Consequently, the concept of ‘slow living’ in relation to food has also gained a lot of traction.
This is a mindful lifestyle choice that’s about making small changes and championing local ingredients and produce.
According to its philosophy, food should be grown and bought locally, and then prepared with care and eaten with appreciation. It’s all about taking the time to enjoy the meals we make and eating mindfully to slow life down at dinner time.
Zero-waste living
Another great concept for creating a wellness kitchen space is to adopt practices from the ‘zero-waste living’ movement.
You don’t need to buy new items to start going ‘zero-waste’ – it’s instead about using what you already have. For example, re-use empty glass jars to store dry foods and leftovers.
Before buying new kitchen items, think about if you really need them, and maybe even wait a few weeks before purchasing to avoid overconsumption.
If there’s something you need, ask family and friends if they have a spare or if you can borrow the item.
Try to reduce your consumption of takeaways and opt for a homemade meal instead. You could even start composting at home, as this is a great way to make use of food scraps, while also supporting the environment and reducing waste.
Eco kitchen
If you’re looking to create a more sustainable kitchen space to promote positive wellbeing, then one of the easiest changes you can make is to invest in energy-efficient kitchen appliances.
It’s also helpful to only buy the size of kitchen appliances that you really need - particularly fridge-freezers, dishwashers and washing machines as they all use a lot of energy.
Try and use sustainable, natural and plastic-free kitchen-cleaning products. Reducing the amount of chemicals in your home and ultimately the environment will do wonders for your carbon footprint and your wellbeing.
Want further tips on how to be more enerrgy-effieicent in your kitchen? Check out our other blog below.
Natural kitchen materials
In an ever-digital and fast-paced world, the attraction of traditional craftsmanship and natural kitchen materials has grown.
How our homes and interiors make us feel has a significant impact on our physical and emotional wellbeing.
As people have spent more time at home, the focus on aspects such as daylight, natural kitchen colours and materials – as well as air quality – have all become key considerations in kitchen design.
Discover some of our most popular kitchen ranges that feature natural materials or colours.
Our Nordic Craft Mindful World concept is made using 100% FSC-certified - for a truly natural kitchen range.
Explore Mindful World's thoughtful touches below.
Dekton Khalo Worktop
RorosHetta Mantica Sense Hood
Sea-Cycle Black Knob
AEG SteamBake Oven
Schock Mono N100-S Black Sink
Nordic Craft Finger-Joint Drawer System
Bring the outdoors in
Biophilia is another great concept to consider when creating a wellness kitchen. This is the term for incorporating nature and natural influences or materials into your kitchen design.
Being in nature supports physical health and psychological wellbeing, as it contributes to stress reduction and improves mood and creativity.
Bringing the outdoors inside with plant walls, growing plants, skylights and large windows is a great way to maintain a connection to nature within the home.
It’s not all about house plants, as materials such as wood and stone also give that environmental feel.
Grow your own produce
A great activity for your mental health that will also change the way you prepare your meals in the kitchen is growing your own produce.
Whether it be herbs, veg or fruit – getting outside more often and not having pesticides in your produce is great for your physical and mental health.
Most fruits and vegetables have a natural season, so get yourself a calendar to plan out when’s best to sow and harvest your plants.
That way, the food that you grow will be super fresh and in season, making it incredibly tasty! Plus, the fact that you’ve grown it yourself will make it even more delicious.
If you haven’t much outdoor space, you can still grow your own produce effectively by making the most of balconies, windowsills or allotments. Read our kitchen garden guide to help you get started.
Enjoyed our guide to creating a mood-boosting wellbeing kitchen? Check out our other blogs for further kitchen inspiration.
If you’d like to start planning your own mood-boosting space but are unsure how to start, chat to one of our friendly Magnet designers for planning advice and guidance at a Design Consultation.
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