to feature just a few patterns: few being two or three if the third is very similar to one of the first two. So, the upholstery on your sofa and your curtains can be patterned, but that’s it. Maybe a rug can be patterned if the upholstery and curtain patterns are very similar—however, no patterned wallpaper. Some PlaceTypes can tolerate slightly higher levels of visual complexity; read on to see if you have one of those PlaceTypes. Patterns that are themselves moderately visually complex feature a limited number of families of hues and shapes, three of each.
Places that are more complex visually also have lots of stuff scattered across their horizontal surfaces. Furniture, which rests on the floor, is some of this stuff. Photographs in lovely frames perched on sideboards, glass sculptures inherited from Aunt Milly, and wonderful artworks created by Teddy in preschool also contribute to visual complexity.
The number of patterns on surfaces makes the single largest contribution to how visually complex a place is.
It’s important that you have things around you that have meaning for you—just not too many of them at any one time. Most of the horizontal furniture surfaces in your home should not have anything on them. Since there are fewer feet of horizontal space in smaller homes than larger ones, and since every room needs a few things that show that it’s yours—photographs, souvenirs from travels, items inherited from your grandmother—it’s not possible to set an exact number of the horizontal furniture surfaces in your home that should not have anything resting on them. To find what level of “horizontal coverage” works best for you, take all of your mementos, photos, etc., off of the tabletops, bookshelves, and so forth in a space. Books can stay on bookshelves, but remove all the other stuff that’s found its way onto the shelves. This process will probably make you feel tense. Start to add back single items to the furniture surfaces one by one, and wait for a minute or so between additions. When you find yourself breathing normally again, stop adding items. You’ve found your object-space happy zone.
Wall art and photographs should not cover more than 50 percent of the wall spaces, not counting the wall space behind furniture. To keep visual complexity in check, when 50 percent of the wall space will be covered, the images shown should be few and simple—a swirl of blue representing a wave, not a detailed painting of that wave showing sea creatures and vegetation, for example. If a detailed image is used on a wall, fewer images should be used and more wall space left blank. Mirrors are equivalent to a very complex image.
Clutter is the stack of magazines you plan to read, the pile of pictures waiting for frames, the reports that need to be filed, and the four sweaters lying across the first chair you pass as you enter your home. It is stuff you want and have good reasons to keep, but that just hasn’t found its way to its where it needs to be. Empty pizza boxes and dishes that need to be washed are trash and cleaning that need to get done; they need to be dealt with for biological reasons.
The reason why clutter is so stressful for humans is because it amps up the visual complexity in our world. Keeping clutter in check is a reason to make sure you have enough drawers and cabinets and to ensure that no one can see what’s in them. If you place something in a drawer or cabinet but you can still see it in its new resting place, you’ve accomplished nothing clutter-wise.
Clutter reduces well-being and degrades professional cognitive performance. People are in better moods in places that are more organized than disorganized. Clutter and visual disorder have an insidious effect. Clutter and disorganization degrade the self-control of all who encounter them as well as people’s ability to follow rules. If you’re trying to avoid the Halloween candy that made its way into your home at the end of October, your odds of success fall with each wayward sock, file folder, and magazine cluttering up your kitchen. If you want people entering your home to neatly stow their coats and boots, make sure there are compartments, shelves, or something similar in place so that your entry space seems orderly. The same is true for laundry rooms—if you want people to wipe up little spills and clean out lint traps, make sure your laundry room is designed in such a way—with cupboards, for example—to make it possible to keep it well-ordered. When we’re in more orderly spaces, we also seem to more thoughtfully evaluate information.
Once you clear the clutter, parts of your home that you haven’t really seen for years will become visible. If they’re bedraggled, un-bedraggle them—nothing’s more demoralizing that living in a place that’s seen better days. Paint walls that are chipped or dirty, add a slipcover over the worn sofa, and introduce a few (not too many, remember the hassle of getting rid of that clutter) throw pillows.
Too little going on around us is as upsetting as too much. Spaces can definitely be too stark for comfort. The environments where we developed our current crop of sensory tools featured multiple colors, a gentle hum of activity, and changing light levels and patterns of shadows, for example. So should the home and workspaces you use today.
Art
Art can give us a positive psychological boost. It can send out messages that let others know what we value about ourselves—while it reminds us of the same things. An historic photograph can signal a longstanding connection to an area, an organization, or a family, and a painting of a seagull can signal an attachment to the sea or animals or sailing, for example. The full set of stuff you’ve added to your home and office determines the messages sent. Art depicting nature was discussed earlier in this chapter during the review of how our ancient experiences influence where we live best now.
Realistic images of nature can to a great extent compensate for the stress we feel being in a space without windows—making them a particularly good choice for spaces such as tiny powder rooms. Realistic nature art has also been linked to enhanced creative thinking.
With art, we prefer the familiar but aren’t very enthusiastic about pieces that are entirely predictable and boring. The same is true for interior and product design and architecture—the familiar with a slight twist is most likely to please us.
All that was reported earlier about how humans respond to colors and shapes also applies to art. Abstract images with more curvy than straight lines in them and which feature colors that are not very saturated but are relatively bright are calming to view, for example. Pieces that have more straight lines than curvy ones with more saturated, not so bright elements are more energizing to view. The research on lines and shapes can be applied to sculpture as well.
Human beings are more likely to think creatively when they’re feeling nostalgic, and art, particularly photographs, can be used inspire nostalgia. When we experience awe—and the same item/view/space can awe us over and over again—we feel less rushed and more satisfied with life, and are more likely to be helpful to others, so an awe inspiring item in a family room or office can be a good addition. Something inspires awe when it is large or exhibits superb workmanship, for example. Art can make us feel awed, but so can an inlay pattern on a floor or a light fixture or the stone on a countertop, for instance.
Materials
Filling your home with natural materials such as wood is good for your body and mind. Seeing the grain in wood de-stresses us. No wonder hardwood floors have been popular in homes for so long. Floors aren’t the only surfaces where wood grain can sing; furniture and woodwork can show it off, too. Seeing real and artificial wood grain has the same effect on us as long as two things are true: the artificial wood is a really, truly good imitation of natural wood, and the repeat pattern in the artificial wood is random enough so that the same distinctive feature, say a simulated knot, is not repeated in the finished floor or piece of furniture in an unnaturally predictable way. Spaces that feature natural wood have randomly distributed patterns in their wooden surfaces; the same randomness needs to be present in any your home or office if you’re using a product with artificial wood grain.
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