It is hard to not feel happy when the summer roles around. You have a skip in your step, the birds are singing and you have the warm sun on your face. When the shorter colder days of winter approach however, a lot of peoples mood shifts. Seasonal Affective Disorder is a recognized condition that affects around 2% of the population and around 10% of people report symptoms. Lethargy, mood swings, muscle pains and generally feeling low are among the many that people report.What causes this is not known exactly, but we do know that one of the major influences is lower light levels in winter causing brain and body chemical communication errors. If light levels drop below a certain point, the eyes send a message to the brain which assumes it is night time and prepares the body for sleep by making you tired and weary.
All is not lost however, you can fight the effects of seasonal depression by giving a little thought to the furniture you buy and where you place it. Living room and additionally bedroom furniture are often the most important to get right as these are the rooms that we spend most of our time in. Purchasing white furniture for example white wardrobes, tables and chairs will increase the amount of light that is reflected around the room and will have a large impact on mood.
If you don’t want to end up making your rooms confining or cramped, reducing the amount of furniture down to what you actually need works very well. The less furniture in a room, the more opportunity the light has to bounce about it and the more room you have to move about as well. It also helps painting your walls a light and airy colour to improve light reflection as well.
Some ideas for reducing the amount of furniture you have include only having your table large enough for everyday use and taking away or adding chairs if and when you need them, only have one bedside table instead of one each side, and getting rid of small pieces that only have aesthetic value.