Your home’s spaces need to be beautiful and practical – serving you effectively in your daily routines and giving you pleasure when you enter the door each evening.
This is particularly important when designing the rooms where you eat, as anyone with an ambition to adhere to a healthy diet will need a helping hand, and this can be provided with just a few clever choices.
So, without further ado, here are some tips to make this a breeze rather than a burden.
Getting the Basics of an Inviting Eating Space Right
The layout and ambience of your eating space can significantly influence your diet and overall well-being. Here are some foundational aspects to consider which can help cultivate a positive environment:
Maximise Natural Light
Studies show that natural light can elevate mood and even aid digestion. As such, it’s sensible to position your dining area near windows if possible. For example, if you have breakfast nook possibilities, place it facing east to catch the morning sunshine, which could help boost your energy levels early in the day.
Choose Calming Colors
Colour psychology isn’t just fluffed—it’s a powerful tool to shape behaviour. Soft greens, blues, and earth tones are known for their calming effects and can inadvertently lead to more mindful eating. One survey found that 39% of people link green with contentment, for example.
Think about pastel wall colours or table settings in these hues while keeping everything in line with the overall decor and theme you’re going for.
Comfortable Seating Is Key
It’s simple – you won’t linger at the table if uncomfortable. Invest in ergonomically designed chairs or add supportive cushions to existing seating. A good example would be Scandinavian-designed chairs that offer style and support.
Combined with healthy and fresh meal delivery, comfort and good posture will lead you towards nutritionally sound habits.
Aim for Controlled Clutter
A cluttered space can lead to a disorganised mind – and possibly impulsive eating habits. Use minimalist decor principles to keep your dining area organised. Install shelves for extra storage or choose furniture with built-in compartments.
Optimising Furniture and Fixture Choices
We’ve already touched on a few ways that the furniture and fixtures in your eating space can play a functional role, but there are other scenarios in which they set the stage for healthier eating regimens. Here’s how to pick wisely:
Opt for Round Tables
A round dining table facilitates easier conversation and eliminates sharp corners, creating a more welcoming space. Family meals become more engaging, extending meal times and leading to better digestion and portion control. If it’s good enough for the knights of Arthurian legend, it’s good enough for you!
Explore Adaptive Lighting Solutions
The intensity of light affects how we perceive food. Install dimmable LED lights that allow you to adjust brightness according to the time of day or the mood you want to create. Dim lighting for dinner will encourage slower chewing and less overeating.
Make Healthy Snacks Accessible
Place fruits in beautiful bowls on the table or have a small refrigerator or cooler drawer at hand with pre-prepared healthy snacks. This setup decreases the likelihood of raiding the pantry for less nutritious options when hunger strikes unexpectedly.
Install a Herb Station
Consider having a small indoor herb garden on a kitchen windowsill or in another handy spot near your dining area. Fresh herbs not only add flavour without calories but seeing them grow can inspire more homemade, healthy meals.
In addition to the health benefits, the taste improvements will leave you bowled over by good-for-you dishes that might otherwise have been bland and forgettable.
Don’t Forget the Appliances
The right combination of appliances in your healthy eating space will also make it less difficult to stick to whatever diet you’ve adopted.
For instance, the versatile Ninja Foodi blender and soup maker is a versatile and compact addition, letting you whizz up all sorts of fresh goodies in a jiffy while looking stylish and eye-catching, even if it’s not in use.
Then there are intelligent, web-enabled refrigerators from brands like LG and Samsung that can suggest recipes based on ingredients in stock and even nudge you to order more of a particular item when it’s running low.
Keep Distractions to a Minimum
Plenty of people place a TV in the spaces where they eat so they can veg out while they veg out – but this isn’t an incredibly healthy choice because it gets in the way of mindful munching. It’s better to avoid this altogether and resist the urge to have your phone in hand so that you can pay attention to every bite you chew and feel fuller.
Final Thoughts
These tips won’t suit every home, but a carefully chosen combination of a few select solutions will make your healthy eating goals less unattainable than they were in the past – so stop wondering and start doing!