Imagine a simple workspace, with gray furniture, white walls, fluorescent lighting, and a few office basics like a desktop computer, pens, and paper. Sounds a bit bleak when you picture it in your head, doesn’t it? Now imagine a house with beige furniture, white walls, beige carpets or white linoleum floors, and basic items and appliances. Sounds like a pretty drab place to live, doesn’t it?

Without interior design, these places will be dull, boring, and even headache-inducing. Living and working in such environments can literally raise your stress levels. Your house will not feel like home; rather, it will feel like a place you just go when you’re not at work or hanging out with friends. In fact, if your house was that drab, then you would probably find any possible excuse to go out! The same is true for your workplace: being in such a gray and dreary place will make you feel like a slave rather than a productive employee who is paid for your time. Interior design will greatly enhance these two places, and can be done on any budget, from expensive to dirt cheap!

A fresh coat of paint is an inexpensive way to make a big change to an office or home. Warm blue, green, and brown tones can induce a sense of calm and focus in the office, or in living rooms, dining rooms, and bedrooms. Yellows and creams work well in sunny bathrooms, and the kitchen can be whatever you want! Adding inexpensive, long-lasting plants such as pothos ivy, spider plants, corn plants, vines, ferns, and other hardy species will add touches of green to your spaces. It has also been medically proven that having plants in the home and office can improve the quality of the space so much that your stress levels are drastically reduced. Even fake plants get the job done, just remember to dust them periodically!

Adding small touches, such as the use of colorful storage bins and artwork or photos on the walls, will complete your home or office makeover. These spaces will now seem very welcoming, inspiring and comfortable, and you will feel much less stressed. Interior design is not as complicated as many people believe. It can be, if you want, but it can also be simple, easy, and inexpensive to create a wonderful space for yourself, your family, or your office mates.