As a Speech-Language Pathologist, I treat and evaluate patients across the lifespan who present with communication disorders. During my sessions, I'm always assessing what environmental factors impact my patient's ability to communicate with me and those around them, as well as how I can best communicate with them in any given environment.
Through making small changes in the environment during my therapy sessions like increasing my patient's attention by repositioning them to face me instead of the TV and getting down to their eye level, removing colorful visuals from the wall for my patient who's easily overstimulated, or moving some furniture around in a patient's room so that they could go and talk to their friend across the hall...
I started to see parallels between Interior Design and Speech-Language Pathology. Pretty spaces and functionality.
I looked at how my home is and sometimes isn't conducive to everyday communication. I noticed that I emphasized natural light, a comfortable climate, trying to reduce excessive noise (lol @ having a 90-lb German Shepherd), conversational decor pieces, and a good flow.
I wanted to create spaces where I wanted to spend time in and I wanted others to want to spend time in with me as well.
I hope making some adjustments to these 5 factors in your home help you to create a communication-centric space.
1. Lighting
Let's talk lighting. The type of lighting and how its positioned has a great impact on communication. Poorly lit areas can impact our vision and overall emotional perception in seeing a person's social cues (facial expressions, body language, etc.). On the other-hand, standing in front of a direct light source, like a bright window or floor lamp, while speaking with someone else can present as a visual distraction too.
So what can you do? Try filtering harsh artificial lighting through lamp shades to diffuse a glow throughout a space or sheer curtains for softer natural lighting.
No windows? Strategically place lamps at the corners of a room or get crazy and install dimmable recessed lighting.
For me, I like to use adjustable or dimmable lighting and natural light whenever possible.
2. Acoustic Environment
Just a fancy way of saying "sound". Excessive noise within an acoustic environment can affect a person's ability to hear and focus, which can ultimately affect their attention during a conversation. When engaging with someone, your message could get lost in translation due to the noisy construction going on outside your home or maybe the TV that's on too loud.
So how do you dampen the noise? Well, shutting doors or windows probably seems like the most obvious fix.
But you could also try being selective in sound absorbing materials throughout your home such as carpeting, rugs, window treatments, and furniture.
With my noisy German Shepherd, I've opted for rugs and soft floor to ceiling curtains as opposed to the roman shades I was visually going for but I actually ended up loving it so much more!
3. Humidity + Temperature
Nooo one likes to feel uncomfortable. Feeling discomfort often leads to communication breakdowns which could most likely lead to not the best of conversations, maybe even arguments. Being within an uncomfortable room temperature and air quality acts as a great barrier to communication by throwing off our focus and attention.
Temperature can be so subjective since some people could always be cold or always run hot, so the easy answer to this is to adjust your heating/cooling to whatever feels comfortable to you.
But other things to really consider are adequate fresh airflow through breathable window treatments for warmer days or placing throw blankets within reach for the chillier days.
In my home, wherever there's a couch, there's a throw styled on it. It adds visual texture and is soo functional!
4. Visual Interest / Distractions
Create visual interest by filling your space with pieces that motivate you and minimize your distractions.
This could mean taking technological devices out of a room entirely or maybe just not making them the focal point of the room. While smart devices connect us to others virtually, it often keeps us out of the present moment in connecting with those who are there with us physically.
When it comes to selecting decor, try selecting pieces with purpose, function, or a meaningful story behind them so that you can create opportunities for conversation.
For my living room, my favorite decor pieces are the ones I've gotten during our travels or fixed up ourselves. From vases we picked out from a local artist, photographs we've taken and enlarged as wall prints, and the insane vintage lamp my husband and I trekked out to get, these are conversational pieces that I make sure to put out on display.
5. Furniture Placement + Layout
Flow and proximity to others within a space impacts how you connect with them. Knocking walls down and creating that open-concept feel is the most well-known "solution", but oftentimes not always the most feasible.
In this case, try to layout your furniture in a way that facilitates face-to-face seating for communication at the eye level.
Strategically place furniture to allow for people to move freely between seemingly disconnected spaces or choppy floor plan layouts. Try to incorporate colors and textures throughout to create a more visually cohesive home. Throughout my home you'll see shades of warm tones with wood textures and cognac leather and touches of gold or brass. I'm not one to match everything but I try to mix and match in a way that's more-so complementary rather than identical.
And that's it!
If you're in need of a refresh, renew or restoration of a space, shoot me a message on Instagram (@convey.nj) or email me (hello@conveyvintage.com) to learn more about my virtual design packages.
Much Love,
Meesa