The modern shift in consumer habits means that we’re moving away from ‘throwaway culture’, towards more meaningful value. How we spend our money, from furniture to finances, directly dictates daily stress levels and physical health. Quality of life is built on three main foundations including, a healthy environment, physical support and future security. It is therefore crucial that you spend your money correctly in order to ensure a better quality of life.
Sustainable Furniture and Longevity
Our immediate surroundings and daily environment have a big impact on our mental well-being. It is therefore important that our homes are thoughtfully designed with well-crafted and long-lasting pieces, that promote mindfulness in consumption and foster a deeper appreciation for quality over quantity.
Incorporating sustainable furniture not only nurtures the planet but also creates a sense of harmony and balance within the home. Furthermore, sustainable furniture is well-crafted and designed to endure time and trends, so you won’t have to worry about replacing it anytime soon. This can have financial benefits as although an investment, overtime you won’t have to spend as much replacing cheap furniture. To ensure ultimate longevity it’s important to protect your items during major life events, like moving house. Using high-quality protective materials, like premium bubble wrap, will keep your furniture protected from damage.
Sustainable furniture is made using recycled and ethically sourced materials and ethical practices, providing huge environmental benefits. These eco-friendly materials can contribute to a non-toxic and calmer home environment, providing a more relaxed atmosphere.
Physical Health and Productivity
Following the global pandemic there has been a significant rise in hybrid working, with many individuals working remotely. Working from home can offer great work life balance and flexibility, however, without a high-quality work set-up it can take a big toll on your mental and physical health.
Investing in an ergonomic workstation, with high-quality office furniture, is a proactive health investment that is imperative for preventing poor posture. The most crucial components include an ergonomic office chair, with a lumbar support, adjustable seat height and moveable armrests, and a height-adjustable work desk. These furniture pieces support the natural posture of the spine to reduce neck and back pain, minimising the likelihood of strains. Furthermore, for the optimum office set-up incorporate a laptop stand or monitor, positioned at eye-level to reduce neck strain.
The location of your home office can also have a significant impact on your overall health. Creating a designated office space in your home will allow you to separate your work-life from home life. To ensure the utmost productivity renovating your spare room into a home office can be highly beneficial. However, in smaller properties simply creating a designated desk-space in your dining room or spare room, can have a huge impact on the quality of your work output when working from home.
Integrating Medical Equipment and Hygiene
Often, we forget to focus on the ‘unseen’ parts of a high-quality home, especially the parts that ensure our independence, safety and cleanliness. Modern medical equipment and accessible design allow for a safe home that you can grow old in, without losing your independence.
Contrary to popular belief, accessible furniture and equipment doesn’t have to be an eye sore. There is an abundance of daily living aids available that combine both traditional mobility aids with aesthetically pleasing designs. This can range from built-in rise and fall kitchen worktops to discrete electrical beds that can be adjusted with a remote. These subtle adjustments can be made to blend with modern interiors to offer superior comfort and safety, whilst not compromising on your home’s interior.
In kitchens and bathrooms hygienic wall cladding is the ultimate investment that ensures cleanliness with minimal effort. It creates easy-to-clean and bacteria resistant environments for busy families and older individuals who struggle to clean their home regularly. These surfaces are highly durable, typically lasting 20 to 30 years without replacement.
Futureproofing Your World
Futureproofing is hugely important for reducing stress and ensuring a better quality of life, especially when it comes to finances. Sustainable investments allow everyday individuals to improve their finances, whilst supporting companies that align with their personal values.
Sustainable investing has grown significantly in recent years as more people consider the environment, social health and workers’ rights, rather than just profit. This provides a double return including both financial returns and emotional returns that come from knowing your investments are contributing towards something you care about.
Taking care of your finances is key for futureproofing as it ensures that you have financial stability against life’s uncertainties. Long-term financial security is important for peace of mind, and it can make a big difference to your quality of life so it’s an important consideration to always keep in mind.
How Better Spending Helps the Planet
More initiative and thoughtful spending isn’t only beneficial for your own health, lifestyle and environment, it also has huge benefits on the planet. The initiatives discussed in this blog post all focus on durability, health and ethics, so by implementing these ideas it can contribute towards a better global quality of life.
For instance, sustainable furniture is ethically sourced and made using recycled materials to ensure limited impact on the natural environment. Furthermore, typically sustainable furniture is made to an exceptionally high standard, increasing its durability and ensuring maximum longevity. This significantly reduces consumption rates, having a positive impact on the environment, and is economically beneficial by reducing the need for replacement.
Additionally, investing in an ethical fund allows you to align capital with your personal values, like climate action or social initiatives. This is especially important as the UK strives to achieve their transition towards a low-carbon economy with improved social responsibility.
Spending ‘correctly’ isn’t just about the money spent, but the intent behind it. By choosing products that support the body and plans that support the future, we create a legacy of wellness. A good starting point is to audit one area of your life, be it your workspace or savings account, to ensure it’s working for you.
