RESTFUL SPACES JOURNEY · 02
Walk The Whole Home
Your bedroom and study don't exist in isolation.
A router in one room may serve the entire house.
Electrical equipment may sit against a wall shared with another room.
Appliances, meters, switchboards and smart devices all have particular locations within the building.
Now step away from the bed and desk.
Walk the home.
Start with a simple floor plan
You don’t need architectural drawings.
Draw the rough shape of the home.
Mark:
Sleep
Where are the beds?
Work
Where are desks and study areas?
Rest
Where do people sit for long periods?
Then begin marking the equipment around them.
Notice the obvious sources
Walk room by room.
Where is the Wi-Fi router?
Where are extenders or mesh units?
Where is the electrical switchboard?
Where is the electricity meter?
Where are televisions and entertainment equipment?
Cordless telephone bases?
Smart-home equipment?
Large appliances?
Solar inverter or battery equipment, where present?
Heating and cooling equipment?
Home-office equipment?
Now look at where those things sit in relation to where people spend time.
Look through the wall
This deserves its own section because it is such a useful observation.
Stand beside the bed.
What’s behind that wall?
Stand at the sofa.
What’s behind that wall?
Sit at the desk.
What’s above, below or beside you?
Rooms may appear separate to us.
The building services running through and around them are connected.
Sometimes a floor plan makes a relationship immediately obvious.
And remember the restful home
We’re not walking around hunting for equipment.
Notice the other things that influence rest too.
Where does morning sun enter?
Which rooms become hot?
Where does evening light enter?
Where is traffic noise strongest?
Which rooms feel quieter?
Where does air move naturally?
Where does the home feel calm?
A restful home has many influences.
EMFs are one part of the picture.
Ask Questions
Where do we spend the most time?
Which equipment is closest to those places?
What needs to operate continuously?
What doesn’t?
Could the router be located differently?
Could equipment be moved away from a bed or frequently occupied chair?
What is happening on shared walls?
What changes at night?
And perhaps most importantly:
What can I change simply?
How would nature solve it?
Three simple steps can help us think about what happens next.
Observe · Adjust · Reassess
1. Observe
Map what is there.
2. Adjust
Where appropriate, make simple practical changes that suit how your household actually lives.
3. Reassess
Return to the space.
Did the change work practically?
Is the bedroom still functional?
Does the study still work?
Does the space feel calmer?
A healthy-home change needs to work with the people who live there.
You've looked inside. What is outside?
Some influences originate beyond the walls of the home.
Now we’ll step outside and observe the surrounding environment.