The majority of Americans want to live a healthier lifestyle, but they also find it difficult to implement the changes that will help them do that.
Forty-three percent of Americans say that their modern lifestyle makes it difficult for them to be healthy. Do you agree?
When it comes to living more healthfully, you don’t have to overhaul your whole lifestyle all at once. It’s okay to start with small changes, such as taking steps to clean up and improve your home.
Read on to learn about some great home improvement ideas that will keep you and your family healthy and happy.
Swap Out Your Cleaning Products
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When most people think of health and healthy living, they think about changing their diet and being more conscious of the food they eat. It’s true that a healthy diet is essential to a healthy lifestyle, but it’s not the only thing you should worry about.
For example, have you ever thought about the chemicals you’re breathing in when you clean your house?
Many household cleaners are full of toxic ingredients, from artificial fragrances to propellants. These harmful ingredients have been linked to a whole host of health problems, from lung disease and breathing difficulties to certain types of cancer.
If you want to make a healthy change for your whole household, get rid of these products and replace them with natural alternatives. You can also make your own cleaning products by using diluted white vinegar and essential oils to add a naturally fresh scent.
Purify the Air
Once you overhaul your cleaning products, you’ll find that it becomes a lot easier to breathe the air in your home. Don’t stop there, though. There are lots of other steps you can take to purify the air in your home and make it easier to breathe.
You might want to invest in an air purifier. You could also purchase some houseplants that are known to have air purifying properties. Certain plants to a great job of purifying the air while also controlling germs and bacteria inside your home.
As an added bonus, plants look a lot nicer in your home than an air purifier.
Some good air purifying plants to try include:
- Rubber plant
- Snake plant
- Areca palm
- Peace lily
These plants are easy to care for, too, so you can keep them alive and reap their air purifying benefits even if you don’t have a green thumb.
Focus on Green Landscaping
Okay, you’ve taken steps to clean up the air inside your home. What about outside, though?
You may not be able to single-handedly purify the air in your neighborhood. But, you can take steps to make the air you breathe in when you walk out the front door a little less toxic.
When it comes to landscaping, many people spray harsh chemicals all over their lawn and on their shrubs to keep pests away. When we open our windows to breathe in some fresh air, what we’re actually breathing in, in many cases, is residue from these chemicals.
When the time comes for your big spring landscaping sprint, try to use cleaner alternatives to traditional pesticides and fertilizers.
Install a Water Filter
Have you ever thought about what’s in the water that comes out of your taps? Most of us assume that our water is safe to drink and bathe in, but that’s not necessarily the case.
Installing a water filter can help keep impurities out of your water (including heavy metals and prescription drugs that sometimes end up in the water supply).
If you or anyone in your family struggles with eczema or other skin issues, a whole house filtration system is a great investment. Bathing with hard, unpurified water can exacerbate these problems and make them worse.
Clean Out the Kitchen
If you’re like most people, your kitchen is one of the most frequently visited rooms in your house. It’s also probably one of the dirtiest.
Make an effort to deep clean your kitchen on a regular basis. Make it the first room you tackle once you get your new, non-toxic cleaning supplies!
This will help you ensure you’re not coming in contact with any germs tracked in by your kids or food residue leftover from last night’s dinner.
Cleaning your kitchen isn’t exactly a fun chore, but it is a necessary one. And, once you’ve cleaned your kitchen well, you can start thinking about re-designing it.
As motivation, read more now about some of the latest kitchen design trends.
Create a Relaxing Space
Home ought to be a place where you can kick back and relax. That isn’t always the case, though. A great way to improve your home is to designate a space just for relaxation.
It doesn’t have to be a meditation studio — unless you’re into that, of course.
Just having a room that’s free from clutter and provides you with opportunities to relax — whether that’s watching TV, reading, crocheting, or anything else — can work wonders for your mental health.
Set Up a Home Gym
Finally, consider setting up a home gym. Exercise is crucial if you want to live a healthy lifestyle, but getting to the gym isn’t always easy to do. Why not bring the gym to you instead?
Remember, you don’t have to build a full gym in your home if you don’t have space.
Just invest in some affordable, versatile equipment — a pull-up bar, a jump rope, some resistance bands, etc. — and designate a corner of your living room or family room as the workout corner.
Need More Home Improvement Ideas?
As you can see, there are a lot of ways that you can clean up and improve your home to make sure that it contributes to a healthy lifestyle.
Whether you start by replacing your cleaning products with safer alternatives or establish a relaxing meditation area in your home, every little step counts and can help you feel better.
Are you looking for more healthy home improvement ideas? General health and lifestyle advice? Either way, we can help.
Check out the lifestyle section of our site today for all kinds of helpful articles on living more healthfully and changing your life for the better.