Kirsi Heiniö, who worked as a research assistant during the summers of 2023 and 2024, wrote her master’s thesis (in Finnish) with the support of the BioColour project. Her thesis focuses on the significance of colors in home interior design for residential well-being.
Home carries various meanings and provides well-being for its inhabitants in many ways. The aesthetics of the home are built through objects, materials and colours. In addition, the functionality of home, the ease of everyday task and opportunities for relaxation are valued by inhabitants. Although home decoration has been a topic for prior research, the relationship between aesthetics, usability and well-being in the home has been less explored. In this study, I examine the way in which the feeling of home is created through home furnishings and decoration.
The qualitative data of the study was collected through both paired and individual in-depth interviews (n=16). Participants were between the ages 24 and 71. In addition, participants’ homes were observed during the interviews. The research thus focuses on the inhabitants who furnish their homes and on the home itself as an environment and a producer of well-being. The participants have been reached via social media and through the snowball method. The material has been analysed by means of a data-driven content analysis.
The study highlights how the feeling of home is built through negotiating and harmonizing aesthetics and usability in home decoration. Inhabitants reflect on the interplay between relaxation and comfort, household activities and social relationships in their homes. In this way, the varying meanings of aesthetics and practicality in home decoration are constructed in different ways in the context of relaxation and comfort, everyday household activities and the fluidity of social relationships. The balancing act between aesthetics and practicality is thus context specific. The residents reconcile usability and aesthetics in this way, aiming for a home that allows them to live according to their life situation and personal taste. The study constructs an interpretive framework for such a permissive home, which accommodates values related to both aesthetic decoration and everyday practicality. The research findings support the notion that so called permissive home is relevant to home decoration and to building a well-being home.
