I'm curious if anyone might know of a study or other information (articles, blogs etc...) regarding how design might affect the happiness of homeowners. Yes...this is a tall order I know!
I'm simply wondering what effect good and bad designs might have on marriages, families or personal happiness and would love to find a way to study that - as impossible as it might sound. I would like to get a cross section of residents - those with custom homes, large homes, tiny homes, apartments, typical builder houses, townhomes or condos etc.
For example, my current temporary rental is so poorly designed that there is a good 10 degree temperature difference between the downstairs and upstairs (2 story townhome, less than 10 years old), the laundry closet doesn't even have 1 inch for laundry products and the vacuum cleaner is currently stuck in the master closet (which is only large enough for one person's clothes anyway). As a designer, I'm more sensitive to this perhaps then others, but I can tell that these little things are adding an additional level of stress because my daily functions are more cumbersome than they should be.
I'm doubtful that a study of this exists, but if there is, I'd love to know about it! As I'm guessing there isn't...does anyone have suggestions on how we might go about tackling such a huge topic as a study? I know there are "happiness studies" regarding other things in our lives such as technology, so I'm thinking there might be a way.
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Brenda Nelson Assoc. AIA
Woodruff Design, LLC
Ankeny IA
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