Monthly Update November 2022
06 Dec 2022
Mental Health Furniture For Communal Areas
05 Feb 2021 in Press release
Mental health furniture for communal areas needs to be supportive spaces that put individuals at ease. These rooms must be both soothing and uplifting, with a similar sense of comfort and security as one may find at home. Because they can be spaces for engagement with others or for taking a brief pause, mental health for communal areas has to accommodate both comfort and interaction for everyone passing through.
The furnishings and overall decor of the space drive the success of the communal area as a positive, nurturing environment within mental health settings. A key component of this is the selection of furniture for mental health.
Selecting Furniture For Mental Health Communal Areas
Before you can select furniture for the communal area, you must consider a few key questions surrounding its design.
Who is using this space? Define whether it’s for kids, families, seniors, people with disabilities, or some other mix of individuals.
How much traffic do you anticipate? Ideally, the space should facilitate feelings of positive social support by bringing people close together while also maintaining some personal space. Although the space should be comfortable, it should not be designed to encourage people to settle in for long periods of time.
How will this space be engaged with? Establish how people will interact with the space. Will they move around through it? How much will group interaction be encouraged? Will individuals or small groups of people require privacy within the space?
What challenges will people bring into this space? Consider what sorts of issues the parties using this space will face. Are they suffering from emotional problems? Are they juggling very high levels of stress? Do they need to be entertained or distracted? Does the space need to account for physical illness?
How much budget is available? This question should be considered not just for the initial set-up of the communal area, but also when anticipating ongoing or future resource allocations.
With a clearer picture of the intentions for this communal area, specific furniture features may then be considered.
Selecting Colour And Material For Your Mental Health Furniture In Communal Area
The visual choices made in furnishing communal areas determine how comforting and nurturing the space is. Use of materials like natural woods can help promote tranquillity.
Mental Health Furniture For Safety
There is a wide range of options available to make furniture safe. For example, softened or rounded edges are a common choice because they make injury more difficult.
Building furniture out of heavy or dense materials makes it more difficult to move or even potentially weaponise. The ability to attach furniture to a load-bearing structure might be useful in the future.
Mental Health Furniture For Durability
Look for furniture built with solid-wood frame structures, with robust reinforcement throughout, and hidden fixings where possible. Even details like the choice of padding and upholstery must be thought through based on expected traffic as well as in terms of potential impacts on mental health.
Mental Health Furniture For Spacing and Comfort
Does the furniture allow an occupant to feel comfortable? Does it promote feelings of adequacy, by being welcoming and spacious enough for its intended users?
Successfully designing mental health furniture for communal areas is far simpler if you opt to work with a furniture specialist who is well-versed in mental health furniture. Such professionals are keenly aware of the considerations that are most important within mental health settings, and best practices in addressing them.
How Tough Furniture Can Work With You
Our team here at Tough Furniture has years of experience designing for mental health settings. Our expertise centres around nurturing positivity, maintaining safety, and incorporating durability into each design we handle.
From bespoke design through expert care and maintenance, we can provide every service you need to design spaces that provide for positive health outcomes. Reach out to us online or call us today.
To find out more about mental health furniture in challenging environments and mental health facilities, explore our blogs:
- Specifying The Right Mental Health Furniture For Different Challenging Behaviours
- Ligature-Reduction TV Cabinets For Mental Health Facilities
- Furniture For Mental Health Facilities – What Makes The Difference
- 5 Reasons Why Specialist Mental Health Furniture Is Essential In Challenging Environments
- How To Reduce Ligature Risks In Mental Health Environments
- Mental Health Furniture For Consulting Rooms
