Bobby Berk brings his design expertise from the small screen to the page!
On Tuesday 12.09. Queer Eye’s decor guru publishes his first book, Right at home: How good design is for the mind, which gives readers tools and tips to find the connection between mental health and good home design.
“I didn’t feel like throwing out a book on the coffee table that’s full of a bunch of beautiful pictures that often have unattainable spaces,” Berk, 42, tells PEOPLE.
Instead, Berk decided he “wanted to write a book about design that could help people and teach them that what your space does for you can really help your mental health.”
At home: how good design is good for the mind.
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Although the interior designer notes that his role on the show is to breathe life into sometimes downtrodden spaces, he says he’s seen the connection between mental health and design since he was a kid.
“I was sitting in my room and realized that all the red that my mother decorated the room in – red bedspread, red curtains, red pillows, red carpets – really gave me anxiety. I didn’t feel good,” says Berk. “I saved money for my birthday and changed everything to blue because I knew blue made me feel better.”
Right at home he provides readers with his advice through seven chapters, each with a room guide to help guide the process further. It also uses techniques that have roots in mental health, such as the “54321 Method,” a grounding exercise used to control anxiety.
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Typically, the technique asks its practitioner to focus on five things a person can see, four things a person can touch, three things they can hear, two things they can smell, and one thing they can taste as a way to re-center themselves in a stressful situation.
Berk uses this method to imagine a room in terms of the five senses and tries to ground readers in finding objects that can fill their space and that can activate the senses.
“I wanted to break it down in a way that people could just understand and say, ‘Oh, design isn’t that hard,'” he says. “I think a lot of times people look at design as something that has a science behind it. [They think] you have to have training and money and know all these things. But really, it’s basic.”
“I want people to understand that design can be democratized,” adds Berk. “I want people to understand that design is for everyone. Making your space work for you is for everyone.”
Right at home: how good design is good for the mind will be published on Tuesday 12.09.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education