Interior design can make or break brick and mortar stores. With entire websites dedicated to showcasing some of the most effective and latest store designs, there’s no question that in retail, interior design is profoundly important.

Whilst retailers are already spending a lot of time thinking about the aesthetic of a store, there is also significant evidence that store design can have very real psychological effect on both customers and staff. The right environment can promote productivity, improve moods, even impact a person’s health. So it’s important for those of us in the retail industry to understand how our store design can potentially impact our staff and our customers alike. That way we can utilise the physical space at our disposal to our advantage as much as possible.

Colour psychology can be used to influence emotions

“Colour greatly influences human emotion and behaviour”, so a little knowledge of ‘Colour Psychology’ can go a long way towards giving your business an extra competitive edge.

For instance, research suggests that those who work in blue spaces feel “centred, calm and hopeful towards their work.” More people in the world count blue as their favourite colour, and by painting the walls of a space blue, it can even cause us to perceive the room temperature as lower than it actually is.

While, in contrast, warmer colours like red, orange and yellow do the exact opposite; causing us to feel like a room is hotter. The colour red has also been proven to negatively impact “analytical thinking” and concentration. Orange on the other hand is apparently the colour that people associate with good value, so by incorporating the colour orange into your shops interior design, there’s a chance you could begin to see a positive change in your customer’s spending.

Natural light is important to mental and physical health

A study conducted by Northwestern Medicine and the University of Illinois in 2014 found that exposure to natural light in the workplace has a beneficial effect on people’s “sleep, physical activity and quality of life”. Sunlight can even help to regulate the brain’s production of serotonin, which in turn helps combat symptoms of depression, while “prolonged exposure to inadequate levels of daylight is associated with Seasonal Affective Disorder”. So, for the sake of your health and the health of your employees, it is very important for your shop to be designed with a view to making use of natural light as much as possible.

Your use of space can promote psychological well being

The ceiling height of a room might not seem that important at first glance, but studies show that a ceiling has more to offer than just a roof over your customers’ heads. In fact, “ceiling height ranked among the top three architectural details that influenced consumers’ psychological well-being.” For instance, in 2007, the Journal of Consumer Research found that people in a room with a higher ceiling noticed more of what the products stored within it had in common. This is particularly important if a shop is looking to promote a cohesive brand image with it’s products.

Of course, the ceiling height in your shop(s) cannot always be controlled or changed. Often the process of doing so can be very expensive and time consuming. Luckily there are plenty of different tricks you can use to fool the eye into thinking that your shop is bigger than it actually is. You might try incorporating mirrors into your shop decor for example, and you can experiment with different ways to create depth with wall hangings. If you want to make your ceiling look higher, small touches like recessed lighting and vertically placed decorations (such as picture frames, mirrors, shelving) can make spaces feel taller.