Space CAN Make You More Creative --

I often hear that the space in which you are located does matter in terms of creativity. I know I feel more productive, creative, just plain happy when I am in a bright, colorful, sun-lit room. But is that just in my mind?

I decided to do a little research and came across the most wonderful study done by Janetta McCoy while working on her Master's Thesis at Arizona State. With the aid of Gary W. Evans, McCoy wanted find out which environmental elements contributed to its creativity potential and to see if we can use those elements to foster creative ideas.

To find her answer she decided to show photographs of varying types of rooms to students. She posed the question "if you had a special problem to solve and needed to generate new ideas, which room would you choose?" Those interiors that were selected most often were deemed to be higher in creativity potential.

While McCoy found that the size or shape of the room did not seem to matter. The most highly selected rooms were visually stimulating, complex and interesting, had natural materials, designed for easy interaction and had views of the outdoors. When rooms had both textured wood and glass they were thought to foster creative potential, as were those spaces that encouraged curiosity and exploration.

When she tested people's reactions to projects created in different environments, she found that the projects considered more creative were those created in spaces that offered higher creative potential. McCoy is currently a professor of interior design at Washington State University.

I think what I find so fascinating is just how big a role our physical environment does play in our lives. It is so important when we have the opportunity to create and design spaces for work, school and our personal lives that we think about how we want to feel in those spaces. If you want to feel inspired, creative, happy it's all in the space!