Blog · Longevity by Design

Clutter, Stress and Cortisol: Design a Calmer Room

Published: August 31, 2026 · Updated: August 31, 2026

By Sabina Malikova, Sabina Malikova Design Office.

A cluttered room rarely feels dramatic. There is no alarm, no obvious cost — just a low, persistent sense that you cannot fully relax at home. In my work I have learned to take that feeling seriously, because the science behind it is surprisingly concrete. Visual clutter is not only an aesthetic problem; it is a load your brain has to carry. The good news is that this is one of the most fixable issues in any home, and it

rarely requires spending money. A minimal, considered layout is, in effect, a way to lower the background noise your nervous system has to process all day.The trouble is that clutter arrives invisibly. No single object feels like a problem; it is the slow accumulation of them — the mail on the counter, the cables behind the desk, the shelf that filled up without anyone deciding it should. Because each piece seems harmless, we rarely connect the resulting unease to its

cause. Part of my job is to name that cause and then design it out, so the room stops quietly asking something of you every time you walk in.What the science saysEvery visible object competes for your attention. Research shows that a cluttered visual field keeps the prefrontal cortex — the brain’s centre for focus and working memory — busy suppressing irrelevant stimuli, which increases cognitive load and can blunt your ability to concentrate (PMC3037336). That constant low-level demand is

closely tied to the stress response; studies of the prefrontal cortex link chronic stress to measurable changes in how this region functions (PMC2907136). At home the effect is tangible: research associates a chaotic, disorganized household with higher cortisol, the body’s primary stress hormone (PMC9216699). None of this means tidiness cures stress. But together these findings suggest that reducing visual chaos…

Related reading

• IAQM — indoor air quality as a design target
• AHR — acoustic health in interiors
• Evidence & references behind every claim
• WHO 2021 — global air quality guidelines

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