Quantified Designs
BLLIS exists to explore the shortest path to a feel-good space and we’re looking to science for stress-reducing and life-altering design guidance.
Below you’ll find a glimpse into some of the research that drives BLLIS recommendations.
Color & Emotions: Subconscious Impact
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An immersive virtual reality study shows that blue room walls (in comparison to black walls and white walls) physically alter breathing patterns, sweat gland activity, and the brain states controlling relaxation, calm focus, and active thinking. The interesting part - individuals did not consciously perceive any change in their mood or emotional state.
Bower, I. S., Clark, G. M., Tucker, R., Hill, A. T., Lum, J. A. G., Mortimer, M. A., & Enticott, P. G. (2022). Built environment color modulates autonomic and EEG indices of emotional response. Psychophysiology, 59(12), e14121. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14121
Aromatherapy & Stress: Lavender Anxiety Relief
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A comprehensive medical review of nearly 1,000 participants shows that inhaling lavender essential oil significantly reduces psychological anxiety levels and physically stabilizes vital signs like blood pressure and heart rate, making it a safe, effective solution.
Park, Sin-Ae, Yoo, Onyoo (2023). Anxiety-reducing effects of lavender essential oil inhalation: A systematic review. Healthcare, 11(22), 2978. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11222978
Daylight & Health
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A residential field study monitored 20 adults living in their own apartments using regular window blinds for one week and high-tech "smart" glass for another week to change their indoor natural light. The data proved that maximizing indoor daylight exposure keeps the body's internal clock perfectly synchronized, allowing participants to fall asleep an average of 22 minutes earlier at night while significantly boosting daytime emotional well-being and energy.
Nagare, R., Woo, M., MacNaughton, P., Plitnick, B., Tinianov, B., & Figueiro, M. (2021). Access to daylight at home improves circadian alignment, sleep, and mental health in healthy adults: A crossover study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(19), 9980. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18199980
Lighting & Health: Circadian Rhythm Consensus
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This major scientific consensus paper—backed by 248 international scientists with a combined 2,697 peer-reviewed publications in the field—concludes that modern electric indoor lighting severely disrupts human health. The recommendation is “human-centric" lighting to support our natural circadian rhythms. This involves providing blue-rich light during the day to boost alertness, and completely filtering out blue wavelengths at night to protect sleep and hormonal balance.
Moore-Ede, M., Blask, D. E., Blask D.E., Cain, S. W., Heitmann, A., & Nelson, R. J. (2023). Lights should support circadian rhythms: Evidence-based scientific consensus. Frontiers in Photonics, 4, 1272934. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphot.2023.1272934
Clutter & The Brain
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This brain-imaging study shows that when you look at a cluttered environment, your brain has two separate systems working to process: an automatic, subconscious system (bottom-up) and a forced, conscious system (top-down). According to this research, a cluttered space forces your brain into a state of constant visual conflict. Because your visual system has a limited capacity, a messy room forces you to constantly burn up cognitive energy on "selective attention" simply to ignore the clutter.
McMains, S., & Kastner, S. (2011). Interactions of top-down and bottom-up mechanisms in human visual cortex. Journal of Neuroscience, 31(2), 587–597. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3766-10.2011
Clutter & Stress Hormones
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A home tour study analyzing dual-income couples found that women who describe their living spaces with words associated with mess and clutter exhibit unhealthy, flattened cortisol patterns (the human body's primary stress hormone) and increased depressive symptoms throughout the day. On the flip side, individuals who describe their homes as restful or restorative show natural, healthy declines in stress hormones, proving that household organization directly shapes daily physical health.
Saxbe, D. E., & Repetti, R. (2010). No place like home: Home tours correlate with daily patterns of mood and cortisol. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36(1), 71–81. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167209352864
Nature View & Recovery
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A landmark hospital study compared surgical patients recovering in identical rooms, which half looked out at a patch of trees and the other half faced a blank brick wall. The medical records proved that patients with the nature view healed significantly faster, required fewer strong doses of pain medication, and received far fewer negative health comments from their nursing staff.
Ulrich, R. S. (1984). View through a window may influence recovery from surgery. Science, 224(4647), 420–421. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.6143402
Water Features & Stress
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This review of health data confirms that man-made water elements, like garden ponds, outdoor fountains, or indoor desktop water features, provide significant psychological and behavioral benefits. Simply looking at or listening to these artificial features reduces mental stress, restores attention, and encourages increased physical activity and social interaction in urban environments.
Xie, Q., Lee, C., Lu, Z., & Yuan, X. (2021). Interactions with artificial water features: A scoping review of health-related outcomes. Landscape and Urban Planning, 215, Article 104191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104191
Biophilic Design & Physiological Response
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This environmental laboratory study tested people in workspaces with and without nature elements, across both real-world and virtual reality rooms. The data proved that exposure to indoor plants and natural elements significantly reduces physiological stress—lowering blood pressure while also expanding short-term working memory by 14% and reducing anxious moods.
Yin, J., Zhu, S., MacNaughton, P., Allen, J. G., & Spengler, J. D. (2018). Physiological and cognitive performance of exposure to biophilic indoor environment. Building and Environment, 132, 255–262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2018.01.006
Where the research is headed:
Design & Generations: The Epigenetic Case
Note: This is a theoretical/hypothesis paper.
Researchers at Cambridge, Harvard, and RISE Sweden argue that chronic stress from architecture — think low ceilings, harsh lighting, visually chaotic facades — may trigger the same biological pathway already proven to alter gene expression in response to pollution, toxins, and psychosocial stress. The proposed mechanism: sustained stress-hormone activation from bad design could leave lasting marks on our DNA, methylation-like modifications that are known, in other stress contexts, to be passed to future generations. The interesting part — enriched, nature-connected design isn't just neutral; the same researchers point to existing evidence that green space and daylight exposure are already linked to protective epigenetic changes, meaning good design may work in the opposite direction, too.
Valentine, C., Mitcheltree, H., Sjövall, I., & Khalil, M. H. (2026). Built environment-modulated epigenetics: The epigenetic consequences of architecturally mediated allostatic overload in the built environment. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 23(6), 688. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23060688
“Now I see how the space I create is sort of a representation of my psyche. It's all connected. So it's cool to see the inside manifesting on the outside. It kind of volleys back and forth in a cycle that is continuously evolving and improving.”
- Abby, Intensive Care Unit Nurse, Ohio, United States