According to this year’s Pinterest Predicts Report, which identifies the most searched terms and the year’s hottest upcoming trends, emotional escape rooms will be one of the top interior design trends of 2022.

Highly curated to serve as relaxing spaces to decompress after a stressful day, emotional escape rooms are as unique as their owners. These rooms can manifest in a variety of ways, from relaxing mini-libraries and meditation circles to painting studios. Everyone relieves stress differently after all.

All age groups have increased their searches for inspirational designs for their own ideas of a private home getaway. Pinterest has identified the most popular search terms for escape room inspiration as:

• Music-themed rooms
• Crystal room
• Tiny library room
• Home massage room

A recent study in organizational psychology suggests that establishing a space for purely creative activities over productive ones can increase one’s mental health for the better, as can increasing your time spent there. Creating an emotional escape room could play a role in improving your mental health in 2022. Why not devote space within your home to serve you in the ways you need it most?

If an entire room renovation isn’t in the cards, you can definitely use a few of these ideas to transform any shared space in the house, like a bedroom, living room or even a closet into the home oasis you deserve.

We’ve listed three essential components for creating your very own escape room that you can carry into any aesthetic or niche room design you may have in mind.

Curated spaces meant for relaxation are shown to have mood-boosting effects on those who incorporate them into their interior spaces. Create your own recreation nooks with plenty of storage space using ClosetMaid’s SuiteSymphony and Modular Closet lines in White, similar to the MasterSuite Classic in White, pictured above.

Create Space

First, it’s time to make new space or reclaim that cluttered area in your home for a better purpose. Think about all the things in your life that haven’t been used within the last six months – from old clothes to saved shoe boxes to crumpled receipts – and make room for relaxation by getting rid of anything you haven’t used in that time. (Except for family heirlooms – you’ll want to keep those.)

When you start with a clean slate, the possibilities are limitless! You can afford to be creative and plan the perfect design for any area in the home.

Next, incorporate storage that won’t take away from the overall appeal of your interior. When selecting the base for a new storage system, go for designs that will add style and livability, while still complementing the overall ‘feel’ of your emotional escape space.

For example, the image above features ClosetMaid’s MasterSuite to create a recreational escape room. The use of white storage systems on both sides of the room encourages an open, playful feel in what would otherwise be a cramped-looking area. Create a similar look for your own recreation nooks with plenty of storage space using ClosetMaid’s SuiteSymphony and Modular Closet lines in White.

Regardless of the aesthetic or purpose your emotional escape room serves, incorporating lasting organization into your home will only serve to improve your mood.

Color can entirely change the emotional blueprint of a space. Above, the analogous colors blue and green create a calm, serene interior for a family’s fun and relaxing escape room.

Utilize Color

Color can absolutely make or break any interior design plan. When used well, color can emphasize the best emotions in us, uplifting our moods or giving the illusion of larger spaces. Used poorly, it can encourage feelings of anxiety, shrink rooms and break the balance of your home.

In our previous blog post, Going Green: Color Trends in 2022, we discussed the color of the year – a light, sage green – selected by no fewer than six major American paint brands, including Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore and Valspar Paints.

Employing color psychology and color theory can help you make the right decision for any new or updated room in the home. Colors like the uber-trendy sage green or blue evoke feelings of tranquility, which are great options if your emotional escape room will be focused on relaxation.

Looking to feel energized and upbeat instead? Painting the walls with orange or yellow is said to increase feelings of happiness, pride and friendliness.

Select ClosetMaid’s fabric drawers, which are available in a variety of colors, to quickly and easily incorporate mindful and colorful organization into your escape room – no paint required.

If you can’t resist the urge to pick up a brush, however, select fabric organizers in colors that are complementary to your freshly painted walls (colors across from each other on the color wheel) for added intensity or analogous colors (colors next to each other on the color wheel) for an aesthetically pleasing and calming effect.

ClosetMaid’s fabric drawers are the perfect additions to any space, adding flair, color and organization to any room’s design.

Decorate Purposefully

Creating your own private sanctuary won’t be complete until you add the right accessories.

Imagine a room that is both calming and stimulating. One where you can escape from your worries and get lost in thought. With deliberately added pieces such as mood lighting, bright or calming colors, mixed textured materials and an array of unique furniture pieces, you’ll be able to stimulate all five senses for peak refreshment, while staying on top of growing trends, all at once!

Today’s interior design trends are centered around the idea of ‘self-care’ more than ever before. Incorporating the appropriate pieces for your space will revitalize you in the ways you need it most, while also piquing the interest of any would-be buyers when the time comes.

That’s right! If you were worried building an emotional escape room dedicated to your unique interests would scare off potential home buyers, think again!

According to Zillow’s recent 2022 Home Trends survey, homes with pre-built spaces focused on relaxation can help a home sell for 2.2 percent more than expected.

Zillow also adds that natural light and indoor plants will continue to grow in popularity as home decorations and incentives for both homeowners and homebuyers this year.

Take note of how Sabrina of the popular lifestyle blog @thesimplehappylife has decorated her home’s mini-library emotional escape room with the on-trend accessories of ClosetMaid’s cube storage units, live plants and fluffy blankets for a calming, yet serious, interior space pictured below.

Sabrina, blogger owner of @thesimplehappylife, decorated her reading nook, mini library and focus area with complementary-colored fabric bins, textured cubes, live greenery and subject-relevant posters to create a uniquely calming space.

Share your thoughts about emotional escape rooms and your own home escape designs by tagging #MyClosetMaid on your posts. You may even be featured in our next post!