Queer Eye's Bobby Berk on the link between our homes and mental health

The hardest working member of the Queer Eye five (sorry, Antoni) Bobby Berk is an interior design superhero.

Not only does he makeover his subject’s homes in lightning fast time while the other lads… drive endlessly around town? he makes it easy to understand just how much of an impact of living spaces have on our lives.

With season three of the wildly popular show now streaming on Netflix, Bobby dished out some home truths to Elle Décor about the correlation between our homes and our minds.

Referring to the episode featuring a man named Tony who suffers from depression, Bobby said he let the cleanliness of his home deteriorate badly.

“The bedroom was disgusting and his kitchen was piled to the ceiling with dishes,” Bobby said. “When you wake up, looking around at that, that just makes you more depressed.”

Bobby then went on explain Tony’s six-year-old daughter had started to pick up similar habits.

 “Her room was a disaster and she thought that was okay.

“I taught them how their cleaning habits can really have an effect – not just on them – but a lifelong-effect on their kids as well.”

Bobby says he always tries to explain the link between self-care and our homes.

“[People] don’t think about their home as something that affects their mental health, but it really does.

“If your house is dirty and untidy, and you wake up in that every day, you start your day with a sense of defeat.

“When you wake up in a home that you feel proud of because you’re maintaining it, you’re respectful of your life.”

Luckily, with a little care, Bobby reckons you don’t even need a big budget to buy into trends and start living well.  

“Find the thing that makes you most happy and decorate around that.

“I don’t think anyone should decorate their home based on the latest trend. It should be whatever you love.”