When I speak of my home as the a controlled environment, as the only place I can completely recuperate from moderate to severe symptoms, I mean everything in my home is 100% accommodating to my central sensitivity. For other people this will vary based on their needs, but for me a controlled environment is as follows

Light

• Natural lighting only, and only moderate natural lighting at best. No light in the bedroom (pitch dark – windows blocked out – overhead light with a dimmer switch if I need it).
• Dim nightlights around the house for evening and getting up in the middle of the night.
• Dim computer screen (which is also my TV monitor).

Sound

• Since I rent and have really crappy windows, I have a fan in every room near the windows to drown out external sound. I have a small humidifier fan (just the fan part not the tank) sitting vertically on my window sill in my bedroom.
• Soundproofing blankets over bedroom window with a bamboo roman shade to hide the blankets and drown out more noise and light, and I open the closet door against the window during the Spring (mating season for birds….).
• Most of the day it’s me in front of a computer in silence except for the fan. My dog is a very quite dog by nature.
• I have a THX® certified Logitech Surround Sound for my PC/TV/MP3. Why? Because I’m highly sensitive to crappy sound and music, we’re talking a mega headache in less than 2 minutes. Low bass, low sound setting. Speakers are next to me, not across the room.
• No ticking clocks, dripping faucets, or any other random or repetitive sounds.

Touch & Pressure

• My bed is 14 inches of Serta Visco Memory Foam on a typical box-spring. It’s like a giant foam soup bowl. My pillows are Serta Memory Foam contour pillows (one for my head and one for between knees  which cannot touch, because.. painful). My sheets are Protech Performance Sheets (the best sheets on the planet for memory foam mattresses).
• 

  My Tri-Fold Futon/Couch (Queen)

  My “couch” is a Tri-Fold, Queen Sized, Futon with a 4” futon mattress, 6in Serta Visco Memory Foam mattress topper, and a Protech Performance cover (fitted sheet). I have the back in a reclined position and the end all the way out. It’s like a giant recliner, but with total support.

• I do not own any tables or chairs. I eat on the futon. I have an extra couch for guests.
• My dog is a Pomeranian rescue, sooooooooft little pillow puppy. Awesome for treating anxiety, depression, pain, and getting me outdoors into the sun for my daily doses of vitamin D.

 Smell

• No fragrances of any kind, perfumes, air fresheners, deodorant, other people’s body odor (because there are no other people), and of course, smoke-free. The only thing in my house that has a smell is my food when I cook it. My dog occasionally smells like bananas, Doritos, and popcorn. (I have no clue why….).
• I also keep the windows closed to avoid passing car exhaust and cigarette smoke from neighbors.
• A HEPA air purifier is a MUST.
• More solutions here.

Allergies

• I’m allergic to my dog’s saliva (most people are, not the hair or dander, cats are MUCH worse for me). She gets a bath once a week (mandatory – once she burns my eyes…bath), with conditioning oatmeal shampoo with a very mild fragrance that I can tolerate. She’s really good about it and is usually dirty in a week anyways since we spend a lot of time outdoors and she likes occasionally rolling in cat urine and deer poo and occasionally eats grass when I’m not looking and gets the runs….
• 

  Separate Pet Bed

  No windows open. Whether its pollen, ragweed, or something else outside, NOPE.

• I dust and vacuum at least once a week.
• No flowers, except an orchid in the kitchen window. I have a garden on my porch and patio for all that.
• My dog does not sleep in my room. My bedroom is an allergy-free zone. She has her own doggy daybed in the kitchen that I up-cycled from a baby crib.

Temperature

• No higher than 75 degrees in the summer, no lower that 70-68 in the winter. Any temperature under 70 degrees and my hands and feet turn to ice and become VERY stiff and painful, and the rest of my muscle slowly follow. Temperatures above 75 degrees and – fatigue doubles per 10 degrees.

Company

• Yeah, um, family, sometimes, that’s pretty much it. My home is my sanctuary, it’s where I run to get under-stimulated, and so I avoid too much stimulation being in my sanctuary.