Home building, renovations and wellness.  What could they possibly have in common?  It turns out, A LOT.  Your house has a HUGE impact on your health and well-being.  Everything from the materials you choose to build your house with, to the way you lay out your rooms, to the placement of your windows, and even the lighting you install plays a factor in your family's health, happiness and longevity.  Crazy right?  

Did you know that you can design a kitchen that will help you eat healthier?  This may sound too good to be true, but it's not! 

The way a kitchen is designed plays a huge role in how we eat.  We know that eating organic fresh fruits and veggies is best for our bodies.  We are paying more attention to the fact that we shouldn't be eating processed and packaged foods.  And we might even try to prep our meals or at least our veggies ahead of time to make our weeknights easier.

Your entryway is the first thing you see when you come home, and it helps define the mood you will be in upon entering your home.  If you have a messy, cluttered entryway, you're going to be agitated by the clutter and carry that agitation into your home.  If you have a clean, ordered entryway, you will take a sigh of relief and enter your home at ease.  Your entryway is also the first line of defense to protect your family and create healthy indoor air quality.  Read on to discover 5 key ways to set up your entryway for a calm and healthy home and family.

Being a working parent is no joke.  When I first went back to work after having my son, the struggle to manage it all definitely hit me hard.  There was stress at work, stress at home, minimal sleep, and so much to do!  I barely made my way through that first year, and I knew something needed to change.  I needed to find calm in my life as a working mom.

Renovations are an exciting time.  They are full of hope, anticipation and dreams of beautiful new spaces.  But they are also annoyingly messy and stressful!  Dust and fumes are two major health issues with any renovation project.  Toxin filled dust is created during demolition, drywall installation, sanding, and many other renovation activities.  Toxic fumes will abound from building materials, fixtures and finishes (unless you follow the healthy building material guidelines).  Protect yourself and your family from the hazards of construction by following these key tips to maintaining a healthy living space during your renovation.

Last year we bought this awesome ski cabin in the woods.  Through my dreamy eyes, it was full of charm, contemporary rustic-ness and potential.  But in reality it was a poorly constructed, poorly designed 35 year old musty house.  *whomp whomp.*  We bought the 1,350 square foot house knowing that it would be a fixer upper and began making improvements as soon as we moved in.  Since I am an architect, I started with how we can fix the layout of the house to make it function better.  There were awkward and unusable spaces all over the house.  This post is going to walk you through the existing floor plan, and how I altered it to give it better flow and functionality.  I will also explain how I focused on a layout that will promote a healthy lifestyle.