As I wrote in my previous article How 2020 Has Changed Our Homes, 2020 did a doozy on home design – with clients clamoring for changes in personal space and home offices, reconfigured mudrooms and an expansion of usable outside space. But what does all of this mean for 2021? The following is a glimpse at what I anticipate the future might hold. These are my thoughts and opinions, some I’ve seen at trade shows, some are my hopes for our future homes, and some just might be a trend that comes and goes. Of course, I don’t claim to be a psychic with a crystal ball, so please take it all with a grain of salt and read on for some advice and predictions.

Kitchen Upgrades

Early shutdown orders, limited seating at restaurants and a desire to stay safely at home have all resulted in more cooking and eating at home. This increased use of kitchens is drawing attention to poor kitchen designs that may include lack of storage, inefficient layout and an inability to have multiple cooks working together.

This SeaTac kitchen included a 48” wide refrigerator to maximize food storage, a desk area, and behind the range wall is a walk-in pantry for extra storage. Meanwhile, there is an efficient work triangle between the gas range, refrigerator and two sinks.

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Whether you consider yourself a basic cook or gourmet chef, perhaps COVID is giving you a reason to try new things and expand your culinary skills. If so, did you know you can get help directly from smart appliances? That’s right; your appliances can teach you to cook! WAY back in January 2020, a lifetime ago, I went to the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show. You know all those trade shows that people used to attend by the thousands – where people were packed in like sardines and no masks or social distancing? Yeah the good ‘ol days! Anyway – while I innocently milled around with the masses, I watched a demonstration by GE Monogram of a microwave hood that featured a screen on which you can watch cooking videos as well as FaceTime with your mom for instructions.

Dacor has taken this a step further with an induction cooktop featuring a 7” LCD screen. The app recognizes your recipe and will adjust as needed. For example, when the pot starts to boil, the cooktop will drop it to a simmer per the recipe instructions.

Then there are the Miele appliances – such as their steam oven: you can tell it what you’re cooking and it will tell you when to put each item in so that everything is ready at the same time. The Miele ovens you can input a specific item you want to cook, such as a meat or vegetable, and it will suggest recipes and exactly how to cook it…magic!

Hands-Free, Sanitize, and Vocal Control

Before the pandemic, smart homes and vocal control were already becoming increasingly popular in remodels and new home construction, but it was considered a luxury, something you did because it made your life easier and it was cool. But now some of these trends are becoming seen as necessities, such as…

• Hand-free faucets or soap dispensers
• Voice activated showers and appliances
• Auto-activation of lights. This isn’t new (you see it in most office spaces), but it’s now becoming popular in our homes, too. This one simple change prevents the transmission of germs, saves on our energy bills, and helps the planet. Win, win, win!
• Sanitizing stations or equipment for towels, washcloths, sponges, phones, etc. Miele’s steam oven can sterilize glassware, sponges, etc. besides cooking your dinner!
• Germ-resistant materials for flooring and surfaces as well as new technology with ultraviolet lamps to kill bacteria on fabric and rugs, for example.
• Smart toilets that clean and sanitize after each use
• Built-in air purifiers or free-standing units. This helped people in Western states during the fires of 2019 and 2020 so it’s not just a pandemic thing when considering these items.

Self-Sufficiency

Clients will look to create living environments that allow for completely self-sufficient lifestyles. This will create more interior design demand for home theater rooms, bars, wine cellars, swimming pools, tennis courts, spas and gyms. These once pie-in-the-sky dreams will become more commonplace, rather than seen as unnecessary add-ons.

I’ll be honest, I’m not sure how excited I am about more time at home and less time sitting on a beach drinking Mai Tai’s, but staycations will likely become increasingly popular, so I might have to open up to the idea.

Home Additions

This is a bit more of a daunting task that will take more time and a bigger investment, but the possibilities for how you live and enjoy your home are expanding. And you should keep in mind that the added value could pay off in spades down the road.

We added on to our own home back in 2015. I had been working out of one of our spare bedrooms, space was getting really tight, and I was tired of walking past my office 30 times a day. I had considered opening a separate studio outside the home, but when I started to notice the change and increase in traffic I decided more time on the road was the last thing I needed.

So, we decided to add on to our home – creating a hallway on the backside of the house and adding a 300 square foot office and additional bathroom on the other side of the garage. It’s quiet, private and separate from the main house. More importantly, we designed it so that it could be my office, but we pre-plumbed for a kitchenette so that at some point, it can become a rental or a live-in caregiver unit, or a mother-in-law with a separate entrance. Or, since our house is fairly small, it might become a rec room or a master suite if one of us isn’t able to manage stairs one day. All of these options have increased the value of our home substantially and it has already paid for itself as far as I’m concerned.

The Takeaway

As we have learned from COVID, life is unpredictable. Who knows what the future of home design might bring? But considering the changes that came with 2020, I think it’s a smart bet to really consider how you use your home, what your home means to you, and how you might be happiest in your home.

If you’re considering some changes, I’d love to help you brainstorm some ways we can make that happen.

about

Melinda Slater

Melinda is the Principal Interior Designer and Owner of Slater Interiors in Mill Creek, Washington. She specializes in helping clients fall in love with the home they already have, as well as helping boutique businesses bring that extra personal touch to the office, employees, and their clients.

Through her interior architectural space planning and design work, she helps clients discover the potential hiding in their home and work – no matter how cramped, outdated, or non-functional it may feel right now. With a combination of values-driven creative thinking, collaborative planning, and an emphasis on sustainability, she can help transform any space into a sanctuary.

She doesn’t believe in a magic design bullet or quick fixes. What she does believe in is listening, learning, and encouraging her clients to dream big!

With 15 years in the industry, Melinda knows what’s possible for your home and can help you see it too.

Melinda has an AA in Interior Design from Bellevue College. Prior to becoming an interior designer, she worked as a licensed massage therapist for 12 years, the last two years focused on helping hospice patients find comfort and relaxation through touch. It was through this work with people at the end of their lives that Melinda became focused on the importance of the environment we live in and the need to be surrounded by beauty and inspiration as we live – and as we die. She has taken this philosophy and approaches every project with it in mind – working with clients to build a home that is representative of who they are and how they want to express themselves.

Melinda grew up on a small farm in Moscow, Idaho and her deep love of animals and the planet remains to this day. Her motto: ‘a girl can always dream!’

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I, for one, will be glad to see 2020 in my rearview. That said, I’m just a little bit gun shy to suggest that 2021 will be our year. However, I am hopeful! As we see this year end, I thought I would share my reflections on how 2020 has changed our lives and how we live in our homes. Just as the Spanish flu gave us the powder room, which originated as a hand-washing basin immediately inside the front entry of a home, COVID-19 has influenced significant innovation in home design – and will continue to leave an imprint on how we live in our homes.

The immediate requests that we at Slater Interiors are hearing from our clients include: creating a home office and homework stations, larger mud rooms, more ‘away’ personal spaces, and outdoor spaces that can be utilized year-round.

Personal Space

Since its invention in the 1970s, experts have likely been predicting the death of the American open-floor plan. It certainly has its place and benefits, but in the world of COVID – with the whole family working and learning and living at home together – we are seeing a greater need for personal space. While I do not see open concept living disappearing completely, it has become clear that more personal and quiet space is needed.

One thing to think about when considering personal spaces is sound proofing areas. With everyone at home, more Zoom calls, more overlapping schedules, more chaos –  sound proofing is essential. You can do this during the construction phase or after the fact by adding carpeting, area rugs, sound absorbing materials on the walls, window treatments, etc.

I have long preached that your home should function for the way you live every day, not how everyone on HGTV says you should live. This includes redesigning unused guest bedrooms or reallocating the formal living room or dining room into spaces that you will use frequently. And now, more than ever, I am advocating for creating homework stations for the kids. Do you have an unused room that you can tap into to create more personal spaces for your family?

Because guest rooms, especially now, aren’t being used efficiently, consider installing a murphy bed that folds up into the wall and when it’s up, the room can be used for working out, studying, or reading/meditating. Look at the www.zoom-room.com murphy bed!

A personal space doesn’t have to be a completely separate room. You can create semi-private spaces for family members within a room. Consider a reading nook like this one as a quiet spot for both adults and children to escape to, decompress or read.

Home Office

Dining rooms are being used less frequently to entertain, while home offices are in greater demand. Below is a rendering of a dining room/workspace we designed for a home in Bothell in 2020. The couple was downsizing from a 4000 square foot home to an 1800 square foot rambler. The smaller home necessitated the creation of a double duty home office/dining room.  The shelving units include file cabinets in the bases. We kept the shelving above for decoration and display so that the room felt more like a dining room than an office. The desk was selected because it can easily transition to a serving buffet for dinner parties.

In other cases, our clients already have a dedicated home office, but it’s just not meeting evolving demands – whether it’s being aesthetically appropriate for Zoom calls or providing adequate space for full-time work at home. Either way – we can take these new necessities into account and create home offices that fit the bill!

Mudrooms

COVID-19 has made me so much more aware of the things I touch and the germs we could potentially bring into our homes. A mudroom is the ideal transition space from the dirt and suspicious materials of the outside to the safety and cleanliness of your home interior. A well-designed mudroom creates the ideal place to remove face masks and set down items that came into contact with germy surfaces.

Many traditional mud rooms are a place to drop off shoes, coats, and backpacks, but today clients want them to include a small washer/dryer where you can remove and wash your clothes immediately, as well as a sink for hand-washing, and even a small shower. Sanitary, safe spaces are paramount – so a fully functioning mudroom just makes sense. In the room below we combined a small powder and a laundry room into one and added a shower and storage for coats, shoes & backpacks.

Outdoor Living

Pre-pandemic, who in the Pacific Northwest thought that entertaining in the outdoors year-round would ever become a ‘thing’? I for one didn’t think it possible, but today – it’s totally en vogue! I’ve written an entire article about all of the different ways we might think about our outdoor areas. I’ll give you a quick recap, but if you want to know more, take a look here!

A few simple ideas to start entertaining outside this weekend include:

• Purchasing an outdoor fire pit or patio heaters
• Add a freestanding umbrella or tent to help keep the heat contained to a smaller area
• Add outdoor lighting by stringing lights or consider purchasing an outdoor floor or table lamp. Or a plastic ottoman that doubles as a light. Don’t forget way-finding lighting with lanterns and battery-operated candles, or solar lights (providing you don’t live in too much shade).
• Add a TV and sound system outdoors. Yes! They make TVs for the outdoors.
• Don’t forget the little luxury items: upholstered furniture, blankets/throws for your guests, hand warmers, and more importantly – hot toddies or hot chocolate!

Some additional ideas that require more planning and a larger investment include:

• Add on a new deck, or patio – this is all about location, location, location. Where do you get the best light but also the best protection from wind/rain?
• Add a pergola or awning over an existing deck
• Add a sunroom or screen in an existing porch
• Build a pre-fab out-building on your property – think he-shed, she-shed. This could be used for a separate office, gym/yoga room, etc.

The Take Away

While there is so much unknown, so much that we cannot control right now, our homes are a space that we do have control over – what we put in it, how we design it, and how it makes us feel. Our homes are integral to our quality of life, particularly now, when we are spending so much time indoors.

Who knows, 2020 just might have rekindled the saying “necessity is the mother of invention.” I hope that instead of looking back on 2020 and trying to erase it from our memory, we can reflect upon and embrace it as a year that changed our outlook – when we learned to look at the people in our lives, and in our homes, with newfound appreciation and love.

about

Melinda Slater

Melinda is the Principal Interior Designer and Owner of Slater Interiors in Mill Creek, Washington. She specializes in helping clients fall in love with the home they already have, as well as helping boutique businesses bring that extra personal touch to the office, employees, and their clients.

Through her interior architectural space planning and design work, she helps clients discover the potential hiding in their home and work – no matter how cramped, outdated, or non-functional it may feel right now. With a combination of values-driven creative thinking, collaborative planning, and an emphasis on sustainability, she can help transform any space into a sanctuary.

She doesn’t believe in a magic design bullet or quick fixes. What she does believe in is listening, learning, and encouraging her clients to dream big!

With 15 years in the industry, Melinda knows what’s possible for your home and can help you see it too.

Melinda has an AA in Interior Design from Bellevue College. Prior to becoming an interior designer, she worked as a licensed massage therapist for 12 years, the last two years focused on helping hospice patients find comfort and relaxation through touch. It was through this work with people at the end of their lives that Melinda became focused on the importance of the environment we live in and the need to be surrounded by beauty and inspiration as we live – and as we die. She has taken this philosophy and approaches every project with it in mind – working with clients to build a home that is representative of who they are and how they want to express themselves.

Melinda grew up on a small farm in Moscow, Idaho and her deep love of animals and the planet remains to this day. Her motto: ‘a girl can always dream!’

​

TAKING ENTERTAINMENT OUTSIDE – YEAR ROUND

I get it, everyone is sick and tired of hearing about COVID and the massive and diverse impact it’s having on our lives. It has especially put a damper on our social lives – curtailing our ability to spend time with friends and family and challenging the connections that are so important to our lives. But isn’t it interesting how this pandemic is, in certain cases, shifting some of our thoughts and ideas for the better? For instance, pre-pandemic, entertaining outside in the Pacific Northwest in the winter months wasn’t really a viable option. But today – it’s totally en vogue!

So as a way to embrace change and celebrate this new-ish lifestyle, I’ve been reading more about outdoor living – specifically a Nordic concept called friluftsliv (pronounced free-loofts-liv). This expression literally translates as ‘open-air living’. If the Swedes, Nords & Danes figured out a way to do it with temperatures well below freezing, surely there is a way for us here in the Pacific Northwest to embrace this concept. Let’s just wrap our arms around these crazy pandemic restrictions and come out the other side with a new-found appreciation for year-round, outdoor living!

Friluftsliv is used to explain anything from commuting by bike, enjoying a lakeside sauna, a hike, or simply relaxing in a mountain hut. As an interior designer, I wanted to take this concept and apply it to our homes and entertaining. You can even take this concept beyond entertaining and apply it to activities we’ve typically done indoors such as yoga, meditation, workouts, knitting, etc. How many of us are looking for extra space and hadn’t even considered that it could be outdoors?

Have you, like me, found yourself dreaming about all those people living in warmer climates like California and Florida where outdoor living can be enjoyed year-round? How can we possibly replicate this in the chilly Pacific Northwest? Intrigued by the idea – and hopeful that I could create exterior environments throughout the year, even post-COVID restrictions – I started brainstorming some ideas for how to expand one’s home to better embrace the great outdoors.

Start first by thinking about the orientation of your home. Is there a side that gets better sun in the winter months? Is there a side that is more protected from the wind and rain? These are just a few ideas to consider as you begin to evaluate your home – some quite simple and inexpensive, others more involved:

• Add on a new deck or patio
• Add a pergola or awning over an existing deck
• Screen in a porch
• Add on a sunroom
• Build a pre-fab out-building on your property – think she/he-shed
• Build a greenhouse

Some additional considerations:

• Heating & Ventilation: Since you will likely want to have this area heated in some way, be sure to think about ventilation and fire safety. There are lots of options – from a gas or electric firepit, to a freestanding or wall mounted heater, or a heater that’s mounted on a wall or the ceiling area.

If this is an area that you need to use both for those days when it’s sunny and warm and when it’s cold or raining, consider a structure that has a removable roof or a roof that opens and closes so that you have the flexibility of enjoying the sun or being sheltered from the rain.  Consider a product called KnotWood that produces a metal product that looks like wood but doesn’t have the pitfalls of wood (i.e. the moss that can accumulate in our rainy PNW). Or check out www.EquinoxRoof.com. They make another louvered roof system that can be open or closed!

• Lighting: consider lighting for tasks/activities, ambience, and way-finding. You could string lights across the ceiling, or they even make outdoor floor and table lamps. For something with more ambience, consider the electric candles in a few lanterns or tiki torches.
• Kitchen: consider adding a BBQ area, pizza oven, sink, undercounter refrigerator, and even a dishwasher. Have plenty of counter space for food prep. Really take indoor living outside!
• Big Luxuries: Think about adding a TV https://www.bestproducts.com/tech/gadgets/g1101/best-outdoor-tvs/.
  How about adding outdoor speakers for your favorite music. And better yet, add a hot tub or sauna!
• Little Luxuries: consider upholstered furniture instead of wood or plastic. Stock up on individual blankets/throws, hand-warmers for pockets, heated slippers for you and guests. Don’t forget hot chocolate, hot cider or hot toddies!

What’s one quick and simple thing you could do right now to start moving your activities outdoors? I’m going to start by purchasing an outdoor heater. Tell me what you’re thinking about changing in your lives to get yourself outdoors and taking in some fresh air. I’d love to hear about how you embrace the outdoors beyond the summer months. We might just surprise ourselves!

about

Melinda Slater

Melinda is the Principal Interior Designer and Owner of Slater Interiors in Mill Creek, Washington. She specializes in helping clients fall in love with the home they already have, as well as helping boutique businesses bring that extra personal touch to the office, employees, and their clients.

Through her interior architectural space planning and design work, she helps clients discover the potential hiding in their home and work – no matter how cramped, outdated, or non-functional it may feel right now. With a combination of values-driven creative thinking, collaborative planning, and an emphasis on sustainability, she can help transform any space into a sanctuary.

She doesn’t believe in a magic design bullet or quick fixes. What she does believe in is listening, learning, and encouraging her clients to dream big!

With 15 years in the industry, Melinda knows what’s possible for your home and can help you see it too.

Melinda has an AA in Interior Design from Bellevue College. Prior to becoming an interior designer, she worked as a licensed massage therapist for 12 years, the last two years focused on helping hospice patients find comfort and relaxation through touch. It was through this work with people at the end of their lives that Melinda became focused on the importance of the environment we live in and the need to be surrounded by beauty and inspiration as we live – and as we die. She has taken this philosophy and approaches every project with it in mind – working with clients to build a home that is representative of who they are and how they want to express themselves.

Melinda grew up on a small farm in Moscow, Idaho and her deep love of animals and the planet remains to this day. Her motto: ‘a girl can always dream!’

​

Want to Design a Healthy Home? Try Connecting to Nature!

Healthy Home Design Ideas

Taking your health and well-being in mind when designing a home is becoming increasingly imperative perhaps now more than ever. A healthy home nurtures your soul, allows you to connect with your family, and is a place of inspiration and rejuvenation.

Some Cool Healthy Home Design Ideas

When you live in a beautifully designed home that is created just for you, your environment will give back to you in ways you might never have considered. In fact, the design of health care, commercial and hospitality environments have long been focused on the benefits of health-focused design for quite some time. Why is commercial design so far ahead of residential design when it comes to healthy environments? Major companies want productivity and increased creativity and learned years ago that by providing a health-based environment they will increase both.

A recent study of 7,600 workers in 16 countries found that those who worked in spaces with green or other natural features reported a 15 percent higher level of wellbeing, 6 percent more productivity and 15 percent more creativity. Increasing productivity by 6 percent increases a company’s annual profit by $3,395 per employee every year. This fact alone is why companies like Apple, Amazon, Etsy and so many more are incorporating healthy design principles into the work environment.

This kind of design harmony is just now beginning to resonate even in residential designs. Homeowners are now happily exploring and adapting  Healthy Home Design Ideas. In many ways, we already intuitively know that being in nature helps to calm, re-energize and connect, but we are learning how our indoor environment can be manipulated to give us a similar experience to walking in the woods, all while sitting on our sofa.

Don’t get me wrong, nothing beats being in the natural environment, but that isn’t always possible. And when that isn’t possible, in comes Biophilic Design which, simply put, means to connect with nature. Whether that’s directly or indirectly has been shown to not matter. “It’s not just about bringing the outside in, it’s about making and strengthening a connection with many aspects of nature.” (Oliver Heath, Biophilic Designer).

Let me share some examples of how you can transform your own home to give you all of the health benefits (physical and emotional) made possible by a nature-driven design focus.

DIRECT BIOPHILIC EXPERIENCES

Light

If you’re lucky enough to live in a year-round warmer environment, creating outdoor rooms is the ultimate experience of biophilic design — taking the indoors out versus bringing the outdoors in! Not all of us are lucky enough to live in such temperate environments so bringing focus on natural light is always optimal, be it through a window, skylight or sun room. When natural light isn’t possible, consider using more reflective materials so that the little light a room receives will be amplified by the reflection on a mirror, shiny surface/wall, etc. A more extensive investment would be a small prefab unit on your property that is situated in a sunnier light both during winter and summer.

Water

Water is multisensory and can be used as white-noise to buffer unwanted sounds from the outside (traffic, etc.) as well as provide tranquility through sight, sound and touch. In your home design, it can be incorporated through spa-like bathrooms, music mimicking nature sounds, fountains, and aquariums. Outside you can accomplish this through wetlands, rain chains, waterfalls, streams, or rain gardens. People have a strong connection to water and when used, it can decrease stress and increase health, performance, and overall well-being.

Plants

Implement and explore Healthy Home Design Ideas with indoor plants. Bringing plants and vegetation to the exterior and interior spaces of your home provides a direct relationship to nature. This can be accomplished by the installation of abundant potted plants, adding green walls, fresh flowers, outdoor containers and gardens, etc. Plants have been proven to increase physical health, performance, and productivity and reduce stress. Plants also improve air quality inside the home. Their presence also increases the humidity, which could influence mucous membrane systems and filter the effects of airborne chemicals.

Fire

Adding natural element in the interior can help in experimenting with the latest Healthy Home Design Ideas. The natural element of fire provides color, warmth, and movement, all of which are appealing, pleasing and relaxing. Even a gas fireplace can mimic a real wood fire, without all of the pollutants.

Animals

While not always possible to feature indoors due to allergies and sensitivities, you could consider aquariums. You can accomplish even better results by featuring plants or animal feeders outside that attract birds and butterflies, and other wild creatures. Interaction with animals promotes interest, mental stimulation, pleasure, and relaxation.?

INDIRECT BIOPHILIC EXPERIENCES

Light

If your home or a particular room doesn’t allow for natural light, especially here in the Pacific Northwest where Fall and Winter bring longer, darker days, there are ways to lighten up your space creatively. My number one tip is always to layer your lighting from the top down. A chandelier draws people into your space; table lamps are great for task lighting and make a room feel cozier; directed light from picture lighting or sconces creates visual interest and ambiance.

Color

Natural colors or ‘earth-tones’ are those that are commonly found in nature and are often subdued tones of brown, green, and blue. Brighter colors should only be used sparingly & one study found that red flowers on plants were found to be fatiguing and distracting to occupants.

Not to oversimplify how color can guide our emotions, but less saturated colors & ones that are in the cool family-like purple, blue, and green will make a space more peaceful and less anxiety-provoking. These colors provide a healing and calming influence and are generally stress-reducing. Warm colors like red, orange and yellow are exciting and can increase blood pressure.

Art

Images of nature have proven to be emotionally and intellectually satisfying and can be implemented through paintings, photographs, sculptures, murals, videos, etc.

Natural Materials

People prefer natural materials as they can be mentally stimulating. Natural materials are susceptible to the patina of time; this change invokes responses from people. These materials can be incorporated into homes through the use of wood and stone. Interior design can use natural fabrics, furnishings, and leather.

Adding textures like a natural wood grain is a stress reducer. It’s been proven to have the same effect as if you’re in nature. Consider bringing in wood barstools to an all-white kitchen, or installing a wood countertop instead of granite.

Shapes, Textures, Patterns & Visual Variety

Natural shapes and forms can be achieved in design through columns and nature-based patterns in rugs and fabrics. Including these different elements into spaces can change a static space into an intriguing and appealing complex area.

Natural design spaces and furnishings can include the use of repetitive, varied patterns that are seen in nature (fractals). Commonly used natural geometries are the honeycomb pattern and ripples found in water.

Seeing your favorite objects can boost your mood, support better problem-solving and enhance creative thinking. So, dust off your most meaningful objects, arrange them in evocative groupings and put them in a place where you and your guests can view them.

Space & Place

The experience of space and place uses spatial relationships to enhance well-being. This can be seen through the transition of spaces from the interior to the exterior via porches, decks, atriums and foyers. The ability to move comfortably between spaces provides a feeling of security and ease. The modern homes are making best use of available space. They utilize the available space to its optimal level to make home more organized.

Read More: benefit of being organized are booster.

Incorporating items with personal significance such as art, photographs or special objects – creates a sense of place in the home and tells a story both to those who live there as well as to visitors.

Sensory Perception

If you are remodeling your home and noise is an issue, consider purchasing double-paned glass windows. Covering your ceiling with rustic wood or soft material like wallpaper is another soundproofing measure. You could also consider window treatments made from thicker textiles like wool or walls upholstered in fabric.

Using the power of smell is one of the most simple and cost-effective mood boosting tips. Choosing the scent of sweet orange and layering in the aroma of vanilla is an anxiety reducer. The smell of jasmine has the same effect on people as prescription medications that reduce anxiety. And yogis have long known that the smell of incense reduces anxiety and depression. You can obtain any of these scents with candles or aromatherapy. Even a fresh bouquet of flowers in your bedroom or home office can provide a sense of joy and exhilaration.

A Little History About How Design & Health Merged For Me

I’ve practiced interior design for fifteen years. After graduation I thought I would go into healthcare design, but at the time that seemed a little stale and boring. Prior to my design career I was a massage therapist for twelve years, and during the last three years I was working with hospice patients, providing healing touch to those at the end of their life, some of whom had never received a massage in their entire lives. An elderly patient commented afterward & I feel like a contented cow. I’m assuming that was a great compliment since it took prodding from her daughter to even consider getting a massage. What I did learn was how important place is in our lives, whether we’re actively living or saying goodbye. All of our senses: smell, touch, sight, hearing are heightened and calmed when we are in a beautiful, comfortable space. The impact of the space and things around us — color, light, air, scents and touch are always taking in information and reminding us of how we feel in any given moment.

I believe we all know innately that nature has the power to heal, strengthen and renew us, but how we achieve that in our own homes might be less understood. I hope that this article has shed some light on a few simple ways you can effect changes to your living environment and create a healthy home for all who inhabit it.

about

Melinda Slater

Melinda is the Principal Interior Designer and Owner of Slater Interiors in Mill Creek, Washington. She specializes in helping clients fall in love with the home they already have, as well as helping boutique businesses bring that extra personal touch to the office, employees, and their clients.

Through her interior architectural space planning and design work, she helps clients discover the potential hiding in their home and work – no matter how cramped, outdated, or non-functional it may feel right now. With a combination of values-driven creative thinking, collaborative planning, and an emphasis on sustainability, she can help transform any space into a sanctuary.

She doesn’t believe in a magic design bullet or quick fixes. What she does believe in is listening, learning, and encouraging her clients to dream big!

With 15 years in the industry, Melinda knows what’s possible for your home and can help you see it too.

Melinda has an AA in Interior Design from Bellevue College. Prior to becoming an interior designer, she worked as a licensed massage therapist for 12 years, the last two years focused on helping hospice patients find comfort and relaxation through touch. It was through this work with people at the end of their lives that Melinda became focused on the importance of the environment we live in and the need to be surrounded by beauty and inspiration as we live – and as we die. She has taken this philosophy and approaches every project with it in mind – working with clients to build a home that is representative of who they are and how they want to express themselves.

Melinda grew up on a small farm in Moscow, Idaho and her deep love of animals and the planet remains to this day. Her motto: ‘a girl can always dream!’

​

Are you quarantined at home and still looking at that remodel project you were planning
to do, but COVID happened and you became preoccupied? Moving forward in these
crazy times might seem unrealistic, but I assure you design does not have to wait!

You might not be ready to take on a remodel just yet, but you CAN start the planning
process and even start the design layout and finish and fixture selections. You just
might be surprised at how much can be accomplished up to the point of starting
construction.

Here are a few strategies to get you started…

01 | START AT THE END

It might sound counter-intuitive, but your successful project is all about the dreaming,
planning, and preparing. If you don’t know what you want to end up with, how will you
know how to get there? I’ve worked on many projects and one common denominator is
that being in a hurry and not putting a solid plan in place will leave you with nothing but
headaches and heartache. Potential clients will call me and say “we’ve been thinking
about remodeling for the past year and we’re ready to start and we need it completed in
3 months.” And they often have no idea what their budget is, they aren’t sure of their
style, they might not even agree with their spouse about the end result, and they don’t
have a contractor. Don’t get me wrong, being enthusiastic and ready to start are great,
but you want to be sure to allow time to really prepare so that construction moves along
as smooth as possible.

Here are some things to ponder and get you started:

• What is your over-arching goal? Do you really need more space, or do you need your
  existing space to be more functional?
• Is your family growing or shrinking?
• How long would you like to stay in your home?
• Do you need accessibility now (or in the near future) so you can stay in your home?
• How will these changes impact your life? Will you feel more at ease, comfortable, happy?
• What is currently working in the space you want to remodel? More importantly, what’s
  not working? Is it crowded or arranged awkwardly? What’s the flow of the space? Is it
  the catch-all space?
• Don’t forget to think about your budget. While no one wants to reveal their number
  out of the gate, by doing so will help your designer/contractor guide you to the right
  solution.
• Don’t limit your ideas out of the gate, assuming you can’t afford something. Dreaming
  is free. Once you have your must haves and start putting a price to each of those
  things, you’ll start asking yourself ‘how important is this to my project goal’. If you have
  to let it go, so be it. Because when the project is finished, you’ll know that what you
  have is what you wanted and were willing to afford, resulting in no regrets and
  wondering at the end of the project.

02 | HIRING A CONTRACTOR

One might think that time and money are the most important factors when it comes to
hiring a contractor. But really, it’s accuracy, integrity, and communication.

• If you hire a contractor and it turns out they don’t pay attention to detail (accuracy),
  you’ll pay to fire them and hire someone else. Or you’ll pay in time to have them redo
  it, resulting in a delay in the project schedule.
• If you hire a contractor who says they’ll show up but don’t (integrity), you’ll pay in the
  form of time it takes to track them down to complete your project.
• If you hire a contractor who can’t communicate the schedule or why you’re getting
  change orders, you’ll pay both in time and money.

This stage can be challenging and frustrating, but is oh so important. Trust me, I’ve
done my own remodel project and I also ran into issues. But what I learned has been
invaluable to understanding what you might go through on your own remodel, and can
help you navigate the project path. If there are three things I know for sure: 1) I’m
human and I don’t know everything…how frustrating is that?!, 2) anything can
happen and usually does, and 3) it will always cost more than you think and if you try to
skimp in the beginning, you may not be happy in the end. For all these reasons, that is
why you want to be sure that the team you hire are all working together for you. Then
create a plan. Start by dreaming of all that you want, get the costs for that and then if
needed you can reduce costs based on importance vs price.

I’ve been involved with many remodels for my clients and some have gone better than
others. If I’m honest, I learn something new on every project. Every. Project. Some are
new ways of how to design and build. Some are about the process. All of which I take
forward with me into the next project.

Finding the right contractor is no simple task. Ask your designer for recommendations.
Ask for referrals from friends, family members or neighbors who’ve recently completed a
project. Post something to Facebook and ask for recommendations.

Start by interviewing first and forget asking them about how much they think your
project will cost and their timeline. Until you have most, if not all of your finishes and
materials selected, it will be a ballpark guess at best. Treat it like a job interview, your
first question out of the gate is not ‘how much is the pay’.

Instead, ask them about their process, how they handle upsets, do they have a crew of
employees or vendors they use consistently, will they provide a schedule for the project
from start to finish, how do they handle notifying you of surprises once demo has
started, how do they communicate progress. And above all ask for referrals!

03 | PREPARATION & TIMING

Don’t be in a hurry. Both from a design perspective but also from starting demo and
construction. Your house is going to be dust zone; you might even consider moving out,
depending upon the extent of the remodel. If you have kids, prepare them for the
interruption and what the new routine will look like.

If you’re hiring an interior designer, give yourself time to look through magazines, Houzz
or Pinterest to collect images of homes and spaces you like and be able to
communicate those to the designer.

Start packing things up and getting rid of items you no longer want. This way when you
are unpacking you know that everything going back into your kitchen is what you
need/want. Remodels are time-consuming and an energy suck and by the end you’ll be
tired of strangers in your home and want to collapse and enjoy the final product, not sift
through all the junk.

04 | WHEN IN DOUBT, HIRE IT OUT

These above strategies are often overlooked or rushed through in the excitement of
starting a remodel. If you already feel uncertain, overwhelmed and or downright
frustrated, consider hiring an interior designer to help you navigate, plan and design
your successful remodel. Yes, it will cost you money, but it will save you money in the
long run. You will know that you are selecting the right finishes. You will know that
everything works together to creative a cohesive design. You will save time, which in
turn saves you money because your designer and contractor will be working together as
a team so you don’t have to spend time micromanaging the project.

Whatever your design dilemma, I would love to hop on a call and talk about the
possibilities for your project and get you started with a plan to move forward. Send me
an email melinda@slaterinteriors.com and schedule your complimentary consultation
today.

about

Melinda Slater

Melinda is the Principal Interior Designer and Owner of Slater Interiors in Mill Creek, Washington. She specializes in helping clients fall in love with the home they already have, as well as helping boutique businesses bring that extra personal touch to the office, employees, and their clients.

Through her interior architectural space planning and design work, she helps clients discover the potential hiding in their home and work – no matter how cramped, outdated, or non-functional it may feel right now. With a combination of values-driven creative thinking, collaborative planning, and an emphasis on sustainability, she can help transform any space into a sanctuary.

She doesn’t believe in a magic design bullet or quick fixes. What she does believe in is listening, learning, and encouraging her clients to dream big!

With 15 years in the industry, Melinda knows what’s possible for your home and can help you see it too.

Melinda has an AA in Interior Design from Bellevue College. Prior to becoming an interior designer, she worked as a licensed massage therapist for 12 years, the last two years focused on helping hospice patients find comfort and relaxation through touch. It was through this work with people at the end of their lives that Melinda became focused on the importance of the environment we live in and the need to be surrounded by beauty and inspiration as we live – and as we die. She has taken this philosophy and approaches every project with it in mind – working with clients to build a home that is representative of who they are and how they want to express themselves.

Melinda grew up on a small farm in Moscow, Idaho and her deep love of animals and the planet remains to this day. Her motto: ‘a girl can always dream!’

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