Planning your home for self-care. Brillinger House.

How do you feel in today's world? Some may say brilliant, but unfortunately negative feelings are continuing an upward climb with more than one in three people saying they experienced a lot of worry, stress, sadness or anger. Gallup 2020 Global Emotions Report.

I am a survivor of trauma and grief. I have experienced first-hand how challenging life can be. For more than 30 years, I have been on a journey to optimal wellness, exploring different ways to cope and ease my negative emotions. I have found success in things like meditation, swimming, yoga and reading. But what's really made a positive daily impact to my emotional well-being is my home.

Your home should be your retreat, your sparkle, your place to find centre. Coastal Life Homes looks a design differently. We design homes that not only allow you to enjoy home-cooked meals, work, sleep and bathe... all in a 'beautiful space', we uncover ways to transform your home to encourage your well-being.

If you head over to our ABOUT page on our website you can find out exactly how we do it, but our Design for Wellness Journal focusses on how we have brought Design for Wellness to homes.

Over the next several entries we'll show you how we Designed for Wellness throughout the entire Brillinger House. In this entry you'll see how we considered the owners' wellness in the functional design of their living room.

Meditation

Daily meditation reduces stress, improves self-awareness, reduces memory loss, increases kindness and improves sleep and health. (Healthline.com).

Meditation is a priority for the owners' wellness at Brillinger. Space was limited so we couldn't find a permanent home for meditation - it had to be portable. It also had to be close to 'fire' to balance the 4-elements for the owner, so the perfect spot was the living room. We paired a meditation pillow and cozy rug with the owner's stones and crystals to be held in one of their favourite keepsake bowls'. The owner could easily set up the space in a minute or two the night before or even in the morning before she meditated.

Reading

Who doesn't love cozying up by the fire with their favourite book?

Some of the benefits of reading include: increased empathy, less stress and a better, more restful sleep.(Healthline.com).

Both of the owner's love to read - it's a brief escape from the world beyond their front door. One of their reading spaces found a home in the living room. The other, in their bedroom. (We'll show that in the weeks to come.) We ensured both couches had cozy and supportive pillows, throw blankets for cold nights and task lighting for nighttime reads.

Connecting

Personal connections are associated with happiness and improved health (Mental Health America).

Family and friends are important to the owners and their only child. It is one of the ways they achieve wellness. So it was important for the whole family to have enough 'permanent' seating for their family and weekly visitors as well as space for drinks and snacks.

Design for Wellness

Gallup accesses the world's emotional health.