Category: Function

Flowers – Why they are so much more than just a pretty thing?!

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Flowers, – why are they so much more than just a pretty thing?

This time of year is always a little confusing to me, my mind and my body. My self-care practice needs to be at 100% or else I start going a little crazy. Kinda like a bear who is just starting to wake up after hibernation, or a deer learning to walk for the first time. But this state is also my favourite. As we transition into a new season we get to embrace a new life, warmer weather, maybe even a rebirth, if you may.

As our moods begin to shift from an introverted winter to a more energetic and outgoing spring, it is important to shift our homes and office spaces as well. One of the easiest ways to do this is by bringing in new life! Yes, I am giving you permission to buy all of the plants and flowers!

Why should you buy fresh flowers?

1. They freshen the air! Sure they make the room smell delicious, but they also filter the air! Some remove toxins and can even improve your sleep because they give off extra O2.

2. Brighten your space! Maybe you own your home, or maybe you are renting a space where what you are allowed to do to it is quite limited. Flowers are the easiest way to add a splash of colour without the commitment factor of painting the walls!

3. Self Care! There are so many studies on the benefits of fresh flowers, with benefits that include:

  • Lower blood pressure
  • Reduced feelings of anxiety
  • Help with fatigue – Hello O2
  • Improved cognitive function

  • My top 3 low maintenance plants for air purification:

1.Devil’s Ivy or pothos (Epipremnum aureum)

This is my absolute favourite plant! They are harder to kill than they are to keep alive! It stays green even when left in the dark. I love this climbing beauty. 
  • Water every 7-10 days, allow the soil to dry out before watering
  • They love sunlight, but only indirectly!
  • Propagate when ready!

 

 

2. Spider Plants

These are my favourite plants for the bedroom because they filter out carbon monoxide from the air and they are very low maintenance. Plus, when the plant matures they produce “pups” which you can plant and make more plants!
  • These do really well in a hanging pot
  • They like indirect sunlight
  • They like dry soil and to be in a cooler room

 

3. Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum)

Need I say more. These beautiful plants are great for low light spaces and, if your pot allows, this will grow extremely large. they produce beautiful white flowers!
  • To be watered weekly
  • No Direct Sunlight
  • Commit to a pot size – Whatever size you plant your Peace Lily in, –  it will grow!

The bottom line for all Plants & Flowers in your space… give them love and they will do the same.

Let’s Honour Our Home & Work Spaces

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Let’s Honour our Home & Work Space 

Have you watched the Netflix series Tidy?

I did, in one sitting with a big bowl of popcorn and all the candy I got for Christmas…apparently, I am not alone. Millions have watched it. The drop-off centres are being flooded by stuff that people were inspired to get rid of after watching the series. Like most people, I love a before and after – a makeover montage is absolute bliss for me second only to dance montages. 

I became a fan of Marie Kondo years ago, when I read her book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. It made me so happy! I was ecstatic to find a new way to fold my socks and shirts and create
order in my drawers and closets. I believe I am pretty good at organizing and sorting stuff and competent at creating order. Like Marie Kondo, containment is my mantra. When I organize stuff and I can usually let things go after some personal torment and indecisiveness. But Marie is next level good at it. What makes her next level good at it is that she makes the connection to the “spirit” of things and how we connect to that. What sparks joy? Or what moves you – how does it speak to you?
 
As an interior designer I enjoyed watching her interact with clients. I felt Marie Kondo’s frustration (although she is so lovely you could hardly tell she was firmly saying NO) with the client who wanted Marie to make all the clutter disappear but didn’t actually want to get rid of anything. I have had that client and I have been that client. I have compassion for how hard it is to let go of things! She takes people through the letting it go journey with notable compassion and I love that!
 
But, the thing that Marie Kondo does that moved me to tears in almost every episode, was how she stops and connects to the home. She sits and gives it her full attention – she listens to it. She humbly sits and asks for permission to be there and work on the space. In my opinion, this is how it should be done. Let’s honour our spaces, they give us shelter and bear witness to our lives. To give gratitude to that place that holds our memories and all our stuff! Thanking all the things that have served us as we pass them along to their next home. This is truly how we should be in our homes and how we should interact with our things. 
 

I believe our live and work spaces have their own spirits. I believe that we feel much more at home when we keep that in our consciousness. Remember and acknowledge that this place – no matter what bugs you about it, is sheltering and caring for you. That is truly worth of your notice and appreciation. A recent Design Sponge blog by Grace Bonney put it perfectly when she said, “love your home for exactly what it is right now.” Take a moment from time to time and feel that – say hello home when you walk in the door. Look at something you love in your home and thank it. Spark joy! How can that be anything but good?

How Home Makes My Heart Feel

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How Home Makes My Heart Feel

Homeward Bound.

Home for me has always been my safest place in the world. It was in the Fraser Valley- Maple Ridge, BC – on a beautiful piece of acreage. It was spacious, functional and fun. It was something I was unbelievably proud of; always full of food, family and friends. It was my place in the world to feel safe, no matter what. When I came back home from university in Nova Scotia, home was always there waitingfor me. I knew how blessed I was to have this anchor of home. It was a physical place to me as well as a feeling in my heart. At the time, I didn’t distinguish the difference, they were synonymous.

Lost. 

It was in 2012 we lost my father to suicide. The loss was and still is unfathomable. It threw our entire family & community in the deep end of mental health awareness. It left a gaping hole in everyone that knew him. I was left… shattered. I needed to go home, but it didn’t feel the same anymore. The safe feeling in my heart was gone. Shortly after, we sold the family home & property along with a lot of our family possessions. My physical anchor and safe place in the world was gone. At the time it felt like that experience might last forever. After the sale, I ended up renting an semi- furnished apartment off a family friend in Vancouver. It was a space that never felt like mine – I wasn’t sure how it felt, but I know how it didn’t feel, like home. 

Found. 

The next year or so was a blur of trying to make sense of what was now my new normal. It was in late 2013 I moved out of that semi-furnished apartment in Vancouver and into a basement suite in Burnaby with my new partner. I was working for my mom’s interior design firm, Good Space, answering phones at the time. The interior designers at the studio offered to help mock up some space plans for me of my new basement suite with the few furniture pieces I had accumulated. 

They showed me the best flow for the open space feeling of my basement suite and also helped me make a shopping list of things to get for the space in the future. The day my partner and I moved in, we followed our floor plans and began to set up our new space. I filled the shelves with my things, I set up the lamps I had, side tables and some of the personal possession I had at my family home. I felt better about my new space but it wasn’t home, it wasn’t the safety and security I once knew. I didn’t know how to shift this, I felt very stuck.

Home is Created. 

Let’s jump forward to 2019. I still live in Burnaby, still live in a basement suite, and still living with my partner. If you were to ask me today where my safest place in the world is, I would have to say the home my partner and I created in Burnaby. I reflected on how I got here from where I was before and it was a combination of things:

  • Addressing function first in the space I am living, working and playing. It was really thinking about how I use the spaces in my home and honouring their purpose. 
  • Putting aside the desire to have my home look a certain way and understand its about how I want to feel about the space.
  • Making goals and lists for things to get in the future to always be improving the space and function around me. 
  • Most importantly, giving my home the attention it was asking for. 

I honoured that it wasn’t something that was just going to happen, or somewhere that I could just show up at, expecting something from. It is an experience that I am capable of creating in any place I live. It needed nurturing, creating, love and energy. 

I learned that home is something I can create anywhere I want to. It’s a combination of energy, function, purpose, my possessions and their meaning to me. It’s a place and feeling that I have learned is both tangible and yet intangible.

Interior Design for Small Spaces – A Good Space Plans Online Four Part Series – Part 4

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Lighting Design for Your Small Space

The final of a four part Good Space Plan Online series.

Lighting, we can’t say enough about it!

Good Space Design Group - Marinaside Crescent Project

We believe well considered lighting is essential for your comfort. This is particularly important in small spaces where one room has an influence on the next. The reason being they share the lighting.  Firstly, we put dimmers on all the switched fixtures and then we drill down on the details.

If there is a dining area fixture…

Good Space Project - Osler Street

We like to play with scale and select a maximum sized dining fixture that is fabulous to look at and delightful to experience.  A big “ta-da” with lots of light and interest. It is the star of the show. Once this is in place all the other lights can quietly do their job. These fixtures work by supporting the space, providing general lighting and task lighting as required.

The supporting cast of light fixtures…

Good Space Design Group - Gray Avenue Project

Good Space’s most favourite kind of small space lamp, wall mounted lamps!

 

Because we have minimised table tops in living areas and the bedroom, table lamps are often not possible. At Good Space we use floor lamps and our most favourite kind of small space lamp, wall mounted lamps! These are fantastic and offer super functional light without taking up precious table top or floor space. Some of these fixtures have two lamps in one – which are great as bedside lights. We search out fixtures that are dimmable.  

The price of real estate aside….

Living in smaller spaces puts us in closer proximity to our work places, our activities and interests. Small spaces  can simplify our lives and minimize the stress and expense of maintenance. A well designed space of any size supports you by freeing up precious time and resources to enjoy your life.

At Good Space Plans Online we work with you through a highly engaging online interior design experience that gives you peace of mind, certainty and an achievable design plan for your home.

Interior Design for Small Spaces – A Good Space Plans Online Four Part Series – Part 3

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The Design of Your Bedroom in a Small Space.

Good Space Plan's Online

When is bed more than a bed?

Good Space Design Group - 160th Project

When it has integrated storage! How much stuff is under your bed? True confessions are that mine doesn’t have an inch of space left under there! That is why we love a lift storage bed – these add an amazing amount of storage and function. The reason a lift storage bed is usually the best option for small spaces is that it goes up and not out like drawers. Storage beds with drawers when opened require space around the bed, often in small spaces this isn’t possible. Well designed lift storage beds allow some toe space under them. If you have ever smashed your toes on the bed you will know what we mean.  There are wood and upholstered options so lots of creative possibilities.

Tip: A lighter weight mattress is best for a storage bed – especially a king!

Where does my coffee go?

Anmore Project - Good Space Design Group

Bedside tables also have potential for storage. The key is get the height right – you don’t want to reach up from your mattress to your bedside table top. These can be freestanding or wall mounted – we think the surfaces should be durable or at least have a tray for protecting the top from a hot coffee mug – because a cozy coffee or tea in bed is the best!  

Bedside lighting is for next week…
Your bedroom or your sleeping space is sacred space and worth taking the time to select the best things for you and your bedroom experiences.

Next week: let’s talk about Lighting…