What I Learned About Making My Tiny Apartment Work for Whatever Climate Change Throws at Us
Okay so this is going to sound dramatic but bear with me – last February when that polar vortex hit Chicago and knocked out power for three days, I had…
Does Having Plants Actually Make You Smarter? I Tested My Brain Function in Different Spaces
Okay, so this is going to sound kind of nerdy, but I’ve become obsessed with whether my plant collection actually makes me think better. Like, beyond just feeling less depressed…
When Your Phone Is Watering Your Plants Better Than You Are: Tech + Nature in Tiny Spaces
So I’m sitting in my 400-square-foot cave of an apartment last week, watching my phone send me notifications that my plants need water while simultaneously adjusting my grow lights based…
How I Learned Plants Actually Help You Breathe Better (And Why It Matters More As We Age)
I never paid much attention to indoor air quality until my wife’s health problems started getting worse. After her stroke, she developed respiratory issues that seemed to flare up more…
Making Nature Accessible for Everyone: What I’ve Learned About Inclusive Garden Design
After my wife’s stroke eight years ago, I learned firsthand how design choices that seem minor can create major barriers for people with mobility or sensory challenges. We had to…
What I’ve Learned About How Natural Materials Change the Sound of Your Home
About six years ago, I was helping renovate the fellowship hall at our church when I had one of those moments that makes you stop and really pay attention. We’d…
This Instagram Post Made Me Obsessed With Furniture That Copies How Bones Work
Okay, so I have a confession to make. I’ve become completely obsessed with furniture inspired by nature, and I know that sounds like something only design nerds would care about,…
Testing Nature-Based Workspace Design: What I’ve Learned from Bringing Biophilic Principles to My Home Office and Beyond
Working from home for six years has taught me a lot about optimizing my environment for productivity, but I’ll be honest – it took me way too long to figure…
How Modern Biophilic Design Finally Made Contemporary Spaces Feel Like Home
You know that moment when you walk into a space and suddenly understand what you’ve been missing? I had that experience about two years ago when I was researching childcare…
How I Turned a Corner of My Dark Studio Into My Own Little Nature Sanctuary (And You Can Too)
So here’s the thing about living in a tiny, dark apartment: you get really creative about finding ways to not lose your mind. When the pandemic hit and I was…
Why I Started Tracking Productivity Gains from Vintage Furniture and Plants (The Data Was Surprising)
I’ve been remote for six years now, and about two years ago I started noticing something weird in my productivity data. Some days I’d be crushing through tasks, other days…
What Bars and Restaurants Taught Me About Making Home Feel Better
You know, I never thought much about why some restaurants and bars felt comfortable while others made me want to finish my drink and leave. After thirty-eight years in the…
Making My Tiny Apartment Feel Less Like a Cave: What I Learned About Bringing Nature Indoors
Look, I’m not going to pretend I’m some kind of design expert, but after three years of trying to make my dark studio apartment livable, I’ve learned a few things…
These Green High-Rises Are Making Me Rethink What City Living Could Actually Be Like
Okay, so I’ve been seeing these photos on Instagram lately of high-rise buildings that look absolutely nothing like my sad pre-war brick box, and I had to dig into what’s…
What I’ve Learned About Kitchen Design That Actually Makes You Feel Better
When I first started reading about something called biophilic design a few years back, it struck me as one of those fancy terms for what my grandmother’s generation knew instinctively.…