I never expected to learn one of my most important parenting lessons while pulling waterlogged drywall out of a stranger’s kitchen. But there I was, three weeks after Hurricane Florence…
I’ll never forget the moment I realized COVID had completely changed how we think about our living spaces – and it wasn’t during those endless lockdown days in my 400-square-foot…
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…
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…
I wasn’t expecting to spend last autumn analyzing the economics of struggling communities, but that’s exactly what happened when I read about a small manufacturing town called Millfield. As someone…
When my wife was recovering from her stroke eight years ago, I started noticing things I’d never paid attention to before. How the quality of light in a room affected…
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…
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…
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…
# When I First Walked Into a Prison and Realized We’re Getting Everything Wrong About Human Spaces Okay, so I never thought I’d find myself walking through a prison corridor…
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…
# When My Sister’s Migraines Led Me to Discover How Nature Fights Pain I’ll never forget watching my sister Claire curl up in a ball on her bedroom floor, hands…
I was looking out our kitchen window yesterday morning, watching a cardinal work through the seed heads in the small raised bed I built for my wife three years ago.…
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,…
I saw this photo on Instagram a few months ago – someone had posted a picture from what looked like a hotel room, but instead of looking out at the…