Janet (00:01.236)
Hello everyone and thank you for being with me today. Our guest is Linada Duncan and she is the founder and principal designer of BE Decor's interiors and she focuses on wellness design, specifically living well within your space. Linada, thank you for being with us today.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (00:24.384)
Oh, thank you so much, Janet, for having me. Happy to be here.
Janet (00:27.768)
Yes. So, Linita, I have quite a few questions for you because I have always been interested in how specifically biophilic design and what I'm referring to as bringing nature into your space and how that affects our quality of life and specifically our quality of life as we age.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (00:33.55)
Okay.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (00:46.882)
Mm-hmm.
Janet (00:56.624)
So I would like to first ask you to define biophilic design and wellness design.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (01:02.95)
Okay, sure, sure. Well, in the area of, I'll start with wellness first, and then I'll go into more of the biophilia. Because wellness design at the decorsanteriors is our main focus, and that basically is, I'm just gonna give my own definition of that, because there's no actual formal definition. But for us, wellness design is all about,
feeling, living, being well, mentally, physically, emotionally, all of that within your living space. So if we can create a living environment that helps us to feel more, I guess, at peace, that's tranquil, that helps us eliminate the things of the world that can basically tie us or cap,
I guess have us more captive emotionally, I'll just use some stronger words right here, physically, psychologically, then we believe that our living space can basically help free us from those things. So it can help us.
have less stress, have less anxiety, handle depression, and things like that. If we saw nothing else with COVID, we saw that as we were having to spend more time in our homes, it became more important for us to have a certain type of living environment that could help us eliminate, so to speak, those things that...
or I should say more incorporate the things that made our homes become or be our safe havens, so to speak, right? We know that our homes is our safe haven. That's kind of been something that people have said for a long time.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (02:54.258)
And so how we incorporate the biophilia into that is biophilia is specifically incorporating nature, the elements and principles of nature into our living environments, either directly or indirectly. So we know that through it, through biophilia, we can inherit a need to connect with the natural elements of the world. Okay. Those things are more fulfilled through biophilia.
benefits from this. We know that natural light helps us feel better, it improves and helps our mood, right, our sleep, our circadian rhythm patterns are improved through biophilia. It improves our productivity and our focus, so we also like to incorporate that wellness aspect of biophilia even into our workspaces, so that's important as well. It decreases our stress levels. So
perfect way for us to create the types of spaces that we believe help people live and be well within their living spaces and their living environments and work environments. Long answer, but nutshell.
Janet (04:06.42)
Thank you. Yes, that's a great explanation. Tell me, how can we specifically include biophilic design into our spaces?
Lanada Chanel Duncan (04:20.13)
Mm-hmm.
Well, so I just mentioned one being the natural light. Natural light is extremely important and you'd be surprised of how many homes that we've been to or we see, you know, times we see people living somewhat, in darkness in some ways. A lot of people don't, or they forget even the importance of opening up their blinds and their shades and their curtains to let in more sunlight, more natural light.
And natural light is extremely important because of those things that I mentioned before, you know, decreasing stress levels, helping us to focus, improving productivity, again, our circadian rhythm because sleep is extremely important. I say this even knowing that my average is about six hours a night. But I'm trying to improve on that and that's more for other reasons. But when we add in that natural light, it helps level us, you know, give us that ability to kind of.
Janet (05:08.301)
Okay.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (05:21.106)
level or playing field, so to speak, internally. So that's one of the benefits of biophilia is finding ways to bring in more natural light. So there's ways to do that from a design perspective. We see a lot of homes, see a lot of these kitchens and bathrooms now going into adding more skylights. That's become very popular over the past few years. So people are putting those skylights in their homes because they realized the benefit
A lot of the modern homes now, and some of the older ones too, have the windows that go floor to ceiling. Because those are great ways to, again, have as much natural light as you can. Maybe pulling off those heavy curtains off of our windows and going for like a... You can do certainly a light filtering shade that will allow you to adjust the light according to the time of day or how much light you may want or need in the space at the time.
ways to incorporate that natural light and I definitely suggest people getting with if they need to a designer to help them find ways to do that. Changing your light, your paint colors in your home are important. You know, while we love those darker sometimes moodier colors to help
warm up those spaces. It's also good sometime to have lighter colors because it helps you, it helps bounce the natural light around. So do mirrors. Mirrors help do that as well. Placing mirrors on the opposite side of your windows will help bounce that natural light around. So those are ways that we can kind of incorporate the natural light, but even the exposure to nature is important. So
while we don't necessarily, everyone won't be putting a tree in their home, so to speak, but there are ways to bring more nature into our homes. Nature, the exposure to nature helps speed up our body's healing and recovering process from injuries and wellness, you know. I don't know if a lot of people know that, so that's been proven. It improves our mental and physical health, you know, lower our blood pressure, fostering activities of living in community. It helps us want to get
Janet (07:07.409)
Uh huh.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (07:32.972)
and become and be active by having nature incorporated into our living spaces. And so some of the ways to do that is to definitely incorporate plants, you know, living things and organisms that reflect an element of nature. So plants are really good improving that oxygen levels in our homes, you know. So...
If you don't, if you're maybe like myself, and I've killed cacti, so I would say maybe find ways to put in an element of that, some form of element, an easier caring plant.
Janet (08:00.569)
Okay.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (08:07.614)
that you feel like you can take care of. Pictures, a lot of pictures of that. I do walks often and I do walks in the parks. There's water there, there's nature there, and I'm taking pictures throughout my entire walk sometimes just depending on my mood. And those pictures, many of them have become framed pictures that I have around my home. My walks on the beach and things like that,
Lanada Chanel Duncan (08:37.808)
they've become pictures that I put around my sheet cave space that I want because it makes me feel leveled and at peace and it helps me to focus more. So those are ways to just incorporate that. Think about the nature that's around you and find ways to incorporate those into your space. Bring in more pictures of nature if you can do that. A lot of different ways maybe a nature, a living wall is the way to go for you, you know, and having someone coming and actually
incorporating a great irrigation system so that you've got a wonderful living wall that can maintain itself that kind of thing. So that's some of the ways I could talk all day about this.
Janet (09:17.736)
Yeah, well great suggestions and you mentioned things that you can easily include in your home. Personally, I love gardening so I do have some interior plants, indoor plants, but one thing I've done in my office for example is all of the artwork that I have is either related to nature or it's of
Lanada Chanel Duncan (09:33.535)
Mm-hmm.
Janet (09:46.268)
artwork of flowers because I love plants. So and then I included my favorite colors which are blues, greens, and yellows. And so I spent so much time in my office that I wanted to be surrounded by the things that I really enjoy seeing and the colors that I enjoy looking at. So those are great suggestions.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (09:57.119)
Love it.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (10:09.962)
Perfect. Those are really good. Very good. Thank you. And you know, I think...
Janet (10:15.76)
And I just did something else, decorating for the holidays. I went to a business park near where I live and I cut a bunch of branches of magnolia. And so I brought them in and I have been decorating my staircase with magnolia branches.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (10:29.727)
Yes.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (10:37.462)
That's perfect. I love that. And I bet that's beautiful as well. Yeah, yeah. Magnolias are great plants. Those are great, I guess, trees or plants or branches to use when especially around the holiday season. So those are awesome.
Janet (10:41.757)
Yes, and.
Janet (10:52.124)
I love them and I had never realized that the back of the magnolia leaf is kind of, it feels like felt and it has, you know, this texture to it. It's so beautiful. And it cost me zero dollars. So
Lanada Chanel Duncan (11:02.222)
Mm-hmm.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (11:06.938)
Mm-hmm.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (11:11.338)
Wow, there you go.
Well, you just mentioned something that's important, the texture of the felt that you're getting as well. So you're adding that texture. And we think about nature in our space. That's one of the things that helps it do for us what it does, helps us take us to that place of, again, whether it be inclusiveness with community or whatever those things are, a lot of that sometimes plays in because of the way it feels or the way it smells. So when we're incorporating biophilia,
and into our design elements, then we can't forget that we want to stimulate all of the senses as much as we can, right? So sometimes it's the smell of, especially now around the holidays, you know, is that evergreen forest kind of smell that sometimes we want to incorporate because it helps us have the experience of connectivity, you know.
whether it be to our friends or loved ones or those who are happy, entertaining. That's why we're seeing more of those scents being placed into the trees to kind of make these, the fake trees smell like a real tree, you know? It adds to that entire experience. And that's what it's all about. It's the experience that we're looking for that helps to do what it does for us.
Janet (12:30.301)
And specifically, how do you think, including wellness design and biophilia in your home, how does that relate to creating a suitable environment for older adults?
Lanada Chanel Duncan (12:47.082)
That's a great question. I think that, you know, again, as we age and we get to a point where, um, you know, our
our bodies, you know, we go through changes within our body, within our physical and mental state many times, just bouncing off again and repeating some of those things that I mentioned. The ability for it to help us feel like we're connected to nature, so to speak. We're connected to community. We're connected or wanting to engage in state. It helps us
perspective that it can be very helpful and beneficial there. I think it fosters an emotional need of attachment basically to those spaces and the places by satisfying that inherent inclination to affiliate with those things around us. So I think that's what biophilia does. We stay connected to the whole of it, so to speak, if that makes any sense.
I think it also, you know.
the relationship among people, you know, nature fosters that, just a relationship with the things around us and with the people around us. And that can be important as we are aging sometimes, many times, you know? And so we don't want to feel or have people feel like disconnected from things. And so nature has a great way of connecting us to those things. So that's what I mean by that connectedness of it. It's like, it's kind of like
Lanada Chanel Duncan (14:29.086)
it's connecting us to the experience of space and place, basically. So it appeals to the senses of wayfinding to those things. And I think that's what's really important. So it does have that mental and that physical ability to connect us. So I really think that that's something that we really do need to be spending more time to explore and how we can do that as we all age in our living environments, in our places. So that's.
Janet (14:57.376)
I think one of the most important topics that you mentioned earlier was lighting and the role that lighting plays with your mental health and also your physical health. I wrote an article a few months ago about how natural light helps older people stay healthy. And until I wrote that article and did research, I didn't realize that
Lanada Chanel Duncan (15:02.958)
Mm-hmm.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (15:10.866)
Absolutely, absolutely.
Janet (15:24.648)
we could absorb vitamin D through windows. So like you said earlier, keeping your shades open or having light filtering shades is very important so that we can take advantage of that natural light throughout the day and it helps us feel better. We also need natural light for our vision to stay healthy even though our vision naturally deteriorates.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (15:28.171)
Absolutely.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (15:34.39)
Mm-hmm.
Janet (15:53.26)
with the aging process, but still less exposure to light means more deterioration of your vision. And then you mentioned the circadian rhythm, which is also extremely important, and people who don't get enough sleep, their fall risk actually increases, and so does their mental confusion. So it is very important for all of those reasons.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (16:00.619)
Right?
Janet (16:22.457)
to have natural light permeate your home throughout the day.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (16:27.774)
Absolutely.
And I mean, I think you've hit on the main benefits of it. You know, the lateral light end of it is extremely important. And I would say, again, let's not forget many times, like we mentioned, the color that we are living within, you know, within our spaces. So the color that we're using to paint our homes on the, you know, can make a huge difference. Are we living amongst darker colors that we tend to, you know, it darkens the room. And again, while that can be nice and warming
that can be there with that. We need to find other ways to maybe create that too and maybe use lighter colors if it means that it helps bring in more natural light and incorporate that sense of more liveliness into our space. And so, especially for our elderly and as we're aging, the lighter colors could be the way to go to do that.
Janet (17:23.452)
Linita, how do you personalize a living space using wellness design and biofilia to reflect the individual's life story and their preferences?
Lanada Chanel Duncan (17:37.362)
I like that question because it helps us, you know, I get to remember some of the
examples that we've been able to create through the projects that we've done with clients and the ways that it made them feel. You know, I'm going to go back to what I said about stimulating all the senses. So we definitely want to get to know the client because everyone's different. You know, what may stimulate my sense of smell may not do the same thing for you, you know, and so same as it goes with touch, you know, so certain textures, not everyone
and it could appeal to everyone. So we wanna get to know the client to find out those things that work for them to help them feel the way that we want them to feel within their space and have that experience. So some of the ways that we've incorporated like biophilia, again, appealing to those senses, the sense of smell, we incorporating candles, things like that, which could certainly very well.
appeal to some of those senses as well. Natural light, I'll go back to that for a minute. Again, hanging certain mirrors around the space to not just make it feel, you know, bounce around that light, but make it feel more open, you know, larger in some ways.
The solar light systems have been one, you know, those are great. Painting the walls brighter colors, that's been another good one. Changing those, pulling down some of those heavier curtains to something that's more light filtering or lighter shades or taking them off completely has been some. You know, we have.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (19:26.03)
toyed with the ideas of hanging some green walls in some spaces. And I really want to kind of get into some of that with some projects in the future. But we know that we've added plants and added certain green aesthetics around the space. We've had clients tell us how it makes them feel. Whether it be through trees or through pictures of them on their travels and things like that, it's made them feel happier, livelier in their space, remembering those times and the feelings and experience that it's given them.
So we specifically sometimes look for pictures that have those things in them when we want to personalize the space for the client. Bio-philic furnishings that promises a physical and a mental well-being have been really good too. So there's been furniture and case goods that's more curvy that we can incorporate to the space to make that feel, again, bring in that sense of closeness, connectivity. And those are really popular right now, given that modern look that a lot of, and Tulum
wanting. So we're looking for more furniture that's more trendy and has those curvy looks to it in some of our later projects too to incorporate that warmth and inclusiveness feeling.
Janet (20:38.148)
Okay, I like that. Very good suggestions in how we can specifically include texture and items from nature that are incorporated into furnishings.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (20:51.762)
Yeah, yeah. I mean the curvy look has a lot to do with how nature flows. So it kind of flows with the curvedness as opposed to with the sharp edges and the boxiness and that's why the curves have become so important in design.
Janet (21:07.68)
So you mentioned trends. A few years ago, we had the living wall come up, which I absolutely love. And I have thought about including a living wall inside my home, but is there a way to do that without water ruining the floor or the walls?
Lanada Chanel Duncan (21:22.155)
Mm-hmm.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (21:35.754)
Well, it's always good to certainly work with a company who knows what they're doing when you're installing something like this, because yes, that is something you would definitely have to be.
have it in front of your mind to be thinking about. But a lot of them come with a system that's, again, a great irrigation system that's built into it. And then they have kind of a draining and filtering system, box system that kind of sits under the wall itself to kind of capture some of that. And then it drains through the appropriate measures, I just say. So while I'm not an expert on a wall itself, we are doing now more research on that
of the, for instance, when a lot of city use, this has become very popular, these walls, or they'd be up on a rooftop, within lobbies, things like that. And so we see more people using them because they may not have more acts as acts.
it may not be as accessible to have a park near you or whatever. So we're seeing this more in urban areas, right? And so as these become more popular, the systems and the technology is being improved, becoming more savvy. And so as these things are changing and growing, we're doing more research on them so that we can know how to incorporate them when we get projects that where this would be certainly beneficial. So I would say definitely work with an expert who will
take note and provide the right guidance on that. But again, while it may be that you can incorporate the actual living walls, again, we're wanting the elements of the biophilia, which means we can still have the.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (23:19.886)
principle or the element of this incorporating to our space. So maybe it's not an actual live wall where all the items that you're using, it's not actual alive, but you can certainly, there are ways to do this and use fake plants too and have it look just as beautiful. You know, so yeah, I know it's fake. Right, and at that point, the idea of a living wall is to have it.
Janet (23:35.832)
Yeah, it does look beautiful, but then it's fake. It's...
Janet (23:44.632)
All right.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (23:44.77)
He live it real. But I'm just saying from a visual aesthetic, and there are people that still want the experience of that. But.
don't really want to have all of that done, you know, there's a process to this, you know, the way it's installed. So they may not want to go through that entire process and can't do all of that in their space. Maybe they live in a rental or something like that. So there are other ways to do it, but let's just say it's maybe having a wooden slat wall, something, again, we're talking about the elements of nature. So the wood, the stone, marble flooring, you know, again, furnishings that have these elements in it, these natural elements in it,
Janet (23:58.392)
Yeah, because there's maintenance involved. Yeah.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (24:24.072)
within the kitchen space, we're seeing a lot of that. So we're looking at projects that were actually putting marble or more natural stone in. These again are elements of that. I've used the water fountain in a recent space that I did in Serenby on a terrace level porch for a show house. And that water fountain itself, the sound of the water trickling down, the copper behind it, you know, all of that gave off such an important feeling
that everyone who came to that space took note of and wanted to experience this and stay for a moment. You know we all need that moment of exhale so just doing things like that it may not be a full natural wall but there are other elements that you can certainly incorporate into your space to give you that still that experience of what a wall could do.
Janet (25:15.784)
Well, great suggestions. So are you aware of future trends, something like the living wall that is going to come our way in the world of design, dealing with wellness?
Lanada Chanel Duncan (25:32.202)
Well, again, the skylights are one that's becoming very popular. People are seeing the benefits of having something like this in their cooking space because our kitchens become our gathering spaces again as well. And so people are asking for this new design, incorporate a skylight in my kitchen or in my bathroom. As I soak in the tub, it's great to be able to look out and see natural light. And so that is becoming a popular one for sure. The living wall, as we said.
our countertops, you know, those are just extremely important. We are seeing more fireplaces, you know, now in use. So we're seeing a lot of design built around our fireplaces, whether it be that modern look or, you know, doing a whitewash or something like that around our fireplaces to give us that warmer feeling as well. So we're seeing that use a lot because people want to connect to these
Lanada Chanel Duncan (26:32.096)
want to do this, you know, and we need to see the benefits of doing this because of how it plays out in our wellness. And so, yeah, those are some really popular trends that we're seeing as well. Of course, we know the lighter colors, you know.
The lime wash that we're seeing using lighter colors and softer colors, you know, that's becoming really popular too. People want that vibe kind of around our spaces because again, how it makes us feel. So I love that we're seeing more of this in design. The trends are popping up and we're seeing this. The curviness, oh, that's just all over the place. Curvy furniture, sofas that curve, you know, tables that have that waviness and curviness to it.
all over the place. So absolutely these are definitely trends that we need to look for more of in the next few years.
Janet (27:27.104)
Okay, well thank you. You've given us so many tips on how we can easily incorporate aspects of nature into our home and improve our mental health, improve our physical health. Lenita, if someone wants to hire you, how do they get in touch with you?
Lanada Chanel Duncan (27:48.022)
Well, the best way to do it is to go to our website, start there I would say. That's the best place to start, which is B-E-D-E-C-O-R-S dot com. Our company, while it looks like B Decores, it's B-E Decores. So it's BDecores dot com. They can go to our contact page and there's right at the top, it says prospective client. And we do ask that they complete.
the questionnaire because it gives us a lot of information that we really need to do from an intake perspective. And then they can fill that out and within 24 to 48 hours someone will be in touch with them on the other side so that we can make that connection and set up an initial complimentary call that we can do to discuss their project. But they can also follow me on Instagram. I am at B.E.Decors.
And there's a good way to just kind of stay connected to what we're doing that way as well And they can reach out to us through a direct message, but the best way is through the website. So thank you for asking that
Janet (28:48.72)
Yes, and I will include your website in the show notes as well as your email and your LinkedIn and Instagram profile. Yes, thank you so much for spending time with us and educating us on wellness design.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (28:52.567)
Okay.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (28:58.966)
Thank you so much, I appreciate that.
Oh.
Lanada Chanel Duncan (29:06.51)
I enjoyed it. Thank you so much for having me again. I appreciate the opportunity.