Why Your Home Affects Your Wellbeing | Sarah Walker

In this episode of the Hunter Ambrose Leadership Podcast, Nicole Barbano sits down with Sarah Walker, Founder and Principal Designer of Nuance Interior Design, for a conversation about how our homes shape the way we live, recover, lead, and connect.

Sarah shares her philosophy of the home as a “psychological inheritance” and explains why thoughtful design goes far beyond aesthetics. From sleep, circadian lighting, air and water quality, and non-toxic materials to multi-generational living, legacy estates, and the “Tuesday Test,” this conversation explores how homes can support wellness, clarity, family life, and long-term wellbeing.

Nicole and Sarah also discuss why high performers often optimize every part of their lives except their environment — and how intentional design can create spaces that are not only beautiful, but deeply livable.

Explore Sarah’s Risk & Wellness Assessment: https://nuanceinteriors.com/risk-wellness-advisory/

This resource is designed to help listeners gain comprehensive insight into interior design and wellness considerations before purchasing, renovating, or building an estate. 

Connect with Sarah Walker:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahplattwalker/

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share this episode with someone who would enjoy this conversation.

To learn more about Hunter Ambrose, visit us at hunterambrose.com and nicolebarbano.com

Transcript

Intro: Rethinking the Meaning of Home

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Hunter Ambers Podcast. I'm Nicole Barbano, and today's conversation is one I think is going to resonate deeply, especially for leaders, founders, families, and anyone who has ever thought intentionally about the life that they're building. Our guest today is Sarah Walker, founder and principal designer of Nuance Interior Design, a Legacy Estate Interior Design and Wellness Advisory, serving families, family offices, and ultra-luxury residences. Sarah brings an incredibly unique perspective to the idea of home. Before founding Nuance, she led the interior design of more than 140 Nordstrom locations across the United States, shaping retail, spa, and hospitality environments designed about how people actually move, feel, and function. Today she applies the same thinking to private residences and family compounds, helping families design homes centered around wellness, longevity, recovery, and multi-generational living. But what really stood out to me about Sarah's philosophy is this idea that the home is not just where life happens, it becomes part of our legacy. In Sarah's words, the home is a form of psychological inheritance. So today we're talking about what luxury really means, how our environments shape us, and why even high performers often overlook the spaces they live in, and how thoughtful design can actually support well-being, clarity, and family life for decades. Okay, Sarah, welcome. I'm so excited to talk with you

What Is a Psychological Inheritance?

SPEAKER_01 1:40

today. We have a lot of questions that our team would love to know more about from you and to share with our audience. And the one that we want to start with is a phrase I have not heard before. I think you're going to claim fame to it. And it's the statement of the home is psychological inheritance. What do you mean by that?

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Our home is really the foundation where we start and end every day for those working from home and raising children and really making those foundational choices. It starts at home. And so what we see in families that are having that kind of low-level tension, their nervous system is always on alert, they're having a hard time sleeping and decompressing, which is so common with high-performing individuals and families, is that their home is not optimized the way the rest of their life is. They're optimizing their travel and their calendar and their schedule and their teams, but their home, the most foundational part where they're spending a third of their lives, is completely underutilized and underoptimized to support how they want to actually live.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Where did this, was there a tipping point for you where you saw perhaps what many of your clients wanted and then what their end experience was? I'm wondering if there was a moment about the aha moment of no, the how we think about our homes, how we're designing our homes. And I know you do from the foundation up. Was there a tipping point that that clicked for you that something needs to change and our intention?

How Sarah’s Health Journey Shaped Her Design Philosophy

SPEAKER_00 3:14

It actually happened with me personally. I was going to school at an accredited interior design school for design, art, and business. And about halfway through was in a severe car accident. I'm fully recovered now, but there was about a 20-year health journey where I realized that my home didn't support my recovery. And talking to people, they think about aging in place, for example, where, okay, you're getting to retirement age. We should put grab bars, maybe think about an elevator and some, you know, non-slip tile. And at 20 years old, there really wasn't a built-in infrastructure in the home to support any sort of a health crisis. And what I noticed in my design work is that that wasn't being discussed as part of the curriculum of how do we actually meet a human need of a place to recover, whether it's nervous system, a health crisis, day-to-day stress, overwhelm, burnout in our homes. How do we create a sanctuary or a retreat that is actually meaningful and can have a change in the rest of their lives? And so I built my whole practice around the premise of home as a support system for how we actually want to live, not how the celebrity designers or the furniture manufacturers think we should live, but actually how people need to live and have it be tailored to each individual. And as I went through my practice, I've been doing this for over 20 years now, I realized that this is a really prevalent issue that homes are not set up to deal with any sort of a health crisis or multi-generational living in the United States, especially. Other countries are much farther ahead with that. But the idea of incorporating wellness from foundation to furnishings is such a novel idea for so many large estates and complex homes. They're not thinking about all the different layers that quietly drain how we feel on a daily basis. And my whole mission is to

Designing Homes From Foundation to Furnishings

SPEAKER_00 5:26

change that.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Well, and I think something we're going to get into in a little bit, in learning more about your philosophy with this, and I know that you've anchored your entire practice and your firm in this. When I've learned about you and this foundation, the thing I keep coming back to is light. Right? Every home is going to have light. And I think that we don't think about what is the light that we want to have when we wake up? How do we set the tone for the different phases that we experience in a home throughout the day? And I think there's so much thought process, like you said, fixtures, furnishing, all of it's fabulous. But what if you when you look at the psychological premise of the home, is it lighting, is it texture, is it air quality? Where's your maslow on this?

Why Sleep Is the Foundation of Wellness Design

SPEAKER_00 6:19

I would say that sleep is one of the most foundational principles that we optimize around. And that has to do with light and materials and air quality, acoustics, and just the different elements that go into one room, your bedroom, and how we set up that space really determines your entire next day. You know, how many people have you spoken to that go, oh, I feel a little off. I didn't sleep well last night, or I think I'm coming down with something, I just haven't been able to sleep and catch up after my trip. You know, so we we underestimate how valuable sleep is at a home level. We are so concerned about, you know, we understand the quality, the need for quality sleep, but not how do we then design an entire room around making that successful? And I think it's just a lack of accurate metrics and resources.

Circadian Lighting, Air Quality, and Better Sleep

SPEAKER_00 7:19

I think we're starting to do the biometric tracking for how well we're sleeping. But then so many people are like, okay, I have this data now, what do I do with it? And designers are are wildly undertrained on how to actually move the needle for their clients. And so the premise that we bring to the table is let's do circadian lighting in the home all day long so that when you wake up and you are turning that light on for the first time in the morning, you're actually mimicking what's going on with the sun. And so we have, you know, a warm, soft light in the morning that gradually brightens to noon. It's a little bit whiter and more intense, and then it tapers off to a warm, softer light towards the night. And that signals to our brain biologically that, okay, we're going to be productive during the day, we're going to wind down at night. And that that means you're going to be ready for sleep when it's time to go to bed. And then you're going to sleep in absolute darkness with the all the acoustical uh soundproofing and everything that you can possibly have in your bedroom. You're going to have, you know, non-toxic materials in there so that the air quality isn't undermining your sleep. The mattress we select is all natural. We have, you know, various versions of high-tech and low-tech mattresses that actually will soothe you back to sleep if it senses that you're awake because it's tracking your sleep. We we also have, you know, non-smart mattresses that are completely all natural and fully customized to your body. So they're very supportive using the right kinds of linens that work with things like your frequency of what's going to be the most soothing and healing. We can go as deep as we need to go to optimize for your nervous system what you need in order to sleep well. And then I think that once you have that foundation of a good night's sleep, you're able to really go out and do so much more because your nervous system has been able to fully reset. And this is one of the biggest pain points I see for executives and founders and high responsibility individuals or professional athletes. Their sleep is so key to their performance the next day. And there's so many things that, you know, oh, let's try this, let's try that. But if we can have a home environment that's scientifically proven to be set up for a great sleeping environment, it makes such an impact.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

Well, and it's interesting to me, especially, you know, when we look at the longevity market, when we look at the wellness market, which I believe is seven million, seven trillion globally, two trillion domestically. So we have all of these products, all of these services. And it's sort of, I feel that the home is the afterthought when it should be the first thought. Yeah.

Why High Performers Overlook Their Home Environment

SPEAKER_01 10:13

Beautiful. You talk about high performers who optimize everything. Their investments, calendar, health, teams, advisors, and they often forget about their environment. When you're having a conversation with a client, how do you engage in that? That we need to start with the environment, not the fixtures, the furnishings, if you will. How does that conversation usually transpire?

SPEAKER_00 10:40

I like to start with how do you want your home to feel? And often that catches clients off guard because they're like, oh, I, you know, I brought you these images, these photos of what I want it to look like. And that's fabulous. I love that. And that is secondary for me. We want the functionality to be the primary. And with that, I like to think about how is this home going to be used by the family? Every home and every room needs to have different considerations. Often our clients have multiple residences and each of them have a different purpose. And maybe the client doesn't know what that is yet. We're going to come and talk through that. And then we want to talk about how do you want the different rooms to feel? Not all of them are going to be active and not all of them are going to be passive. And so it's so vital that we think about what is the mission of this house? Is it that we're wanting to decompress after a busy workday and we want to entertain or we want to have quiet connection time or we want to showcase our hobbies or our collections or have spaces that are meaningful for every member of the family? There's so many different ways to look at that than just what's your style. And so talking to clients about the functionality of their home is very similar to, you know, think of it when they're car shopping. Are you looking for a truck? Are you looking for an SUV? Are you looking for a sports car? Each of those has a different role and a different purpose. And you want to feel something different when you're driving that car. It's so similar for your home. And we want to get to the heart of that very early on so that we can best tailor to the client and meet their needs for that space.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

Well, and then speaking of the multi-generational homes that I think that, and we're all thinking of that to some degree.

Multi-Generational Living and Planning Ahead

SPEAKER_01 12:39

I had a dear friend when I lived in La Jolla who was so excited about buying their dream home, gorgeous view, pristine home, absolutely lovely. And they were so excited because their parents were going to come live with them and were standing at the curb looking at this beautiful home, which had 42 steps take it to the front door. And it was a moment of sometimes what you want is absolutely not what you need. How do you bring those two together?

SPEAKER_00 13:09

Yeah, it's it's reconciling I think the reality of, you know, there's the the reality of yes, if we want to be on this cliff, you know, we have to problem solve. And how do we how do we do that? A lot of my clients, money isn't so much the issue, it's time and being able to communicate those needs. And

Designing for Real Life, Recovery, and the Future

SPEAKER_00 13:31

so what we like to do is really be their advocate and see around those corners of, okay, I love that you want this specific layout. Have you thought about, you know, what it's going to be like at, you know, you're jet lagged or you you're a professional athlete and now you're recovering from an injury? Have you thought about maybe having a bedroom on the main floor? Or have you thought about maybe a second elevator so that you're not having to walk across your, you know, 20,000 square foot home to get to the primary elevator? Like what are we doing with the staff quarters and the staff circulation paths so that you don't feel like you're in a goldfish bowl? You want staff, but now let us help you think through the kind of domino effect of these decisions. And we can do anything. That's the that's the great thing about kind of working with the best builders and architects in the world is we can make anything happen, but we want to help the client think about the trade-offs, if there are any, and what that might look like in 10 years down the road or 20 years down the road. Often our clients are thinking in generations for these homes. These are legacy estates. And so there's oftentimes we're reconciling two different principles in the home, the homeowners, that maybe have different styles. And so finding solutions might look like we have a designated space for one family member and a designated space for a different family member that meets those needs differently, or a compromise in the style where we have some pieces that represent, you know, one um decision maker and pieces that represent another decision maker. And so we really want the home to feel inclusive and encapsulate as many solutions as possible. And that's why I like to really take a multi-prong approach to wellness. There's not really a one size fits all, but the more that we can use the tools that we have available, the better the outcome and the happier the family is.

The Hire : Leadership, Hiring, and the Evolving Nature of Work

SPEAKER_01 15:43

Hey everyone, just a quick break and a favor. If you are enjoying today's episode or you've been enjoying the podcast for a while, I have a quick favor to ask. Please hit the subscribe button, leave a review, or share today's episode with a friend. It would mean the world and help us share the vision and the community that we're trying to build here at Hunter Ambrose. Let's get back to the episode.

Lessons From Nordstrom and the Customer Experience

SPEAKER_01 16:06

I don't mean to make this an elementary statement, but in listening to you, it reminds me of perhaps your work at Nordstrom, or perhaps the work that I've experienced with some of my Relay and Chateau clients, where it's throughput. What is the customer experience from the moment they walk in going all through the process until they exit? And then when you were describing that, I was thinking about perhaps those environments of when they walk in, where do their everybody has to put their things down at some point. Is this how does this feel? So many homes don't they only have inside shoes. And so it's all of those elements. And I think it's fascinating because I would imagine most people are very attached to the visual components when they start these projects without thinking about walking in the door. Right. Let's talk about your work at Nordstrom. Now that this predates you starting the your firm, correct?

SPEAKER_00 17:08

It was a there was some overlap. There was a little bit of I was kind of freelancing on the side, doing residential work while also working at Nordstrom. And so there was some crossover that was just so great because I got to partner with some of the same vendors at Nordstrom at my residential projects too.

Building Nuance Interior Design

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Okay. And when did you start Nuance?

SPEAKER_00 17:30

I started Nuance in 2010.

SPEAKER_01 17:32

Okay, that's you're coming up on quite some legacy benchmarks there. And you're based in Seattle?

SPEAKER_00 17:39

I am. And then as of next summer, we'll be relocating our global headquarters to Florida.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

Marvelous. Very exciting. And it I think when you say global, you truly mean it. I I think you've worked on every continent but at Arctic, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, right?

SPEAKER_00 17:57

Yeah. Right. Um, no, it's it's been a delight, and we have vendors in all of those places and partners. And so it's really a delight to travel. And my goal for my clients is to celebrate the local wherever they are with local artisans and resources, but also incorporate some of the best from places that we've traveled that are doing, you know, maybe it's wellness or multi-generational living or furnishings really well that would work for this specific home and celebrate the home in that way too.

Wellness Technology, Privacy, and Home Monitoring

SPEAKER_01 18:34

One of the things, and getting back to the wellness-centered, I think, work that you do. And I think we talked about this briefly in a previous conversation. Security is obviously a significant issue as this privacy. And, you know, it's on your phone, you have an iPad, you have your panel on the on most rooms. It seems though that the wellness of our homes, though, might be taking also a parallel track. How individuals are monitoring their privacy and security, they can also wake up and find out what their humidity is room to room. Can you talk a little bit about what some of those trends are and maybe what's some of the trends that need to be commonplace?

Why Air and Water Quality Should Be Standard

SPEAKER_00 19:15

Yeah, I love this question because the tech every year is leapfrogging. It's incredible. The biometric tracking that

Explore Sarah’s Risk & Wellness Assessment

SPEAKER_00 19:25

we can do in home that allows clients to really have early detection power on a daily basis. And that's great personally. It's also great for their home. So things that we really love and I would love to see as you know commonplace as possible is monitoring the water and air quality. It's shocking how clients are so key to optimize, you know, their peptides and their diet and having the personal chef and the personal trainer and the wellness concierge, but yet their water is contaminated. And so it's bringing that whole home monitoring system and the purification systems, and there's a lot of them. And so how do you know which one is actually working? And having the app on your phone to be able to see, oh, there's an issue. The the leak detection has been there for years. But now I put as a standard in every home the water purification detection, not just because clear water should be a human standard, but because it brings peace of mind, that you're actually not in imbibing things that are harmful to your body when you're trying to live your best life and be healthy. You know, it's a it's a very real problem that can be monitored and prevented very easily. The other thing is air quality. It's I think an area that we're lacking in the US is monitoring the types of products and you know, toxins that go into the home. So a lot of products are made and they're not monitored for air quality the way that they are in Europe, with you know, blue angel certification, carb neutral, carb 2, all these different certifications that basically stamp and ensure that this product was made and isn't going to be toxic off-gassing in your home, which is terrifying to think, but it is a reality for most of our products. They have formaldehyde in them, they have, you know, VOCs in the paint. And so we want to come in and monitor the air quality and also select all of the materials and the fixtures and the furnishings that are non toxic. Very important to me. And I hope that the legislation catches up with that just to protect people and and

Non-Toxic Materials and European Standards

SPEAKER_01 22:02

I have a friend who lives in Shenzhen, and she said that they bought a sofa and they needed to, to quote her, air it out for a few months. That took some explaining to me. And then she has a beautiful home, beautiful life there. But the idea that we are bringing things into our home, a sofa, for example, in a main area that we can't br we shouldn't breathe. Right. You talked about the blue angel certification. Was that it? Can you explain? I'm not familiar with that. What is that?

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Yeah. So, like the blue angel certification is a European certification that basically says that this product has gone through rigorous testing to make sure that it's environmentally compliant with a high level of standards. It's kind of like the highest environmental standard certification that you can get. And it can you imagine if I said, you know, every product in your home has been certified to be non-toxic. What does that do to just your mental peace of mind? But then imagine that you're not breathing in those toxins and what that's going to literally do for your physiology and your nervous system, to not have to be constantly battling a toxin, very much like your immune system has to battle germs. It's a different level of decompression that's able to happen where you're you're able to relax in your home. And that's why we do the research of finding those non-toxic vendors and going to the factory and saying, you know, what is what is getting put into these products?

SPEAKER_01 23:39

And here in the United States, that regulation falls under which entity?

SPEAKER_00 23:43

You know, we think about, you know, the in California, like the propositions where they'll put a sticker that says this product may cause cancer. Right. Right. And it's so common on every product just about that people disregard it now. They just are like, California, you know, and then they buy the thing and it goes in their home and they cook with it, or they, you know, whatever. So it's there's really not an entity. There's like the environmental, the, you know, FDA, things like that that you would think would be kind of regulating what comes into our homes and what manufacturers can and can't produce. But really, all that's being monitored right now is what's going into maybe our water supply as a result of manufacturing, not who's monitoring the toxicity levels of products coming into our home, which is why we source about 50% from Europe, because they do have very robust stipulations about air quality and the products that are produced.

SPEAKER_01 24:48

And in terms of the metrics for this type of home, in terms of the monitoring of it, do you find that your principals are actively involved, or is this falling more to the estate manager, or is this kind of an evolving practice, if you will, for both?

Who Monitors the Health of the Home?

SPEAKER_00 25:06

It's both. And it's, I find it's often generational. The younger generations are very interested in the health of their home and their own health. And so they want to be able to pull up the app and say, you know, do I have mold? Do I have, you know, good air quality today? What's what's going on in the home on a daily basis? Um, maybe that, you know, it's it just helps with sense of of control and maybe anxiety. The older generations, we often see that the estate managers are monitoring it. And ideally, it's it is typically something that falls under the security people, the estate manager, because then they're going to stay on top of it and fix it as quickly as possible and take that off the principal's plates. Um, but giving everyone those tools so that it's never, you know, this feels odd or the water tastes different, or, you know, there's things that you just become it becomes a non-issue when we have the correct monitoring in place.

SPEAKER_01 26:13

I it seems more like almost as it'll become as commonplace as the help apps that we have on our iPhone. You know, I wonder where where am I into my, you know, have I closed everything today and so forth. I do think it is something that, as you said, is leapfrogging. I think if we have this conversation even in 18 months or two years, what do you think are some of the upcoming changes that will be continuing to transform the industry?

The Future of Healthy Homes

SPEAKER_00 26:39

I think as people are more aware of what impacts their health, my hope is that the larger jurisdictions will embrace those as standards and it will roll out not just to the top 1% that they can monitor their air and water quality and humidity and acoustics and all of those things that are EMFs. I mean, just all the things that actually impact our health on a daily basis, but it will translate to at schools and at workplaces and that as homes are built brand new, that there will be some sort of agreement with the government that these are things that people should have access to, information that it ties back to some accountability to how the pipes are maintained at a city level and where the power lines go, and you know, what kind of things are are polluting in the air from manufacturing nearby. That's really my hope is that this will make an impact far beyond just homes.

SPEAKER_01 27:44

Well, and I think you raise a frightening question because I mean, my youngest was 29, but I shudder to think what the air quality and the water standards were when she went to school. So um we'll have a few concerned parents after this, I'm sure. Let's flip to a moment. It is real, I know, without a doubt.

Global Inspiration: Florence, Dubai, and Family Compounds

SPEAKER_01 28:05

With your global portfolio, when you look at all of the projects that you've done and the future of what you'd like to do, is there a passion project that you've done or a passion project that you would look forward to in the future in a specific part of the world?

SPEAKER_00 28:22

I did my study abroad for art and architecture in Florence, Italy. And, you know, that's always been near and dear to my heart. I would love to continue working there at a larger scale. You know, the artisans and just the beautiful way that they blend the old and the new is is absolutely enchanting. Um, I love visiting the the GCC area. I was born and raised in Dubai and love the people there. And so that's very near and dear to my heart. Um, and you know, just the incredible resilience that they have as as they go through these, you know, conflicts and are still able to just be so resilient. I admire that a lot. I would say that some of my favorite projects have been family compounds. Families and family offices are uh, you know, also something that I really am passionate about because I I love working with the rising gen and seeing the impact. I see that my work around wellness-centered homes really has a huge role in the success of the rising gen. When we think about emotional regulation and nervous system resets, they're under so much overwhelming pressure. And so being able to create spaces that are, you know, tech-free or invite that connection with friends and family and help them step into their responsibilities easier with less friction because they feel like they have a seat at the table, you know, physically and emotionally, is something that I am super excited about as as we grow the business is helping more of the rising

Legacy Estates and the “Forever Portfolio”

SPEAKER_00 30:04

gen.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

Well, I'm curious too, with the time and attention that I think principals are putting into these properties and compounds, frankly, from I think, you know, people my age and older, and as you said, people younger than perhaps both of us, do you find that they're looking at these homes as the as part of the forever portfolio, if you will? And I say that because going back to the 80s and 90s, I think a lot of your high net worth individuals, they were turning over these properties every five, six years. You know, every Friday. It was amazing to see in the journal about, well, didn't they just buy that last year? Where where are you finding right now in terms of the market? Are they looking at retaining these properties into perpetuity for future generations? What do you think the climate is?

SPEAKER_00 30:55

I find that we're seeing a couple of different things. We're seeing that families are wanting to put down roots more and provide their children with greater stability, kind of in this first generation wealth in the kind of younger generations, that they are really looking and saying, where do I want to raise my child, give them access to the best schools or tutors or, you know, whatever it is, the opportunities. And that's not going to be necessarily one house, but maybe a primary residence for the majority of the year. And then thinking about kind of more accessory homes like the ski sociale or the pieditaire, or, you know, things that kind of are satellites to the legacy residences. Um, I would say there's typically a couple. And that allows the family to establish rhythms and consistency. And that seems to be a really great counterpoint to all of the chaos in the world, the unrest, the social media overwhelm, the burnout, kind of overstimulation that I think we're seeing, especially in the younger generation. And so that's been a great solution. And they get this residence, but then it's not actually optimized, which is where we come in. The other thing that we're seeing is legacy estates that are getting passed down as part of the silver tsunami or this big wealth transfer that we're going to be seeing over the next, you know, five years or so. And the kind of millennial generation is going, yeah, this home is great. It's very stately. It kind of feels impressive and beautiful, but it isn't actually how I want to live. And it isn't allowing me to kind of feel like I can decompress and reset when I come home. And it doesn't have the wellness components. It's more built as a trophy house or a show house. And so we're getting involved at that phase as well, where they want this to be a long-term residence, have that stability, have it last for generations, but be more tailored around wellness and longevity and well-being.

The Tuesday Test

SPEAKER_01 33:06

Which brings me to, and I love that you have this phrase, the Tuesday test. Can you talk to us a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_00 33:14

Yeah, the Tuesday test is really, I think, what homes are typically not designed for, sadly. And that is the idea that on an average Tuesday, you are coming home from work, the kids are coming home from school, whatever it may be. And how does the home actually perform on an average day? Is it actually meeting your needs and allowing you to live the life for everyday living that you want to live that supports recovery, focus, connection, just that everyday life? It's not a party, it's not an event, it's not a photo shoot. How is it performing? Is it actually supporting your needs? And so we like to use that as a baseline for our families when we're talking to them about what does this home look like for you when you're living your your normal life on a Tuesday?

SPEAKER_01 34:09

I love that.

Luxury Trends That Have Outlived Their Welcome

SPEAKER_01 34:10

Let's go back to luxury for a moment. What are some of the luxury trends that you wish perhaps were never suggested again or that perhaps have outlived their welcome?

SPEAKER_00 34:24

I think the show homes are probably one of the greatest disservices that we've done as far as homes go. And this idea that you're living in a hotel lobby. It's beautiful. It looks great for entertaining and parties, but the sofas are uncomfortable. They're not inviting a meaningful deep conversation with your family. You're passing through, everyone's just kind of ships in the night, going to their different gates. And it's just, it's it's almost pointless. You have something that people walk in and they go, Oh, wow, this is beautiful. But in their minds, they're going, but I wouldn't want to live here. And so it's that disconnect of we've created a beautiful environment that is so shallow and unsupportive that it ends up actually wearing on us and being exhausting to live in. And we feel like we have to go to that retreat in Bali just to decompress and get away from our homes and this life that we've built that is for show and is for show even at the most private, intimate place, which is our homes, that should feel like a home. And that's not to say that homes can't be both beautiful and functional and supportive, but we definitely prioritize too much of the aesthetics and really got away from the human connection and the ability to heal our nervous systems when we come home from the world.

SPEAKER_01 35:58

Well, and I think that most people, they've they've looked at some beautiful, beautiful spreads, some beautiful portfolios. And you look at a sofa or you look at a bed and you think there is no way I will be able to get up from that. Like, you know, it it's gorgeous if I was 20 years younger, you know, or five feet tall,

Why Beautiful Homes Still Need to Be Livable

SPEAKER_01 36:17

right? So I appreciate that. Let's talk about indoor-outdoor space. I think that so many of these residences fit in need in terms of the season, if you will. We have there's places to go and Aspenervale for Christmas or the holidays. But where does indoor-outdoor space play a part with the principles that you work with? And is this just a trend or does it really place have a place in your wellness philosophy?

Indoor-Outdoor Living and Biophilic Design

SPEAKER_00 36:45

It has a key place in our wellness philosophy. And we uh really use the science from biophilic design, which is love of nature. And how do we blur the lines between the indoors and outdoors? And that might look different in different places due to climate, but ideally, we have the ability to open up a wall of the house or blur the lines somehow between the indoors and outdoors. Because what we find is that within three to five seconds of walking into a room that prioritizes natural light, views, natural materials, earth tone color palettes, even textures, abstract textures of nature, that our cortisol drops and our heart rate drops. And it signals to the brain that we are in a place that is safe. It ties into the neuroscience as well. That we can feel connected to nature and that this is a place that supports belonging and connection. So, what we like to do is prioritize that because we know the biological change that it can create in order for us to have that higher quality of life for our principals. And that can look differently depending on the climate. Like I mentioned, you might not have the opportunity in Dubai for a lot of times in the year to open up the windows and doors. That is just not going to work. But oftentimes we can say, let's have that wall of glass, let's have, you know, beautiful organic shapes and natural materials and textures that still incorporate the indoor outdoors. The idea of as much natural light as possible, whether that's skylights or large windows or glass doors, is all really huge in how we blur those lines and celebrate nature because it really does benefit us.

SPEAKER_01 38:48

Well, and then speaking at, you know, reflecting on the longevity and the wellness goals that I think so many people have at this time. You know, we have grounding, we have time in nature, but so often I think the principals and the primary families, they need to experience all of it in this one environment. And I think it's very challenging for what you do. You it it is everything all at once, for sure.

What Every Household Should Evaluate First

SPEAKER_01 39:20

A couple of fun questions I wanted to ask you. For anyone who's listening to this, whether they're a family office, high performing, or just a family at home, what is one thing that every household should evaluate immediately in their home?

SPEAKER_00 39:35

I would say air quality is huge.

Explore Sarah’s Risk & Wellness Assessment

SPEAKER_00 39:39

It's hard to pick one. Air and water quality, I I think of kind of your environmental factors, maybe if I could bucket them into one thing. Sure. That's I think a real thing for people that can move the needle and and prevent a lot of the health issues that we're seeing with heavy metals and, you know, respiratory issues. Is what is our environmental factors and how how clean are they?

SPEAKER_01 40:09

And when you're working with your clients, is there one room that is often underestimated or perhaps ignored that you sort of want to say, no, no, no, let we need to focus on this a little

The Most Underestimated Room in the Home

SPEAKER_01 40:20

bit?

SPEAKER_00 40:20

I would say the the bedrooms. I know we talked quite a bit about sleep, but going beyond monitoring your sleep and just kind of like white knuckling the discipline of I'm going to go to bed at this time and I'm going to wake up at this time and I'm going to like, you know, take whatever pill so that I sleep through the night. We want to think of your sleep holistically. What is the environment in the home and specifically in the bedroom that is causing the dysregulation in your sleep and then solve it versus a series of band-aids and you know, supplements and drinks and doctor visits that may be necessary but might also be optimized by thinking about the bedroom more holistically.

SPEAKER_01 41:11

And it's interesting because obviously, because we are sleeping, we're spending our most of our time there. But I can see where the grand kitchen, you know, the terrace might get a little bit more focus.

The Designer as the Navigato

SPEAKER_01 41:23

Before we wrap up, I want to reflect from what I understand for you from your practice for your firm, you are the true mass lobe of design teams. And this is my interpretation. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Most designers work with the principal's architect. You seem to sort of be the navigator for all of this. You have all of those resources. So from foundation to putting the lights in, it seems to be within your purview. Is that accurate?

SPEAKER_00 41:54

Absolutely. Absolutely. We we want to own all of that with our partners. We think of it as a three-legged stool, that the architect is responsible from the outside in, the builder is responsible from the ground up, and we're responsible from the inside out. And that's the part that people live in and touch and experience. And we want to own all of that so that it's a seamless experience with the wellness.

SPEAKER_01 42:21

And if you were doing a project, say from start to finish, land acquired, you have permits in hand. Typically, what is the arc of time, if you will, for and I am putting this in the air quotes for the listening audience?

Why Complex Homes Take 3–5 Years

SPEAKER_01 42:37

What's the average project in terms of time?

SPEAKER_00 42:40

It's often three to five years, depending on just how quickly, you know, the build goes. Often these are complex sites, waterfront, historic. We do about 50% new build and 50% renovations. And they tend to be complex. You think about all the layers between the security and the exclusive, beautiful materials that we're using, the lighting, the built-in wellness features, and everything that we're monitoring, and just the number of people that are touching the job site is extensive. And we want to do it right. But one of the things that we've done is we build a 3D model of the home. And every fixture, every faucet, every piece of furniture is modeled to scale in 3D. And that decreases the time by about 30%, just because there's not the rework and the questions that come up later, because we have a working model. And so these homes, I think for a typical designer, might take longer, but we're able to reduce the time by about 30%, not from rushing, but just from having a very dialed-in process.

SPEAKER_01 43:50

Well, I can imagine the time that it saves from your principal being able to go online to look at the fixture in the master bath and send a note rather than having to schedule the meeting to wait for the meeting to look at the fixture. It's a beautiful, flawless concept. Absolutely.

The Future of Wellness-Focused Homes

SPEAKER_01 44:07

My final question to you is what are you looking forward to most in the next one to two years in terms of what's possible in terms of technology with these wellness-focused homes? What's going to be new and exciting for nuance design?

SPEAKER_00 44:24

I love the ever-evolving landscape. This is such a rewarding and fulfilling industry to be in because there's never a dull moment. We're constantly juggling the human aspect, the technology aspect, the design innovations. You know, we are working so hard to stay afloat with, you know, things that are going on in the art world. So many balls in the air. And I absolutely thrive off of that. But I think what I'm really looking forward to most is that this evolution in how we think about wellness, as it's not just a sauna or steam shower, it's a 360-degree approach, I hope, will gain traction in the industry and that we won't be the only ones that are really thinking about wellness in this way. Because I believe deeply that it's not just about longevity in that we're living longer. It's about well-being in that we're living better as we live longer. And I I hope that the industry continues to evolve, and I believe it will, where those technology pieces will not just monitor your metrics, but that we're actually going to be able to take something with that information and live better because

Closing Thoughts

SPEAKER_00 45:38

of it.

SPEAKER_01 45:38

You said a very high bar at nuance. Very high. Thank you so much for joining us today. Um, it's absolutely a pleasure. And we will leave Sarah's contact information where you can see her amazing portfolio. Connect with her on LinkedIn and also follow her on YouTube. Her videos are an absolute delight. Sarah, thank you so much for joining us today. Thanks for having me, Nicole. It was a pleasure. Thank you.