February 18, 2025 • 39 mins
Today we are joined by the Founder and CEO of Home in Harmony Designs, Christa O’Leary leads a distinguished design firm renowned for crafting exquisite interiors that elevate both the aesthetic beauty and the well-being of her clients. With a rare combination of expertise—holding dual degrees in psychology and human development—O'Leary’s foundation in marriage and family therapy uniquely informs her philosophy of “Design Inspired Living,” where interiors not only reflect personal style but also foster emotional and physical wellness.
A celebrated author and advocate for sustainable living, Christa’s work has captured the attention of national media, with appearances on CBS, NBC, and The Hallmark Channel. As a sought-after motivational speaker, she has inspired audiences worldwide, appearing on renowned radio shows and podcasts. Her signature designs, regularly featured in prestigious publications such as Modern Luxury, Designer's Today, New England Home, Luxury Interiors, and by the acclaimed international fabric house Kravet, encourage a life of elegance, harmony, and vitality. Through her visionary approach, Christa empowers clients to live not just stylishly, but holistically, in environments that nurture the body, mind, and soul.
Connect with Christa:
IG: @homeinharmonydesignsWebsite: https://homeinharmonydesigns.com/
Save 15% site wide at www.houseofblum.com with promo code beat15! Or you can use this link- https://houseofblum.com/discount/beat15!
Connect with the Hosts https://www.instagram.com/boulevardbeatpodcast/
Connect with Meghan Blum Interiors https://www.instagram.com/meghanbluminteriors/
Connect with House of Blum https://www.instagram.com/shophouseofblum/
Connect with Krissa Rossbund. https://www.instagram.com/krissa_rossbund/
Connect with Liz Lidgett https://www.instagram.com/lizlidgett/ Episode Website https://www.blvdbeat.com/about
A celebrated author and advocate for sustainable living, Christa’s work has captured the attention of national media, with appearances on CBS, NBC, and The Hallmark Channel. As a sought-after motivational speaker, she has inspired audiences worldwide, appearing on renowned radio shows and podcasts. Her signature designs, regularly featured in prestigious publications such as Modern Luxury, Designer's Today, New England Home, Luxury Interiors, and by the acclaimed international fabric house Kravet, encourage a life of elegance, harmony, and vitality. Through her visionary approach, Christa empowers clients to live not just stylishly, but holistically, in environments that nurture the body, mind, and soul.
Connect with Christa:
IG: @homeinharmonydesignsWebsite: https://homeinharmonydesigns.com/
Save 15% site wide at www.houseofblum.com with promo code beat15! Or you can use this link- https://houseofblum.com/discount/beat15!
Connect with the Hosts https://www.instagram.com/boulevardbeatpodcast/
Connect with Meghan Blum Interiors https://www.instagram.com/meghanbluminteriors/
Connect with House of Blum https://www.instagram.com/shophouseofblum/
Connect with Krissa Rossbund. https://www.instagram.com/krissa_rossbund/
Connect with Liz Lidgett https://www.instagram.com/lizlidgett/ Episode Website https://www.blvdbeat.com/about
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to boulevard Beat, a podcast where life and style intersect.
I'm designer Megan Bloom along with my co hosts, editor
Christa Rossbund and gallery owner Liz Legit. This podcast focuses
on the daily highlights instead of the hustle, interviews with
taste makers, and personal conversations on how to highlight achievable style.
You con stroll one street at a time, boulevard Beat
(00:29):
proves the one you should take.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Today.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
We are joined by founder and CEO of Home and
Harmony Designs, Krista O'Leary. Christa's esthetic philosophy is informed by
dual degrees in psychology and human development and results in
designs that foster emotional and physical wellness. A celebrated author,
Christa empowers her clients to live not just stylishly, but holistically,
in environments that nurture the body, mind and soul.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Welcome Christa. It's great to have you here today.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Oh thank you ladies for having me.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
I'm so excited to be part of this podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
It's so exciting.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Krista.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
We're always going to start this podcast by asking our
guests about the street that they grew up on.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
What is your story.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
I love that question.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
I actually grew up in a quintessential New England town.
It's so beautiful, adorable, and I grew up on Main
Street and it was really such a blessing because we
moved there when I was in sixth grade after my
parents got divorced, and I was lucky because the school
is right down the street, so everybody at school, all
(01:42):
my buddies could walk to my house and then we
could all walk downtown. And I kid you not, we
had a pharmacy that had an ice cream slash soda
counter in it, so we'd go and then of course,
you know, we buy a gum and then there was
an indoor mini, so it was really kind of it
(02:02):
was a nice little hub. And also I didn't realize
it at the time, it was esthetically absolutely beautiful the
street itself, and I think I just always gravitated towards
beautiful spaces and beautiful environments, and so it was definitely that.
Speaker 5 (02:18):
I love that you grew up on Main Street, Like
who grows up on Main Street? That's so great. And
you know, the word quintessential certainly applies to anywhere New
England talk about a place. I think more so really
than any other place in the country New England and
the church steeples, and it's just so all of the
towns are so quaint and you know, other than your
(02:39):
the big metropolis of Boston. It's just it's such an
idyllic American existence, for sure it is.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
And the best thing is now my store home in
Harmony Designs is actually on Main Street, but now in Massachusetts,
so again in a very quintessential town.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
So it's full circle.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
That's so sweet and such a fun and just can
take you back to that little community.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
And I'm sure kind of that pharmacy and other elements
shaped your creativity. And it's probably no surprise that we're
going to talk a lot a lot about creativity on
this podcast. It's easy to go directly to industries and
roles that are considered artful, but to your proof that
creativity comes in all forms. Talk a little bit about
your earliest moments of creativity and how they formed your trajectory.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Again, that house on Main Street was a pivotal moment
for me because I actually didn't even know that there
was such a career as interior design. I had no
idea I honestly didn't know that there was a career
an interior design until I hit my thirties. At that point,
sixth grade, you know, I want to have I want
to make my mark. I want to have my own room.
(03:44):
I don't want my mom designing it or you know,
creating it.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
I want to do it.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
So we moved into this house on Main Street and
it was a contemporary cape at the time. So they
ended up making a historic district because of my mom's house,
because it was a contemporary cake on Main Street that
was just like, you know, totally different from everything else.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
So above the front door was this.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Huge sphere and that probably was like thirty inches wide,
and my mom hated it. So she that was the
first thing that she did at that house was she
took down that light fixture and she put up a
traditional light fixture. But I was like, oh my goodness,
I want that light fixture in my room. So here,
(04:30):
you know, I didn't have a huge room, but I
took this thirty inch globe and I stuck it at
the foot of my bed and then I had them
put it on a dimmer so that it would glow
at night.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
And it looked like the moon and I just was
absolutely in heaven.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
So I think that was the first time I quote
unquote designed something but really made the space my own.
So I think that that's sort of where things started,
without knowing that they were starting.
Speaker 5 (04:59):
Christa, many designers in this industry started as something else.
They had a different career, and they, like you, found
interior design at a later age, not right after college
or even during college, and chose that as a major.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
So we're going to brag about you for.
Speaker 5 (05:17):
A little minute, because I know you won't yourself, but
you have white an education that has nothing to do
with interior design, although so important and must inform the
way that you approach design.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
So tell us about your other degrees.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
You know, originally I got my BA from Boston College,
then went on to.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Graduate school in psychology.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Graduated actually had patients that would come in and shit
across from me on the couch and we would chitchat
and we'd work through all their problems.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
They'd walk out the door on cloud nine, but then.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
The next week they would come back in and they
would be, you know, low energy again.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Status quo. Things hadn't changed.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Shortly after that, we started having our kiddos that we
now have four. But at that point I decided to
step away from psychology because it just was it was
a lot, and I wasn't one that could separate the
psychology from home life.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
So decided to raise the family.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
And so in the meantime, you know, it was making
beautiful houses or like our house, making that beautiful. And
then you know, people started to come to my house
and they would say, oh, my goodness, like your house
even though you have a child, Like it feels so
calm and peaceful, and I love.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
What you've done. Will you come to my house and
do it?
Speaker 4 (06:41):
So initially I would do that, but then being Western educated,
especially in the field of psychology or medicine or one
of those fields, like we've been taught to do no harm, right,
so I felt like, oh my goodness, I don't have
the credentials to go into people's houses because I don't
know if I'm doing harm or not. So that's when
(07:03):
I began to get certified in this and that, so
that I would then have the ability to go in
with knowledge behind me.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
And so what I did was I called all of
those things.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
My tools, and at this point in my career, I've
created something called the designer's Toolbox, which are different lenses
to look through when designing spaces.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
But the best part for.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
Me was that when I did actually start to really
go into people's homes and designing that, you know, we
would sit down and have that initial meeting where it
wasn't just about how people wanted the homes to be
esthetically pleasing, It was about how do we create a
home environment that's going to nurture and support the people
(07:49):
that live there and the life goals that they have. Right.
So that was all from my psychological background, and what
was awe inspiring to me was that when we create
these environments, all of a sudden, I realized that we
were changing lives.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
I was changing lives doing it.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
And so it wasn't one of those situations where I
had a client stating across traumatic out and then the
next week they'd come back and their life.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Was status quo.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
It was, oh, wow, I have changed your life and
it stayed that way, like it stuck, like they've actually
created that life that they wanted and were hoping to create.
Speaker 5 (08:26):
I love that there's this human connection and human spirit
that lives in your path to design and how you've
crafted it in a manner that's really about helping people
address their whole life because this is what's changed in design,
I think, And we're going to dive into this a
(08:48):
little deeper later on in the discussion. But Christa, for
so long, I feel like design was the end result
of somebody wanting to make something aesthetically pleasing. But I
do think that now there is a deeper understanding about
how that human connection, editing, the lifestyle all play into
(09:12):
the quality of life. And it's not just a living
room that has the colors that you love and the patterns.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
That you love.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
It's really a place that makes you feel good. So
can you just expand a little bit on that idea?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
I mean I know friends of mine who are designers
and they go in, they have their consultation with the client,
and then they just go off and do their own
thing and they design a great space, right, But that
doesn't necessarily nurture and support the people that live there.
So my goal is to really understand from a psychological perspective,
(09:48):
from a physiological perspective, from a holistic perspective, what is
really going to nurture and support someone And a great
example of that is, let's use the color red. Right.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
I go into somebody's house and they say, oh, christ.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
I really want you to do our family room, and
I love the color red. I want you to incorporate that.
Blah blah blah. I'm going to find out on a
deeper level if that's going to actually nurture to support them.
And you know, perhaps they're a couch potato, so having
a little red in their environment, which I know because
of my background that from a physiological level, it's actually
(10:26):
going to increase their heart rate. From a psychological level,
it could encourage somebody to get angry, but it will
create more.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Energy for that person. So if they're a couch potato,
using red is a great idea that it works.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Right. However, if the person that comes to me is
you know, someone that can't lose weight, or they have
a child that's ADHD or there's a lot of friction
in the family, I'm going to tell them like, I
am so sorry, but I can't use the color red
in your environment. And you know, obviously graciously tell them that.
(11:07):
But then I try to teach at the same time,
and I'll explain from a psychological level.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
Red can make people angry, and it can be.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
Agitating for someone that has ADHD, and you know, if
you're trying to lose weight. There's a reason that all
of the chain restaurants are usually done in colors of
red and green because it increases your appetite.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
So I'm going to look at the person and the
people living in the.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Environment to help create that environment that really is going
to support and nurture them the best that it can.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
Okay, So the takeaway here is to go to restaurants
that are painted blue to save some calories and money.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
Exactly because blue, Like, if you think about it, what
food is blue?
Speaker 3 (11:56):
There's no food on earth, like even a blueberryes purple.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
There's no food on earth because humans are innately wired
to see blue.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
As something that's going to be toxic.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Okay, well, I need.
Speaker 5 (12:09):
To paint my kitchen blue because it's not so much
the restaurants as it is the late night snacks that
get me in troubles. On that note, though, you sort
of segued nicely into the next question. We've all seen
those color charts that outline what different colors mean, and
we all know that red means you know, perhaps anger,
(12:32):
sometimes love, So there's the flip side of that and
all of the different characteristics of the various colors. What
can you tell us about the types of designs that
people are attracted to and what that says about them?
Speaker 2 (12:46):
And I'm looking more holistically for this question.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
So somebody who likes a soothing palette versus a family
that's really animated and loves a lot of color, So
what does that say about them? Is are there any
sort of personality markers that we should know about if.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
There's necessarily personality markers, But what I would say is
that just because someone likes a certain palette does not
necessarily mean it's going to.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Support them or nurture them the best of that an
environment could, right.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
So, like, if you have someone who's you know, a
little more phrenetic and adhd, and yes, they might be
drawn to art that's more phrenetic, but that doesn't necessarily
mean it's something that's good for them, right.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
And actually a great example.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
Of that are teenagers, right, Like you can tell what's
going on and ahead of a teenager by opening the
door to the room and looking in and typically you know,
again this is very stereotypical. But when you look inside
a teenager's room you see complete chaos. Well the reason
for that is because there's complete chaos going inside their heads.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
And so that environment, because it is.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Chaotic and it could be messy and disheveled, doesn't necessarssarily
mean that it is supporting and nurturing them, right. I
mean that being said, if you're a mom and you
have a teenager and their room is totally crazy, I
would take a deep breath with that and just let
that mom know like you're seeing inside their emotional state.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
So take a moment and.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
Appreciate that as opposed to automatically going to the clean
up your room now, which I get because I had
four teenagers five years apart.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
That's fun too.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
And I don't know if like just even I have
little kids right now and just the mess and chaos
that happens sometimes with them and how that relates as
well of just how their brain's kind of learning and
growing as well.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Yeah, I mean definitely the kiddo. The little kiddos are
at a different point in their human development, and so
with the younger set, there are different reasons for them
having mess your spaces than the teenagers, and it's less
about you know, psychologically being in this upheaval that the
(15:08):
teenagers are going through, and more the toddlers are in
this learning curve and they need to be taught how
to you.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Know, organize and because they don't understand yet.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
How to do those things, So making it easy for
those toddlers to clean up and having designated spots for
each thing so that they learn how to do it,
that's where their brains are.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
They're learning how to do it.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
That all makes sense too, And like just organizing your
bins with the pictures and things like that has been
a great tool for me.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
Yeah, exactly, And they learn how to do it and
then they actually like it. I mean you can make
a fun game out of it right.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Well, and organizing just makes people feel a little better.
I do order order christ a. One last note on
that topic.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
You said that just because a family, a person likes
a certain palette or is attracted to it, doesn't necessarily
mean that it's right for them.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
So it's sort of like the fashion world too.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
Maybe not guy so much, and I don't want to
stereotype either, but a lot of us women have done
the color charts and figured out what season we are.
And there are colors that I love that don't necessarily
look great on me, and then there are a couple
of colors that I, you know, purple looks really good
on me, I don't.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
I'm not going to buy anything purple. I'm just not.
So I think it's interesting that design works the same
way too, that it's not necessarily about what you're attracted to.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
No, it totally works the same way. And it's one
of those things like.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
That's why I think it's so important to go in
as a designer and assess and really have an understanding
what is going to support the family and what's not,
because you, as a designer, unfortunately can create more chaos
for our family, which isn't good. And we've gone in
I don't even know how many times and had to
(17:04):
have fix environments that decorators or designers have created for
families that have created complete conflict and chaos. So I
think it's important to have these understandings. And that was
one of the reasons that I developed the Designer's Toolbox
was I'm like, people need to know, you know, we
(17:25):
have as designers a huge impact. So it's really critical
that we have some of this knowledge behind us well.
Speaker 5 (17:34):
And I think with the influx of design over the
last twenty five thirty years and our consumers our society
being exposed to such great design, it's really everywhere. I
do think we have a habit as a nation of
being attracted to the shiny new penny and what's new
and what's finished. And oftentimes with design, people don't necessarily
(17:59):
think they would be attracted to this style or that style,
but they see it in a book or a magazine
or on a TV show or on Instagram and they think, oh,
I love that. Well, what they love about it is
that it's done, and it's the right lighting, and it's
everything looks perfect for the image more so than it's
necessarily the right look for them.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Yeah. Absolutely it Actually, it's funny. We have a joke
the designers in our area who are actually designers who
have been doing it for a long time, you know,
it's really their profession versus the moms who all of
a sudden, for the first time, they're dropping their kiddos
off at school and they're like, oh, what am I
(18:38):
going to do now? And I think, Christy, you and
I have talked about this before, where they decide to
either become a realtor or inter your designer, and I
think you coined it, and I was like, oh.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
My gosh, that's perfect. That they're just a good shopper
with taste. Yes, yes, yeah, like it's so true.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
They're they're they're just really.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Have good days.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
Yes, And it's so easy to mimic some of the
stuff that people see on Instagram or wherever. And unfortunately,
it just doesn't mean that it's necessarily going to support
the people that live there.
Speaker 5 (19:14):
Right, And I'm sure that those shoppers are not They're
not diving into the psychology and asking all the questions
like you are.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
They're just creating a finished project.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Okay, Well, and it also is just an easy way
to copy. It's not necessarily has the personality or the
design and reasons to live and function better as well
in the space.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
Yeah, Like there's no depth to it, right, They're just
a top of but there's no depth, Like, you know,
I want to create environments to have such depth that
you know, when you actually look at every corner, it
brings some sort of emotion to whether you know it's
a smile, or like like an aha moment, I like,
(19:53):
I want everywhere you look to just you love it.
I want I want to bring those tiers of joy
initially when when people see their spaces because they know
it's going to fortify.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Them so much, that's awesome. That's really the direction that
I take my company and my designs as well too.
So it's fun to hear you say that Christ Wellness
has become such a buzzword in recent years as you
design and environments play a bigger role in wellness more
than we realized, and what we were kind of just
chatting about as well. What do conversations that you have
with clients early on sound like, how do you address
(20:27):
and approach the wellness component and if it's even a
concern of theirs, or if that's something that you just
bring to your designs.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
I would say that typically they're not necessarily asking for it.
They might know a little bit about biofilia, you know,
the putting plants in spaces so that if we oxygenate
the air, things like that, or you know, in the
last ten years, using cleaning products that aren't so toxic,
(20:55):
those types of things, But really we're not seeing at
least on East coast, because we have clients on the
East coast, West Coast, we have clients in South Carolina, Florida,
We're all over the place. We've actually even done in
projects in Brazil. So it's different depending on the coast
that people are on the West coast are much more
(21:15):
sensitive to creating wellness environments versus the East coast. But
I think it will come eventually. But how I look
at it and how I describe it in the designer's
toolbox is the fact that I am certified in green design,
I am certified in FUNCTUI. I look at an environment,
I assess an environment through all of these different lenses,
(21:39):
and I can't not so even if a client is
unaware that they should be thinking about wellness in their spaces,
I am still going to use the tools that I
have to help create an environment that's both healthful and beautiful.
And you know, I can remember I actually had a
client to this was one of my first clients, talk
(22:01):
about like jumping off the ledge right away. He was
the CEO of a big X ray company in Connecticut.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
So I go up to his and new I'm young.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
I go up to his front door, knunk on the
front door, and he opens it, and without even saying hello,
the first thing he says to me is just so
we're clear, I only have you here to design my space.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
I don't want any of that green.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
Design, fung shue blah blah blah blah, holistic stuff, the nonsense.
I think he said, yeah, and so I remember thinking
to myself, So he again, he's analytical, he's a CEO.
So first and foremost, I'm not going to put my
tools away, right, I'm not going to change the way
(22:50):
I actually look and analyze the environment. I'm going to
still do it that way. Number one, So he's going
to get the benefit, he's just not going to know
about it. And then number two, so is I have
to figure out a way to communicate what I'm doing
in his language, which isn't really my language right now.
So I'm glad it actually happened early on because now
(23:14):
when I have those initial conversations with people, I can
assess how.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
I need to communicate with them.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
Right, are they open to ideas around functui or do
I have to completely pull that into more of a
design psychology perspective that comes from a Western educated background.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
It's so interesting that you said that you weren't necessarily
speaking the same language, because when we use the term
learn a new language here, we oftentimes mean a new
language that can be spoken.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
In another country.
Speaker 5 (23:49):
And really visuals aesthetics are their own language, and they
speak so differently and no different than for the spoken word.
We have English and Spanish and Italian and and all
of those sorts of different languages.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Visual languages aren't the same either.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Absolutely, no, I totally agree.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
And again, like that go back to the I think
as a firm, Home and Harmony Designs has been so
blessed that we have clients on the West Coast, we
have clients on the East Coast, Like we're you.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Know, we're all over the world, and that's such a blessing.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
Because really each coast has its own language in terms
of the aesthetics that they're looking for.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
And it was fun, yeah, and it was fun.
Speaker 4 (24:32):
Like at one point I remember thinking myself, Okay, this
is so weird because all of my clients on the
West Coast want their homes designed New England, and all
my East Coast.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Clients want it to look like California's, Like.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
What's going on it's shifted. It's gone back to like, Okay,
east coast wants east and West Coast wan's west.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
But that was how it was for a while. It's funny.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Does some of that have to do with your clients stories?
Speaker 5 (25:00):
Like I know that I've written a few stories here
and there where somebody has moved from the West coast
to the East coast or vice versa. Do you think
it's a nostalgia thing or do you think that they
just covet a different type of design?
Speaker 4 (25:13):
I think that probably, you know, what they're seeing and
the magazines are online probably encourages the design aesthetic that
they're hoping to create in their own homes.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
We hear a lot of words like tranquility and serene.
Speaker 5 (25:29):
You've used the word calm a few times already during
this discussion, and you know, I think that everybody wants
to carve time out of their day to relax and
have a moment to themselves.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Some people have that luxury, some people don't.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
Well, let's be honest, even and you sort of alluded
to it earlier when you were talking about your weekly
sessions with some of your patients in the psychology time.
You know you would come back a week later in
their life maybe and upheaval and nothing had changed. And
I think that's true with design too. Everything can be
RESTful and then it seems like it goes away. It's
(26:07):
like having a great massage and in an hour it's like, oh,
I need to be back in a massage chair again.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
It's over.
Speaker 5 (26:13):
That term equiality is over. So how do people keep
their lives from getting out of control? And how does
the design play a role in this?
Speaker 4 (26:24):
I love that question because maybe recently and people are
becoming more aware of the impact that their environments have
on their overall life.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
But my goal, you know, when I wrote.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
The book for hey House called Home and Harmony, Designing
an Inspired Life, my goal was to teach people how impactful.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Their environments were. And it's one of those things that
you can actually think of your home environment as.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
The largest vision board. We've all at this point heard
of what vision boards are, but you can think of
your environment as your largest vision board. And so you
can create cues around your environment to help you begin
to live that best to life.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Or you can also set yourself up for success.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
In all areas of the things and goals that you're
trying to create. So for example, if all of a
sudden you say, okay, you know, it really would be
great for me to journal every day, Right, that's one
of those things. I actually have a gratitude journal next
to my bed. I have a book, a prayer book
called Jesus Calling that I absolutely love.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Oh, I have that too, I love it. I love that.
That's a great one.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
That's a timeless one, timeless, right, And I read it
and I like literally every single day, and I have
for the past I think three or four years.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
But how am I going to set myself up for
success to do those things?
Speaker 4 (27:48):
And what I'm going to do is, you know, that
book isn't going to be like on the other side
of the house where I have to actually go get it.
What I'm going to do is I'm going to put
it on my bed side. So when I wake up,
the first thing I see is that book, so I
know that I'm going to pick.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
It up and read it. My journal is going to
be right there, the pen's going to be right there.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
Right, I'm setting myself for success so I don't have
to think about those extra steps. You know.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
The same is true for you know, I go out
for my morning run on the beach.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
When we're at our Florida house, the sneakers are right
next to the door. I don't have to think about it,
it's just automatic, and I see them. They trigger the
queue for me that I need to do this, and
it happens. So we can set our environments up in
a certain way that allow for these cues to either
(28:39):
trigger current things that we want to do right now,
or we can also set them up so that unconsciously
they're talking to our subconscious so that, similar to a
vision board, you begin to create that life you're hoping
to create.
Speaker 5 (28:56):
Well. And I love that you use the phrase set
yourself up because I think too often, and especially because
we're inundated, not just from a design perspective but from
an everything perspective, with all of these ideas that we
want to apply to our lives, but they do require
some preparation work to make them happen, and I think
(29:17):
sometimes we just skip the preparation, go into checklist mode
that we never set the foundation properly. This is why
I should never have my hands on a paintbrush ever,
because I don't like taping or prep work or priming.
I just want to see the new color. So yeah,
it's not a good thing for me, But I love
(29:39):
that you said that you really have to set yourself
up for success. You can't just skip ahead to the
journal and have the journal in seventeen different places in
your house.
Speaker 4 (29:49):
You know a great example was when my kiddos were younger,
and they would come through the garage door into the mudroom,
and right off the mudroom was the kids study area,
and each one had a desk, and I did a
couple of things. I purposely set up each workstation for
success so that they could, you know, they'd have a.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Spot to hang their backpack.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
They had you know, their pencils or pens, like everything
was accessible.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
There were no excuses to.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
Not do the homework right. So that was one thing
was to set them up for success with that. And
then number two was we had cues all around. I
put these cute little signs up like you rock or
you know, just things that were on a subliminal level
talking to them and talking to their unconscious to help
(30:45):
give them confidence, like you're going to go do amazing
things today, like you know, you know whatever those quotes were,
but they were all around the office. And they were
getting those quotes all of the time to really again
set them up for success.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
It's also purposeful, which is really wonderful and good with
the design. And I like the idea too of just
it's kind of habit stacking good habits that set you
up for a better day and let you go out
and be more productive and enjoyable and have a good life,
which is wonderful.
Speaker 4 (31:13):
Yeah, and I like that word purposeful, right, because I
think creating design, like anybody can create design, even a
great shopper with good taste, but.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
It's a different thing, you tage.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
I think as designers we take it to a whole
other level when we're so purposeful about it. We do.
Speaker 5 (31:32):
Now.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
You chatted earlier about a book. What an exciting chapter
of your life that you've authored a book. I love
that you just have been so busy pursuing various arms
of design. How has your background been beneficial as you
pivoted to the world of design and lifestyle from a
business perspective? What's next for you as you push the
equation of design, wellness and living.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
Yeah, it's funny, I was mentioning before we even jumped
on this podcast. I was mentioned to you guys that
there's like the umbrella of Homan Harmony Designs, and underneath
that umbrella we have, you know, obviously the interior design
we do, residential we do commercial. I also wrote this
book Home and Harmony Designs, Designing and Inspired Life, which
(32:16):
is all about your home, body, mind, and spirit. That
actually went to that it was bestseller in six countries,
and that really started my journey in lifestyle and teaching
people about the Home and Harmony lifestyle. And then from
there we segued into our boutique. We have a boutique
that is really all about the lifestyle brand and most
(32:39):
recently we collaborated with Kravit Couture Fabric to create a
pickleball paddle cover line. So you can see that on
Homanharmony Designs dot Com on our store because we just
launched our new web store, so definitely go check that out.
That's super fun.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
And so I think that the next.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
Step for Home Harmony is really kind of jumping and
diving into both the collaborative space and then also the
retail and really kind of blowing that out and having fun.
Speaker 3 (33:10):
With that because it's actually fun, Like we've really enjoyed.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
That that's so fun I saw your pickleball covers are
really beautiful. That's is that a hobby of yours as well?
Speaker 4 (33:20):
Oh, I'm crazy like my kids think I'm psycho mom
when it comes to pickleball. But I come from a
very competitive family, so everybody's out to win.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Copetition is good.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
Oh, it is so funny. That's its own brand of
therapy exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
Yeah, and a good therapy just to get out and
move the body and move your mind as well. And
as we know, design is therapy. If a listener is
interested in a few tips that would elevate their own
living experience, where would they start, you.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
Know, honestly, And I when I do my talks that
I always this is the example I use because I
think it's the most impactful.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
So I think that we.
Speaker 4 (34:01):
Begin to go through our day in such a robotic
way where we lose the awareness of the things around us,
our environments.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
We lose that awareness.
Speaker 4 (34:15):
And the best example I can give of that is,
you know, if all of a sudden you were given
a vase from your great aunt, who you weren't very
fond of, but the vase was really valuable, so you
decided to keep that base, and you stuck it on
the shelf every time. Initially, as you walk by that vase,
(34:35):
you're thinking, oh my aunt, right, Like that's you're consciously
thinking that, oh my aunt, And you might consciously be
thinking about oh, like remember when she did that terrible thing.
I remember when she said that terrible thing? Like, h right,
So that happens the first ten times you walk.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
By that base. But then what happens is you.
Speaker 4 (34:55):
Walk by the vase and you're no longer conscious of
that thought, but it's happening in your un conscious so
so consciously you're still having those thoughts and it's actually
depleting you and bringing you down. So my recommendation is
to open up the awareness of your space again. And
to do that I recommend for everybody. Then the next
(35:18):
time you leave your home and you come walk through
the door, pay attention and pay attention to what your
emotions are. Are you thinking to yourself, I'm home or
are you thinking the clutter in the corner of the
light bulb that needs to be changed? All of those
things and that's depleting your energy. So I think the
(35:39):
first fundamental, most important thing is to again gain that
conscious connection to your space and figuring out if it's
actually supporting you or depleting you.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
That's interesting.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
So the little pink vase should have we just gotten
rid of it completely.
Speaker 3 (35:54):
Yeah, believe it or not.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Yes, I don't know. I'm holding on to it if
it's worth something, That's what.
Speaker 4 (36:00):
I People say, not so much so they realize that
it's like depleting their energy. And like you know, we're similar,
we're no different. Well we're different in a lot of ways,
but we're no different from our phones. Right we're either
being charged or depleted, and you want to make sure
your space is charging you all the time.
Speaker 5 (36:18):
Unfortunately, my phone is not charging. I'm charging, it's it's
depleting me.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
That's that's for sure. Christa.
Speaker 5 (36:26):
We've enjoyed this conversation so much, and you have provided
both Megan and I and all of our listeners with
so much great information about psychology and design at a
deeper level, more so than just the.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
Final result and the final aesthetic of it. So thank
you for that as we end.
Speaker 5 (36:45):
Before we end, we always like to ask our guests
a couple of rapid fire questions that are really about
deconstructing the name of our podcast. So what does the
perfect boulevard look like to you?
Speaker 4 (36:59):
Well, as you all know, I was blessed to grow
up in a quintessential New England town, and I'm blessed
to live in a quintessential in New England town. Actually,
I live in Hingham, Massachusetts, and at some point Eleanor
Roosevelt came through and said it was the prettiest main
street she had ever seen.
Speaker 3 (37:17):
So, you know, for me, I'm really.
Speaker 4 (37:20):
Thankful that we've lived here for fifteen years, and I
would say that any boulevard would look like Quintessentialingham, Massachusetts.
And you know, I just feel blessed to be here.
I have raised my four kids here with my husband,
and you know, have a business here. And when I
think of a boulevard, I think of lamp posts that
(37:41):
are like guiding those steps, right, So I think that,
you know, that's part of the vision for a beautiful boulevard,
something that looks like main Street in Hingham, mass that
it has lamp posts and greater power that's guiding our steps. Well.
Speaker 2 (37:56):
And of course the New England maple trees in the
fall don't hurt either.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
They really are beautiful.
Speaker 4 (38:02):
And Christmas time on this street is like amazing as well.
Everything is lit up in white lights and it is
it's amazing, It's beautiful.
Speaker 5 (38:12):
Okay, well I'm a sucker personally for those maple trees
and all the fiery colors, so I do.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
Have you out next year.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
Thank you Christa again for giving us your time today.
Speaker 5 (38:23):
I know that our listeners will have learned so much
about again design through the lens of psychology and design
at a deeper level, far beyond.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
The aesthetic outcome. So we appreciate your time and for
joining us today.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
Oh, thank you both, Christa Megan. You guys are so fun.
I'm so glad to be a part of this conversation.
Speaker 5 (38:41):
So thank you and join us next week as we
take a stroll down another boulevard.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Boulevard Beat.
If you enjoyed this episode, please follow along and leave
a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen
so you never miss an episode. Of course, follow your
hosts on Instagram at Megan bloom Interiors, at CHRISA. Rossbund
and at Liz Legit. We'll be back next week as
we take a stroll down another boulevard,
Welcome to boulevard Beat, a podcast where life and style intersect.
I'm designer Megan Bloom along with my co hosts, editor
Christa Rossbund and gallery owner Liz Legit. This podcast focuses
on the daily highlights instead of the hustle, interviews with
taste makers, and personal conversations on how to highlight achievable style.
You con stroll one street at a time, boulevard Beat
(00:29):
proves the one you should take.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Today.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
We are joined by founder and CEO of Home and
Harmony Designs, Krista O'Leary. Christa's esthetic philosophy is informed by
dual degrees in psychology and human development and results in
designs that foster emotional and physical wellness. A celebrated author,
Christa empowers her clients to live not just stylishly, but holistically,
in environments that nurture the body, mind and soul.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Welcome Christa. It's great to have you here today.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Oh thank you ladies for having me.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
I'm so excited to be part of this podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
It's so exciting.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Krista.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
We're always going to start this podcast by asking our
guests about the street that they grew up on.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
What is your story.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
I love that question.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
I actually grew up in a quintessential New England town.
It's so beautiful, adorable, and I grew up on Main
Street and it was really such a blessing because we
moved there when I was in sixth grade after my
parents got divorced, and I was lucky because the school
is right down the street, so everybody at school, all
(01:42):
my buddies could walk to my house and then we
could all walk downtown. And I kid you not, we
had a pharmacy that had an ice cream slash soda
counter in it, so we'd go and then of course,
you know, we buy a gum and then there was
an indoor mini, so it was really kind of it
(02:02):
was a nice little hub. And also I didn't realize
it at the time, it was esthetically absolutely beautiful the
street itself, and I think I just always gravitated towards
beautiful spaces and beautiful environments, and so it was definitely that.
Speaker 5 (02:18):
I love that you grew up on Main Street, Like
who grows up on Main Street? That's so great. And
you know, the word quintessential certainly applies to anywhere New
England talk about a place. I think more so really
than any other place in the country New England and
the church steeples, and it's just so all of the
towns are so quaint and you know, other than your
(02:39):
the big metropolis of Boston. It's just it's such an
idyllic American existence, for sure it is.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
And the best thing is now my store home in
Harmony Designs is actually on Main Street, but now in Massachusetts,
so again in a very quintessential town.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
So it's full circle.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
That's so sweet and such a fun and just can
take you back to that little community.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
And I'm sure kind of that pharmacy and other elements
shaped your creativity. And it's probably no surprise that we're
going to talk a lot a lot about creativity on
this podcast. It's easy to go directly to industries and
roles that are considered artful, but to your proof that
creativity comes in all forms. Talk a little bit about
your earliest moments of creativity and how they formed your trajectory.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Again, that house on Main Street was a pivotal moment
for me because I actually didn't even know that there
was such a career as interior design. I had no
idea I honestly didn't know that there was a career
an interior design until I hit my thirties. At that point,
sixth grade, you know, I want to have I want
to make my mark. I want to have my own room.
(03:44):
I don't want my mom designing it or you know,
creating it.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
I want to do it.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
So we moved into this house on Main Street and
it was a contemporary cape at the time. So they
ended up making a historic district because of my mom's house,
because it was a contemporary cake on Main Street that
was just like, you know, totally different from everything else.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
So above the front door was this.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Huge sphere and that probably was like thirty inches wide,
and my mom hated it. So she that was the
first thing that she did at that house was she
took down that light fixture and she put up a
traditional light fixture. But I was like, oh my goodness,
I want that light fixture in my room. So here,
(04:30):
you know, I didn't have a huge room, but I
took this thirty inch globe and I stuck it at
the foot of my bed and then I had them
put it on a dimmer so that it would glow
at night.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
And it looked like the moon and I just was
absolutely in heaven.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
So I think that was the first time I quote
unquote designed something but really made the space my own.
So I think that that's sort of where things started,
without knowing that they were starting.
Speaker 5 (04:59):
Christa, many designers in this industry started as something else.
They had a different career, and they, like you, found
interior design at a later age, not right after college
or even during college, and chose that as a major.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
So we're going to brag about you for.
Speaker 5 (05:17):
A little minute, because I know you won't yourself, but
you have white an education that has nothing to do
with interior design, although so important and must inform the
way that you approach design.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
So tell us about your other degrees.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
You know, originally I got my BA from Boston College,
then went on to.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Graduate school in psychology.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Graduated actually had patients that would come in and shit
across from me on the couch and we would chitchat
and we'd work through all their problems.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
They'd walk out the door on cloud nine, but then.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
The next week they would come back in and they
would be, you know, low energy again.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Status quo. Things hadn't changed.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Shortly after that, we started having our kiddos that we
now have four. But at that point I decided to
step away from psychology because it just was it was
a lot, and I wasn't one that could separate the
psychology from home life.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
So decided to raise the family.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
And so in the meantime, you know, it was making
beautiful houses or like our house, making that beautiful. And
then you know, people started to come to my house
and they would say, oh, my goodness, like your house
even though you have a child, Like it feels so
calm and peaceful, and I love.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
What you've done. Will you come to my house and
do it?
Speaker 4 (06:41):
So initially I would do that, but then being Western educated,
especially in the field of psychology or medicine or one
of those fields, like we've been taught to do no harm, right,
so I felt like, oh my goodness, I don't have
the credentials to go into people's houses because I don't
know if I'm doing harm or not. So that's when
(07:03):
I began to get certified in this and that, so
that I would then have the ability to go in
with knowledge behind me.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
And so what I did was I called all of
those things.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
My tools, and at this point in my career, I've
created something called the designer's Toolbox, which are different lenses
to look through when designing spaces.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
But the best part for.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
Me was that when I did actually start to really
go into people's homes and designing that, you know, we
would sit down and have that initial meeting where it
wasn't just about how people wanted the homes to be
esthetically pleasing, It was about how do we create a
home environment that's going to nurture and support the people
(07:49):
that live there and the life goals that they have. Right.
So that was all from my psychological background, and what
was awe inspiring to me was that when we create
these environments, all of a sudden, I realized that we
were changing lives.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
I was changing lives doing it.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
And so it wasn't one of those situations where I
had a client stating across traumatic out and then the
next week they'd come back and their life.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Was status quo.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
It was, oh, wow, I have changed your life and
it stayed that way, like it stuck, like they've actually
created that life that they wanted and were hoping to create.
Speaker 5 (08:26):
I love that there's this human connection and human spirit
that lives in your path to design and how you've
crafted it in a manner that's really about helping people
address their whole life because this is what's changed in design,
I think, And we're going to dive into this a
(08:48):
little deeper later on in the discussion. But Christa, for
so long, I feel like design was the end result
of somebody wanting to make something aesthetically pleasing. But I
do think that now there is a deeper understanding about
how that human connection, editing, the lifestyle all play into
(09:12):
the quality of life. And it's not just a living
room that has the colors that you love and the patterns.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
That you love.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
It's really a place that makes you feel good. So
can you just expand a little bit on that idea?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
I mean I know friends of mine who are designers
and they go in, they have their consultation with the client,
and then they just go off and do their own
thing and they design a great space, right, But that
doesn't necessarily nurture and support the people that live there.
So my goal is to really understand from a psychological perspective,
(09:48):
from a physiological perspective, from a holistic perspective, what is
really going to nurture and support someone And a great
example of that is, let's use the color red. Right.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
I go into somebody's house and they say, oh, christ.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
I really want you to do our family room, and
I love the color red. I want you to incorporate that.
Blah blah blah. I'm going to find out on a
deeper level if that's going to actually nurture to support them.
And you know, perhaps they're a couch potato, so having
a little red in their environment, which I know because
of my background that from a physiological level, it's actually
(10:26):
going to increase their heart rate. From a psychological level,
it could encourage somebody to get angry, but it will
create more.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Energy for that person. So if they're a couch potato,
using red is a great idea that it works.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Right. However, if the person that comes to me is
you know, someone that can't lose weight, or they have
a child that's ADHD or there's a lot of friction
in the family, I'm going to tell them like, I
am so sorry, but I can't use the color red
in your environment. And you know, obviously graciously tell them that.
(11:07):
But then I try to teach at the same time,
and I'll explain from a psychological level.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
Red can make people angry, and it can be.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
Agitating for someone that has ADHD, and you know, if
you're trying to lose weight. There's a reason that all
of the chain restaurants are usually done in colors of
red and green because it increases your appetite.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
So I'm going to look at the person and the
people living in the.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Environment to help create that environment that really is going
to support and nurture them the best that it can.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
Okay, So the takeaway here is to go to restaurants
that are painted blue to save some calories and money.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
Exactly because blue, Like, if you think about it, what
food is blue?
Speaker 3 (11:56):
There's no food on earth, like even a blueberryes purple.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
There's no food on earth because humans are innately wired
to see blue.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
As something that's going to be toxic.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Okay, well, I need.
Speaker 5 (12:09):
To paint my kitchen blue because it's not so much
the restaurants as it is the late night snacks that
get me in troubles. On that note, though, you sort
of segued nicely into the next question. We've all seen
those color charts that outline what different colors mean, and
we all know that red means you know, perhaps anger,
(12:32):
sometimes love, So there's the flip side of that and
all of the different characteristics of the various colors. What
can you tell us about the types of designs that
people are attracted to and what that says about them?
Speaker 2 (12:46):
And I'm looking more holistically for this question.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
So somebody who likes a soothing palette versus a family
that's really animated and loves a lot of color, So
what does that say about them? Is are there any
sort of personality markers that we should know about if.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
There's necessarily personality markers, But what I would say is
that just because someone likes a certain palette does not
necessarily mean it's going to.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Support them or nurture them the best of that an
environment could, right.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
So, like, if you have someone who's you know, a
little more phrenetic and adhd, and yes, they might be
drawn to art that's more phrenetic, but that doesn't necessarily
mean it's something that's good for them, right.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
And actually a great example.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
Of that are teenagers, right, Like you can tell what's
going on and ahead of a teenager by opening the
door to the room and looking in and typically you know,
again this is very stereotypical. But when you look inside
a teenager's room you see complete chaos. Well the reason
for that is because there's complete chaos going inside their heads.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
And so that environment, because it is.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Chaotic and it could be messy and disheveled, doesn't necessarssarily
mean that it is supporting and nurturing them, right. I
mean that being said, if you're a mom and you
have a teenager and their room is totally crazy, I
would take a deep breath with that and just let
that mom know like you're seeing inside their emotional state.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
So take a moment and.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
Appreciate that as opposed to automatically going to the clean
up your room now, which I get because I had
four teenagers five years apart.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
That's fun too.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
And I don't know if like just even I have
little kids right now and just the mess and chaos
that happens sometimes with them and how that relates as
well of just how their brain's kind of learning and
growing as well.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Yeah, I mean definitely the kiddo. The little kiddos are
at a different point in their human development, and so
with the younger set, there are different reasons for them
having mess your spaces than the teenagers, and it's less
about you know, psychologically being in this upheaval that the
(15:08):
teenagers are going through, and more the toddlers are in
this learning curve and they need to be taught how
to you.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Know, organize and because they don't understand yet.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
How to do those things, So making it easy for
those toddlers to clean up and having designated spots for
each thing so that they learn how to do it,
that's where their brains are.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
They're learning how to do it.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
That all makes sense too, And like just organizing your
bins with the pictures and things like that has been
a great tool for me.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
Yeah, exactly, And they learn how to do it and
then they actually like it. I mean you can make
a fun game out of it right.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Well, and organizing just makes people feel a little better.
I do order order christ a. One last note on
that topic.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
You said that just because a family, a person likes
a certain palette or is attracted to it, doesn't necessarily
mean that it's right for them.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
So it's sort of like the fashion world too.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
Maybe not guy so much, and I don't want to
stereotype either, but a lot of us women have done
the color charts and figured out what season we are.
And there are colors that I love that don't necessarily
look great on me, and then there are a couple
of colors that I, you know, purple looks really good
on me, I don't.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
I'm not going to buy anything purple. I'm just not.
So I think it's interesting that design works the same
way too, that it's not necessarily about what you're attracted to.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
No, it totally works the same way. And it's one
of those things like.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
That's why I think it's so important to go in
as a designer and assess and really have an understanding
what is going to support the family and what's not,
because you, as a designer, unfortunately can create more chaos
for our family, which isn't good. And we've gone in
I don't even know how many times and had to
(17:04):
have fix environments that decorators or designers have created for
families that have created complete conflict and chaos. So I
think it's important to have these understandings. And that was
one of the reasons that I developed the Designer's Toolbox
was I'm like, people need to know, you know, we
(17:25):
have as designers a huge impact. So it's really critical
that we have some of this knowledge behind us well.
Speaker 5 (17:34):
And I think with the influx of design over the
last twenty five thirty years and our consumers our society
being exposed to such great design, it's really everywhere. I
do think we have a habit as a nation of
being attracted to the shiny new penny and what's new
and what's finished. And oftentimes with design, people don't necessarily
(17:59):
think they would be attracted to this style or that style,
but they see it in a book or a magazine
or on a TV show or on Instagram and they think, oh,
I love that. Well, what they love about it is
that it's done, and it's the right lighting, and it's
everything looks perfect for the image more so than it's
necessarily the right look for them.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Yeah. Absolutely it Actually, it's funny. We have a joke
the designers in our area who are actually designers who
have been doing it for a long time, you know,
it's really their profession versus the moms who all of
a sudden, for the first time, they're dropping their kiddos
off at school and they're like, oh, what am I
(18:38):
going to do now? And I think, Christy, you and
I have talked about this before, where they decide to
either become a realtor or inter your designer, and I
think you coined it, and I was like, oh.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
My gosh, that's perfect. That they're just a good shopper
with taste. Yes, yes, yeah, like it's so true.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
They're they're they're just really.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Have good days.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
Yes, And it's so easy to mimic some of the
stuff that people see on Instagram or wherever. And unfortunately,
it just doesn't mean that it's necessarily going to support
the people that live there.
Speaker 5 (19:14):
Right, And I'm sure that those shoppers are not They're
not diving into the psychology and asking all the questions
like you are.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
They're just creating a finished project.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Okay, Well, and it also is just an easy way
to copy. It's not necessarily has the personality or the
design and reasons to live and function better as well
in the space.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
Yeah, Like there's no depth to it, right, They're just
a top of but there's no depth, Like, you know,
I want to create environments to have such depth that
you know, when you actually look at every corner, it
brings some sort of emotion to whether you know it's
a smile, or like like an aha moment, I like,
(19:53):
I want everywhere you look to just you love it.
I want I want to bring those tiers of joy
initially when when people see their spaces because they know
it's going to fortify.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Them so much, that's awesome. That's really the direction that
I take my company and my designs as well too.
So it's fun to hear you say that Christ Wellness
has become such a buzzword in recent years as you
design and environments play a bigger role in wellness more
than we realized, and what we were kind of just
chatting about as well. What do conversations that you have
with clients early on sound like, how do you address
(20:27):
and approach the wellness component and if it's even a
concern of theirs, or if that's something that you just
bring to your designs.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
I would say that typically they're not necessarily asking for it.
They might know a little bit about biofilia, you know,
the putting plants in spaces so that if we oxygenate
the air, things like that, or you know, in the
last ten years, using cleaning products that aren't so toxic,
(20:55):
those types of things, But really we're not seeing at
least on East coast, because we have clients on the
East coast, West Coast, we have clients in South Carolina, Florida,
We're all over the place. We've actually even done in
projects in Brazil. So it's different depending on the coast
that people are on the West coast are much more
(21:15):
sensitive to creating wellness environments versus the East coast. But
I think it will come eventually. But how I look
at it and how I describe it in the designer's
toolbox is the fact that I am certified in green design,
I am certified in FUNCTUI. I look at an environment,
I assess an environment through all of these different lenses,
(21:39):
and I can't not so even if a client is
unaware that they should be thinking about wellness in their spaces,
I am still going to use the tools that I
have to help create an environment that's both healthful and beautiful.
And you know, I can remember I actually had a
client to this was one of my first clients, talk
(22:01):
about like jumping off the ledge right away. He was
the CEO of a big X ray company in Connecticut.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
So I go up to his and new I'm young.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
I go up to his front door, knunk on the
front door, and he opens it, and without even saying hello,
the first thing he says to me is just so
we're clear, I only have you here to design my space.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
I don't want any of that green.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
Design, fung shue blah blah blah blah, holistic stuff, the nonsense.
I think he said, yeah, and so I remember thinking
to myself, So he again, he's analytical, he's a CEO.
So first and foremost, I'm not going to put my
tools away, right, I'm not going to change the way
(22:50):
I actually look and analyze the environment. I'm going to
still do it that way. Number one, So he's going
to get the benefit, he's just not going to know
about it. And then number two, so is I have
to figure out a way to communicate what I'm doing
in his language, which isn't really my language right now.
So I'm glad it actually happened early on because now
(23:14):
when I have those initial conversations with people, I can
assess how.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
I need to communicate with them.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
Right, are they open to ideas around functui or do
I have to completely pull that into more of a
design psychology perspective that comes from a Western educated background.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
It's so interesting that you said that you weren't necessarily
speaking the same language, because when we use the term
learn a new language here, we oftentimes mean a new
language that can be spoken.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
In another country.
Speaker 5 (23:49):
And really visuals aesthetics are their own language, and they
speak so differently and no different than for the spoken word.
We have English and Spanish and Italian and and all
of those sorts of different languages.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Visual languages aren't the same either.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Absolutely, no, I totally agree.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
And again, like that go back to the I think
as a firm, Home and Harmony Designs has been so
blessed that we have clients on the West Coast, we
have clients on the East Coast, Like we're you.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Know, we're all over the world, and that's such a blessing.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
Because really each coast has its own language in terms
of the aesthetics that they're looking for.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
And it was fun, yeah, and it was fun.
Speaker 4 (24:32):
Like at one point I remember thinking myself, Okay, this
is so weird because all of my clients on the
West Coast want their homes designed New England, and all
my East Coast.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Clients want it to look like California's, Like.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
What's going on it's shifted. It's gone back to like, Okay,
east coast wants east and West Coast wan's west.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
But that was how it was for a while. It's funny.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Does some of that have to do with your clients stories?
Speaker 5 (25:00):
Like I know that I've written a few stories here
and there where somebody has moved from the West coast
to the East coast or vice versa. Do you think
it's a nostalgia thing or do you think that they
just covet a different type of design?
Speaker 4 (25:13):
I think that probably, you know, what they're seeing and
the magazines are online probably encourages the design aesthetic that
they're hoping to create in their own homes.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
We hear a lot of words like tranquility and serene.
Speaker 5 (25:29):
You've used the word calm a few times already during
this discussion, and you know, I think that everybody wants
to carve time out of their day to relax and
have a moment to themselves.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Some people have that luxury, some people don't.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
Well, let's be honest, even and you sort of alluded
to it earlier when you were talking about your weekly
sessions with some of your patients in the psychology time.
You know you would come back a week later in
their life maybe and upheaval and nothing had changed. And
I think that's true with design too. Everything can be
RESTful and then it seems like it goes away. It's
(26:07):
like having a great massage and in an hour it's like, oh,
I need to be back in a massage chair again.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
It's over.
Speaker 5 (26:13):
That term equiality is over. So how do people keep
their lives from getting out of control? And how does
the design play a role in this?
Speaker 4 (26:24):
I love that question because maybe recently and people are
becoming more aware of the impact that their environments have
on their overall life.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
But my goal, you know, when I wrote.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
The book for hey House called Home and Harmony, Designing
an Inspired Life, my goal was to teach people how impactful.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Their environments were. And it's one of those things that
you can actually think of your home environment as.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
The largest vision board. We've all at this point heard
of what vision boards are, but you can think of
your environment as your largest vision board. And so you
can create cues around your environment to help you begin
to live that best to life.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Or you can also set yourself up for success.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
In all areas of the things and goals that you're
trying to create. So for example, if all of a
sudden you say, okay, you know, it really would be
great for me to journal every day, Right, that's one
of those things. I actually have a gratitude journal next
to my bed. I have a book, a prayer book
called Jesus Calling that I absolutely love.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Oh, I have that too, I love it. I love that.
That's a great one.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
That's a timeless one, timeless, right, And I read it
and I like literally every single day, and I have
for the past I think three or four years.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
But how am I going to set myself up for
success to do those things?
Speaker 4 (27:48):
And what I'm going to do is, you know, that
book isn't going to be like on the other side
of the house where I have to actually go get it.
What I'm going to do is I'm going to put
it on my bed side. So when I wake up,
the first thing I see is that book, so I
know that I'm going to pick.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
It up and read it. My journal is going to
be right there, the pen's going to be right there.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
Right, I'm setting myself for success so I don't have
to think about those extra steps. You know.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
The same is true for you know, I go out
for my morning run on the beach.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
When we're at our Florida house, the sneakers are right
next to the door. I don't have to think about it,
it's just automatic, and I see them. They trigger the
queue for me that I need to do this, and
it happens. So we can set our environments up in
a certain way that allow for these cues to either
(28:39):
trigger current things that we want to do right now,
or we can also set them up so that unconsciously
they're talking to our subconscious so that, similar to a
vision board, you begin to create that life you're hoping
to create.
Speaker 5 (28:56):
Well. And I love that you use the phrase set
yourself up because I think too often, and especially because
we're inundated, not just from a design perspective but from
an everything perspective, with all of these ideas that we
want to apply to our lives, but they do require
some preparation work to make them happen, and I think
(29:17):
sometimes we just skip the preparation, go into checklist mode
that we never set the foundation properly. This is why
I should never have my hands on a paintbrush ever,
because I don't like taping or prep work or priming.
I just want to see the new color. So yeah,
it's not a good thing for me, But I love
(29:39):
that you said that you really have to set yourself
up for success. You can't just skip ahead to the
journal and have the journal in seventeen different places in
your house.
Speaker 4 (29:49):
You know a great example was when my kiddos were younger,
and they would come through the garage door into the mudroom,
and right off the mudroom was the kids study area,
and each one had a desk, and I did a
couple of things. I purposely set up each workstation for
success so that they could, you know, they'd have a.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Spot to hang their backpack.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
They had you know, their pencils or pens, like everything
was accessible.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
There were no excuses to.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
Not do the homework right. So that was one thing
was to set them up for success with that. And
then number two was we had cues all around. I
put these cute little signs up like you rock or
you know, just things that were on a subliminal level
talking to them and talking to their unconscious to help
(30:45):
give them confidence, like you're going to go do amazing
things today, like you know, you know whatever those quotes were,
but they were all around the office. And they were
getting those quotes all of the time to really again
set them up for success.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
It's also purposeful, which is really wonderful and good with
the design. And I like the idea too of just
it's kind of habit stacking good habits that set you
up for a better day and let you go out
and be more productive and enjoyable and have a good life,
which is wonderful.
Speaker 4 (31:13):
Yeah, and I like that word purposeful, right, because I
think creating design, like anybody can create design, even a
great shopper with good taste, but.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
It's a different thing, you tage.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
I think as designers we take it to a whole
other level when we're so purposeful about it. We do.
Speaker 5 (31:32):
Now.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
You chatted earlier about a book. What an exciting chapter
of your life that you've authored a book. I love
that you just have been so busy pursuing various arms
of design. How has your background been beneficial as you
pivoted to the world of design and lifestyle from a
business perspective? What's next for you as you push the
equation of design, wellness and living.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
Yeah, it's funny, I was mentioning before we even jumped
on this podcast. I was mentioned to you guys that
there's like the umbrella of Homan Harmony Designs, and underneath
that umbrella we have, you know, obviously the interior design
we do, residential we do commercial. I also wrote this
book Home and Harmony Designs, Designing and Inspired Life, which
(32:16):
is all about your home, body, mind, and spirit. That
actually went to that it was bestseller in six countries,
and that really started my journey in lifestyle and teaching
people about the Home and Harmony lifestyle. And then from
there we segued into our boutique. We have a boutique
that is really all about the lifestyle brand and most
(32:39):
recently we collaborated with Kravit Couture Fabric to create a
pickleball paddle cover line. So you can see that on
Homanharmony Designs dot Com on our store because we just
launched our new web store, so definitely go check that out.
That's super fun.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
And so I think that the next.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
Step for Home Harmony is really kind of jumping and
diving into both the collaborative space and then also the
retail and really kind of blowing that out and having fun.
Speaker 3 (33:10):
With that because it's actually fun, Like we've really enjoyed.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
That that's so fun I saw your pickleball covers are
really beautiful. That's is that a hobby of yours as well?
Speaker 4 (33:20):
Oh, I'm crazy like my kids think I'm psycho mom
when it comes to pickleball. But I come from a
very competitive family, so everybody's out to win.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Copetition is good.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
Oh, it is so funny. That's its own brand of
therapy exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
Yeah, and a good therapy just to get out and
move the body and move your mind as well. And
as we know, design is therapy. If a listener is
interested in a few tips that would elevate their own
living experience, where would they start, you.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
Know, honestly, And I when I do my talks that
I always this is the example I use because I
think it's the most impactful.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
So I think that we.
Speaker 4 (34:01):
Begin to go through our day in such a robotic
way where we lose the awareness of the things around us,
our environments.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
We lose that awareness.
Speaker 4 (34:15):
And the best example I can give of that is,
you know, if all of a sudden you were given
a vase from your great aunt, who you weren't very
fond of, but the vase was really valuable, so you
decided to keep that base, and you stuck it on
the shelf every time. Initially, as you walk by that vase,
(34:35):
you're thinking, oh my aunt, right, Like that's you're consciously
thinking that, oh my aunt, And you might consciously be
thinking about oh, like remember when she did that terrible thing.
I remember when she said that terrible thing? Like, h right,
So that happens the first ten times you walk.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
By that base. But then what happens is you.
Speaker 4 (34:55):
Walk by the vase and you're no longer conscious of
that thought, but it's happening in your un conscious so
so consciously you're still having those thoughts and it's actually
depleting you and bringing you down. So my recommendation is
to open up the awareness of your space again. And
to do that I recommend for everybody. Then the next
(35:18):
time you leave your home and you come walk through
the door, pay attention and pay attention to what your
emotions are. Are you thinking to yourself, I'm home or
are you thinking the clutter in the corner of the
light bulb that needs to be changed? All of those
things and that's depleting your energy. So I think the
(35:39):
first fundamental, most important thing is to again gain that
conscious connection to your space and figuring out if it's
actually supporting you or depleting you.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
That's interesting.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
So the little pink vase should have we just gotten
rid of it completely.
Speaker 3 (35:54):
Yeah, believe it or not.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Yes, I don't know. I'm holding on to it if
it's worth something, That's what.
Speaker 4 (36:00):
I People say, not so much so they realize that
it's like depleting their energy. And like you know, we're similar,
we're no different. Well we're different in a lot of ways,
but we're no different from our phones. Right we're either
being charged or depleted, and you want to make sure
your space is charging you all the time.
Speaker 5 (36:18):
Unfortunately, my phone is not charging. I'm charging, it's it's
depleting me.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
That's that's for sure. Christa.
Speaker 5 (36:26):
We've enjoyed this conversation so much, and you have provided
both Megan and I and all of our listeners with
so much great information about psychology and design at a
deeper level, more so than just the.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
Final result and the final aesthetic of it. So thank
you for that as we end.
Speaker 5 (36:45):
Before we end, we always like to ask our guests
a couple of rapid fire questions that are really about
deconstructing the name of our podcast. So what does the
perfect boulevard look like to you?
Speaker 4 (36:59):
Well, as you all know, I was blessed to grow
up in a quintessential New England town, and I'm blessed
to live in a quintessential in New England town. Actually,
I live in Hingham, Massachusetts, and at some point Eleanor
Roosevelt came through and said it was the prettiest main
street she had ever seen.
Speaker 3 (37:17):
So, you know, for me, I'm really.
Speaker 4 (37:20):
Thankful that we've lived here for fifteen years, and I
would say that any boulevard would look like Quintessentialingham, Massachusetts.
And you know, I just feel blessed to be here.
I have raised my four kids here with my husband,
and you know, have a business here. And when I
think of a boulevard, I think of lamp posts that
(37:41):
are like guiding those steps, right, So I think that,
you know, that's part of the vision for a beautiful boulevard,
something that looks like main Street in Hingham, mass that
it has lamp posts and greater power that's guiding our steps. Well.
Speaker 2 (37:56):
And of course the New England maple trees in the
fall don't hurt either.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
They really are beautiful.
Speaker 4 (38:02):
And Christmas time on this street is like amazing as well.
Everything is lit up in white lights and it is
it's amazing, It's beautiful.
Speaker 5 (38:12):
Okay, well I'm a sucker personally for those maple trees
and all the fiery colors, so I do.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
Have you out next year.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
Thank you Christa again for giving us your time today.
Speaker 5 (38:23):
I know that our listeners will have learned so much
about again design through the lens of psychology and design
at a deeper level, far beyond.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
The aesthetic outcome. So we appreciate your time and for
joining us today.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
Oh, thank you both, Christa Megan. You guys are so fun.
I'm so glad to be a part of this conversation.
Speaker 5 (38:41):
So thank you and join us next week as we
take a stroll down another boulevard.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Boulevard Beat.
If you enjoyed this episode, please follow along and leave
a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen
so you never miss an episode. Of course, follow your
hosts on Instagram at Megan bloom Interiors, at CHRISA. Rossbund
and at Liz Legit. We'll be back next week as
we take a stroll down another boulevard,
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