Designing a Feel-Good Home
Alumna Justina Blakeney ’01 (B.A., World Arts and Cultures), is designer, artist, and author, known for her plant-filled, bohemian, “Jungalow” aesthetic. She published her New York Times bestselling book titled The New Bohemians; has designed and collaborated with top brands and companies including Target, West Elm, and Pottery Barn; and has a formidable presence on social media. Blakeney is consistently billed as “a top designer to follow” by publications including Vogue, the Los Angeles Times, Forbes, The Washington Post, Glamour, Refinery29 and more. Read on for a few of her tips for bringing some positive energy into your home.
"Is your home bringing you down? As anyone who has lived in cramped, dark or tight quarters knows, your living space can have a big effect on your mood.
For ideas on how to bring positive energy — and style — into your home, we talked to Justina Blakeney, the designer behind the Instagram hit Jungalowand the author of “The New Bohemians Handbook: Come Home to Good Vibes.”
Ms. Blakeney, 38, is a firm believer in using design to improve the quality of your life. Her own home, a 1926 bungalow in Los Angeles, is filled with color, pattern and greenery, which she said improves her mood and enhances productivity and relaxation. She offered some tips for creating a home that supports well-being.
CLEAR THE ARTERIES “Doors should swing freely, passageways should be cleared and zones should be created that support your daily routines and activities,” said Ms. Blakeney, who discovered the importance of this after her daughter was born five years ago and the area behind her front door became a landing pad for shoes, strollers and other gear.
“The front door couldn’t open fully. I didn’t realize the effect it was having on me until it was gone,” she said. “That was a revelation to me. Here I was thinking I was very clever using a coat rack behind the door as a space-saving solution, when it was creating this clogged artery.”
The same attention should be paid to furniture you keep running into, like that odd-shaped coffee table or the corner of your bed.
“All these tiny, little things on their own are not a big deal,” she said, but taken together, they can damage your mood. “All of a sudden you’re annoyed, and you don’t even know why. It might be you need a round coffee table instead of a square one or a different landing pad for your stroller and coats.”
USE THE TWO-FOOT RULE Establish passageways of at least 24 inches between furnishings, Ms. Blakeney advised. Why 24 inches? She settled on this dimension, she said, by keeping a tape measure in her purse and putting it to use in any room that lifted her mood. In those where she felt most at ease, she found, there was usually that much space, or more, between pieces of furniture. “Even in small spaces,” she said, “if you can leave two feet for these passageways, you tend not to bonk as much and get as cluttered.”
DO A DEEP CLEAN Don’t just sweep away the cobwebs — remove items associated with bad memories and replace them with things that evoke hope, beauty or cheer."— Michelle Higgins, Jan. 23, 2018
This post is an excerpt, read the rest of Blakeney's tips on the New York Times website.
Read Blakeney's thoughts on living in Los Angeles, running a business, and more.
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