Episode 8: Can your home help you live a happier, longer life?

May. 1, 2023 | 25 mins

Join host Brent Bishop as he chats with Shirée Segerstrom, an interior designer, newspaper design columnist and wellness expert from Sacramento, California. They will discuss how your home can help you live a happier, longer life.

Announcer:

You are listening to the Beyond Age podcast series.

Brent:

Hi, and welcome to Beyond Age, a Manulife exclusive podcast, where we talk with experts to uncover the truth about holistic health and aging to help keep you living healthier for longer, no matter your age. I'm your host, Brent Bishop, and today I'm joined by Shirée Hanson Segerstrom from Sacramento, California. She's an interior designer, newspaper design columnist, and wellness expert. Today we'll be discussing whether your home can help you live a happier, longer life. Welcome, Shirée.

Shirée:

Good morning, Brent. Thank you for having me.

Brent:

Thank you for joining us. This is a great topic and I'm sure we'll learn a lot from you. So before we get into some questions that I have for you, Shirée, why not just give us a little bit of a background of, you know, what you do and how you got into this field?

Shirée:

Yeah. I've been an interior designer since 1999 and I discovered something after my late husband died in 2007. I discovered that my home and my garden were really wonderful places of healing for me from the trauma of losing him. And so I started making the connection and doing some research and studying and just decided to niche out to include wellness design.

Brent:

Nice, nice. I'm sure that could be very helpful for healing through a tragedy like that. So, Shirée, as we all know, over the past few years, we've spent so much time in our homes. In your experience, could you explain how someone's home could actually be adding to their stress and why? And additionally, how could our home actually help our quality of life?

Shirée:

Oh, gosh, yes. Actually having grown up in a home that was fairly disorganized, I would say not having a place for things, not having your cupboards and drawers and closets organized, having too many things. And also I think that, you know, when we're in our homes 24 7, as we were with the pandemic, you may not notice that the windows are filthy and the light fixtures are dusty or the ceiling fans are dusty. But subconsciously it does add up and it definitely adds to stress, not having a clean home and not having an organized home.

Brent:

That's really good point. I know I feel that when my home is not organized, I feel like I have to clean it. I have to organize it to be more productive. Another question for you. Keeping your home organized, you know, neat, clean, are there any tips around that that you can help us keep our homes organized?

Shirée:

Well, I have a small home now. I've recently downsized from 3000 square feet and I just basically went on Amazon and the container store online and ordered a bunch of stuff for the closets, for the drawers. I love doing those bamboo divider trays in my kitchen. They just feel good to me. It just feels like my kitchen's done, you know, even though it hasn't been remodelled yet, I've got, you know, some really sharp bamboo trays.

Brent:

I like that idea of the containers. I love those containers because it's just a great way to organize specific items that you know, you don't need to take out all the time. I definitely make use of those in my home. You got to love bamboo.

Shirée:

Yeah, I love bamboo. And it's sustainable too. And that's also a big part of wellness design is sustainability. And non-toxic building materials, and what we call biophilia, having plants. But there's many, many aspects of wellness design that people can tap into. One thing I discovered with my own home through the pandemic is that it's really a great idea to have a place where you can work out at home, whether or not you have the gym membership, particularly as a woman who's always worked out her entire life. I really like having that flexibility because the home is a place where you don't have to drive to, you don't have to do your hair or feel compelled to shower <laugh> before going to work out. You know, you've got a place dedicated in your home to working out. And I find that it's much easier to keep agreements with yourself, you know, to keep that discipline about working out every day, six days a week.

If you have a place, it's like your default workout place at home rather than, you know, the yoga studio or the gym. And I also discovered, actually talking to clients, is that they're discovering that there's really a lot of things that need to be done around their house, and it can really drain your energy if your home is not, you know, aesthetically pleasing or functional or if there's no places to really connect. You know, people think that they've got to connect in front of a big screen tv and that is kind of one of my pet peeves in designing for my clients. I like to encourage them to connect around the kitchen table or connect around preparing a meal.

Brent:

I love that idea of having a dedicated space for fitness. I mean, obviously as a fitness expert myself, the number one drug in the world is exercise, right? And of course can bring stress levels down. So I really do connect with having that separate space that's dedicated to it. And you're right, the convenience of being at home for exercise, I think a lot of people, you know, have found that out during the pandemic when they've been forced to stay in their homes. You got to look for options. But I think you're right. The design and the way you organize the interior of your home is really important to satisfy that.

Shirée:

Well, I was just going to say that a lot of people could have used the pandemic to develop a great self-care system, and I think more and more, Brent, because we've become so virtual and so many people are working from home, I think there's still a lot of opportunity to help others to learn how to do that and you know, develop those good routines.

Brent:

Absolutely. Absolutely. As long as you have the motivation and the inspiration to initiate it, I think you're absolutely right. If you're in your home anyway, there's a lot less time involved commuting back and forth. I think it's definitely a part of the approach now.

Shirée:

Absolutely.

Brent:

I'll say there's something very refreshing when you walk into a home and it's nicely designed. Everything has its place. Could interior design of your home in any way help to promote greater longevity and healthier and happier aging, in your opinion?

Shirée:

Absolutely. I'll speak to what you said about walking into your home and the energy, I liken it to the ocean. You know, when you think about when you're at the ocean, you get this feeling of just being energized and relaxed and centred at the same time. And your home can absolutely be that for you. It doesn't have to be a 10,000 square foot home. It doesn't even have to be a 3000 square foot home. It can be an apartment. You know, there's a lot of people living in the city and have smaller homes. I know designers that have houses that are less than a thousand square feet, but you still go in, you've got things there that you love. That might mean something to you from your past, the sentimental aspects of design, that's actually a thing. You know, having things that mean something to you, maybe something your kids gave you or your fiancé gave you or whatever. For me, I like to have mine filled with books and plants and you know, things from my life, you know, from a well lived life. A lot of people are really more into minimalism these days. Right. And of course, as a designer, I respect that aesthetic and that lifestyle too.

Brent:

I actually do like that minimalistic approach too. But you're so right that items in your home, of course, are very personal. The style that you like and you know, memories that you've had, those things are really important.

Shirée:

Yes. One thing I wanted to point out to you and your listeners, particularly your listeners, is that while minimalism is really wonderful for your wellness, if you go too far, it can go the other direction as well. Very impersonal. You want to find your sweet spot, find the happy medium.

Brent:

So true. That's a really good point. That makes sense. You don't want it to look like a operating room or something. Everything's just sterile. That's a good point. So when it comes to decluttering, how do you determine if objects in your home might be contributing or taking away from someone's health and wellness?

Shirée:

That's a good question. Thank you. I would say that having too much stuff is definitely a problem. Definitely want to streamline your belongings, particularly the things that go in the cabinets. You definitely want to have places for things, you know, designated places. Growing up, I think my mother won't argue with this fact that we never had a place for anything and nothing was ever in its place. I could never find the scissors or tape for childhood projects or high school projects, or whatever. So those things can be really frustrating, particularly if you have some kind of like a learning challenge. So you know, honour your kids, honour your home, honour yourself, and keep it organized. Martha Stewart has some great calendars that you can get, you know, what times of the year to do what, but I would say once every six months go through and reorganize a particular part of the homes that you use the most. Like the kitchen.

Brent:

I like that every six months. That's a great tip. Actually, this is a good question for you too. You know, with clothing and those types of things, if you haven't worn something in, you know, a year or you haven't used something in a year, is that the indication that it's time to get rid of that? Or should you hold onto it?

Shirée:

I know where you're going with it. <laugh>. I'm going to disagree respectfully. I'd have things that I've worn for 10 years just because they are so classic. And being a designer, I pick out things that are timeless and classic. But yeah, if you're not wearing it, and if you know you're not going to wear it, definitely get rid of it. If it doesn't fit, you know, throw that stuff out.

Brent:

Right. Even from appliances and you know, I'll have different cups that don't match each other. They're from a different set. And I always feel like I got to get rid of these ones because then I have the newer ones now.

Shirée:

I agree with that. I like matching sets. I'm definitely a match-ey person. And yeah, you do get a lot of energy. You open up your cabinets and the kitchen, everything looks fresh and clean. It's all white. Or at least matching. That's an energy booster for sure. And you know what, if your kitchen is attractive, you know you're going to want to spend more time in there.

Brent:

Exactly. You know, for me, and I'm sure the listeners as well, when your place is cluttered and disorganized, you just feel less calm. I know that for myself. There's something really interesting about the psychology of colour and how certain colours can have a positive or negative impact on your health and wellness in the home. Can you comment on that a little bit? I think red is more of a, not angry, but a colour that's not calming. Maybe you can explain a little bit more?

Shirée:

Actually. In interior design classes, we do have to take colour psychology. I would say the psychology tends to be that healing colours are cool and pale. Oh. And you know, you think about inflammation. When we're health conscious, we try to fight inflammation. So you want cooling colours, you want comforting textures. Those are big things. I happen to love blues and greens. My home happens to be filled with, you know, like "oyster". Oyster would be like a beige, but it's got gray in it. And like celadon green, which is a pale, soft green. But blues are also very comforting. They just happen to have been overused quite a bit. Gray, you know, gray has enjoyed so much popularity in the design world, it's really on the way out. And so I try to respectfully move people away from gray because in five years it's going to be last year's, you know, red. I want to try and get people fashion forward in their colour choices. And I also try to get people into classic colours too, because that way they don't date so much. Right. You know, so soft greens, blue, soft whites, very nice colour combinations.

Brent:

So these are the colours you would want in a bedroom, for instance, where you want to be relaxed.

Shirée:

Yes. And also there's a colour called blush, which is, I don't want to call it like a peach colour. And it's certainly not pink, but it's like a flesh tone. And that tends to have a really healthy feeling in your home.

Brent:

What about white walls? I didn't paint my walls. They're just white.

Shirée:

I love white walls. It's clean. It's a white space. White space is very calming.

Brent:

That's really good to know. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back after this message.

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Brent:

Welcome back to Beyond Age. You know, personally, being involved in media for many, many years, I know lighting is super, super important. What about lighting in your home? You know, are there certain types of lighting that you know can help not only improve the appearance of the area, but also have a positive psychological effect on the occupant of the home?

Shirée:

Absolutely. We, human beings, we need light. You know, nothing grows in the dark. Homes that have overhead lighting, you want to make sure that it's not just one fixture above your room. If you're going to have overhead lighting, it's best to have the nice inset lights. But I love to have task lighting. I love a room in the evening that's lit up by lamps. Nowadays, my gosh, you can find all kinds of light bulbs that have different hues to them depending on what task or what mood you're into. And then of course, candlelight is always really wonderful. So candles are great in the home when you're entertaining or just, you know, having a little me time.

Brent:

Right, of course. And I'm assuming, is natural light typically better than having artificial light?

Shirée:

Natural light is preferable. There are codes that we follow in building that determine the amount of window space that goes into any new home. They have to have a certain amount of window space. Having views is also another big thing. You know, having windows where you can sit and enjoy the outdoors and you know, enjoying nature. Seeing trees and plants outside your windows. You know, if you have windows space and you're looking out over something that's really unattractive, that's not going to be great. Like if your window opens onto a stone wall. But my son lives in a tiny little apartment and his view is of downtown San Francisco. And so, you know, even though the apartment is really tiny, that's a great energy. You know, like especially if you're a creative, if you're a writer, seeing the water from your window. Very inspiring for writing.

Brent:

That's a really good point. I have a view of the water and every morning I sit on my balcony and you know, have my coffee and it does wonders for my mood. Really important I think for longevity too. Just mentally being able to have a calm, sort of safe haven in your own home is important. Shirée, I know you do wellness and design strategy sessions. Maybe you can take us through what that looks like.

Shirée:

Well, actually, I just started doing kitchen strategy sessions. People that want to remodel their kitchen for wellness. I work with people on their floor plans so that if they want to have two cooks in the kitchen or if there's just one for floor plans, the thing is, is that nowadays the island is king, the kitchen island is king. But if you have just one cook in the kitchen, it doesn't work really well because you basically need a work triangle. If one or two people in the kitchen, you want a triangle from your refrigerator to your sink, to your cooktop, your stove and oven. And that is generally about 27 feet. Each foot. Each leg, like from the kitchen to the stove is nine feet. From the stove to the sink is nine feet, and from the stove to the refrigerator is nine feet. But if you have a big family and you're wanting to connect over prepping meals, which is something I highly recommend, then the kitchen island is great. You know, because everybody has their own little workspace, you know, counter space to work on.

Brent:

That makes sense.

Shirée:

So it's very tailored, my strategy sessions to what the homeowner or occupant needs. You know, how many cooks are in your kitchen? I do like touchless faucets and smart refrigerators and smart stove hoods and non-toxic building materials. And then we go through the finishes, you know, the sinks and the flooring, that sort of thing. So yeah, it's about three hours and it covers a lot. We cover a lot of ground and they're, it's ready to go to their contractor or builder when we're done.

Brent:

That's great. I mean, I'm not a designer by any means. So you know, when I moved in everything was already done for me and I just either accept it or eventually have to change things. But I do have an island. I like the idea of having that space. My son can be doing his homework and chatting with me at the same time. It's a great central area to connect with people, guests and so on as well. I really do like that aspect of kitchen.

Shirée:

The hub of the house.

Brent:

The hub of the house. You got it. But after someone makes these positive changes to the design of their home, have you had anyone report noticeable changes to their happiness and wellness?

Shirée:

Yes. This is the best part about being a designer. The hardest part is installation day. The best part is when you see people's reaction because they do cry. They do get emotional when they see their spaces. And I knew I had a gift by the age of four, four years old. This ability to visualize things. So yeah, it's very emotional for them. This is their home, this is where they live and it's where they heal and where they grow. It's pretty amazing.

Brent:

That's really great. So people with specific health needs, how would you go about designing a home for someone who had health needs, particularly physical health needs, and for someone who is perhaps older and wants to stay in their home?

Shirée:

Yeah, there's several things that can be done. As we age, our hands lose their function ability. And one of the things that is really helpful are levered doorknobs. And also rocker style light switches in the kitchen, D shape drawer pulls. They're much easier to pull out than with a round knob. Something else that's really important is to have level transitions between flooring materials so that people that are walking, if they're a little bit wobbly or unsure on their feet, having that transition be really smooth so they don't trip up. That's important. And then I love touchless faucets, and that's something that makes it so much easier for older people, you know, because they don't have to turn on water and turn it off. They can just wave a hand or whatever, to get it to turn on. And they can even control flow now the amount of flow you want. So those are some things. There's also things that you can do in the kitchen, like hydraulic lifts, inserts into your cabinets and lighting. Lighting is very important as we age.

Brent:

That makes a lot of sense. Technology is amazing. You know what we can do nowadays. But yeah, very, very important. I can see how lighting would be very important.

Shirée:

And then another thing about wellness design is also safety. That's another thing that's really important for older people because they do feel a little insecure as they lose their physicality, having safety features in their home. You know, doorbells are nice and security cameras, that sort of thing. So those are all great features and very accessible and quite affordable nowadays too.

Brent:

They are, yeah. It's very important to feel safe and to have the functionality as you start to lose your own functionality a little bit. So can you recommend any sort of simple design tips that anyone can implement in their home to make it their safe haven?

Shirée:

Oh, great question. Well, I happen to love throw pillows, baskets, throw blankets and books. Those are like my go-to accessories. I cannot live without them. And plants. And I like to tell people if your home is missing something, it is probably scale, texture or greenery. Texture and plants and light is possible.

Brent:

Interesting. Yeah, plants are very important I find too, especially if you're living, you know, in a place where you don't really have a view of nature. You know, you're living downtown and you don't have accessibility to a lot of nature. It's always good to have nature in your house.

Shirée:

Yeah. There are definitely things you can do living in the city. There's always solutions, always.

Brent:

That's refreshing to hear. Let's face it, interior design can actually get quite costly, depending on how extensive you're going with it. But are there any low cost tips that are very easy to implement that anybody could actually implement to the interior design of their home?

Shirée:

Absolutely. First of all, I love to just roll up my sleeves and get in there and rearrange the furniture. I always tell people there's one place, one ideal place for everything. So the most important pieces to place are of course the biggest. And that's the sofa and any kind of big entertainment unit or whatever that you have, get those placed first, make sure they're in the right place. And then you've got a basis for a really good design space. Planning is huge, and if you get those things in the right places, it's going to feel anchored. And having a room feel anchored actually gives us feelings of stability. Secondly, I love discount home stores.

And there's, there's a couple in particular that have some really great accessories and I mentioned them in the podcast already, and that is throw pillows and throw blankets or lap blankets, you might call them depending on where you are, and hardbound books and baskets. Those are great items to bring into your home. And they're very easy to choose. You know, just choose colours that'll go with what you already have. There's always a solution to make wherever you live, whether it's 500 square feet or 5,000 square feet, you can make it really, really nice if you know what to do.

Brent:

Those are great tips. And they're not going to break the bank, which is a great thing as well.

Shirée:

Exactly. Yeah.

Brent:

You mentioned books as one of the elements. Where do you recommend a bookshelf goes with your favorite books?

Shirée:

If you have a smaller space, like an apartment, you can buy small bookshelves and they can be attractive. They're like towers and they have like three shelves in them and you can fit quite a few books in one of those units. You can use them as end tables, they're called Etagere or Edwardian bookcases. And you can put them on either side of your sofa. You can have them in a hallway, you know, whether you're space limited or not. So many people have, you know, books on their iPads. I have a Kindle that's just loaded. But I really like to have the hardbound books around my home too. Particularly, for design books and wellness books or health books. Or built-ins; if you want to spend the money. Built-ins are a great investment for homeowners.

Brent:

Nice. Yeah. So I got to stop stacking my books on an end table then. I like those solutions. There's always common misconceptions or myths. Would you say there are any in interior design and wellness that need debunking? And is there any common knowledge that's still rooted in fact?

Shirée:

Yeah, interior design in particular. There seems to be a couple of different things that could be debunked. I would say the first one is: redo everything, and that you have to get rid of everything. And I like to tell my clients that a home that is furnished around a variety of different styles and eras, so furniture that you've had 10 years ago and furniture that you're buying, now, I like to encourage people to keep things so that not everything is brand spanking new, all purchased from one place in time.

The other thing that needs to be debunked is, is that it's that easy because we've all watched the shows and it looks like everything's done on a dime and really quickly. It is a lot of work. I've been doing this for 22 or three years now and I can tell you if it's still a lot of work for me to do something really custom for a family. It's going to be a lot of work for the homeowner who's, you know, a DIY-er.

But you know, there are a lot of online resources, so you know, more power to you do it. Go for it. I've done all my own homes. I've never hired a designer. I am a designer so I don't have to hire one. About wellness, what would be debunked? Well, I don't really like the idea of composting in my kitchen. But that's one thing that you can do. You can have a compost pile in your kitchen. They can do built-ins for you. So that kind of is like, I don't want garbage in my kitchen, I want it to go outside.

Brent:

Yeah. I'm right there with you. I mean, everybody's different too, right. In terms of the styles they like and you know how they feel about interior design. I find I've watched some of shows and you're right, they make it look so easy and it's like the snap of finger, everything's done. But it's got to be tough. I know it's a lot of work. Right. So I know we're getting close to wrapping up time-wise, but a lot of great information. Shirée, if you were to give two key takeaways for our audience about the impact of interior design on aging and wellness, what would those two key takeaways be?

Shirée:

I think the first one would be having a place to reconnect with yourself. For me that means being in a space that is really beautiful to the eye and functional and clean and well lit. And a place to reconnect with your loved ones too, and not in front of a flat screen tv. Do it around the kitchen table or around prepping a meal. I think that's it in a nutshell, right there. Those are my two tips.

Brent:

That's what the island is for.

Shirée:

Yes. Love it.

Brent:

Great, great tips, great tips. And then obviously all of this, I want the audience to understand how, you know, having that calm, inviting environment where you can, you know, take care of yourself as well is really important for longevity and aging and just overall wellness, right? Just mental clarity. Being more productive when things aren't cluttered is really important. So thanks so much again, Shirée, you some great information. I know I learned a few things that I have to implement and I'm sure our audience have as well. So thanks again.

Shirée:

Thank you, Brent. It's been a pleasure.

Brent:

So that's it folks. Thanks for tuning in to Beyond Age, an exclusive podcast from Manulife. Tune into the next episode where we talk to Jill Hewlett, a brain fitness expert and wellness authority from Toronto, Ontario, about everyday changes you can make to help beat brain fog. Don't forget to visit our website, manulife.ca/LiveHealthier for more tips, videos, and content from Manulife that can help you live healthier for longer, no matter your age.

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The thoughts, views, and opinions of the host and guests do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Manulife.