Gut Health Basics: Simple Ways to Feel Better From the Inside

I was sitting in my studio last Tuesday, sketching out a new permaculture layout for a client, when I realized I was treating my own body exactly like a neglected urban lot. I’ve spent my career obsessing over soil pH, microbial diversity, and the delicate balance of root systems, yet I was completely ignoring the […]
How to Create a Wind-down Routine for Better Sleep

I was sitting on my studio floor last Tuesday, surrounded by half-finished sketches of a rooftop meadow and the scent of damp cedar, when I realized my mind was racing like a runaway irrigation system. I had spent the day debating drainage slopes and soil pH, and even though the sun had long since dipped […]
How to Finally Organize Your Paperwork

I was hunched over my drafting table last Tuesday, surrounded by the scent of cedar shavings and damp earth, when I realized my desk had become a literal graveyard for receipts, tax forms, and unread contracts. It was a suffocating thicket of white paper that felt more like an invasive species than a workspace. I’ve […]
Sneaky Ways to Eat More Vegetables (that Taste Good)

I was sitting in my studio last Tuesday, sketching a new terraced garden layout, when I realized I was treating my own nutrition exactly like a poorly designed urban plaza: cluttered, uninspired, and frankly, a bit overwhelming. We’ve all been fed this exhausting myth that figuring out how to eat more vegetables requires a PhD […]
How to Improve the Air Quality in Your Home

I remember sitting in a cramped, modern studio in Milan last spring, sketching a new vertical garden, when the heavy, stagnant scent of synthetic cleaning products and stale recirculated air hit me like a physical wall. It was a jarring reminder that even in the most beautiful architectural spaces, we often forget that we aren’t […]
How Journaling Can Boost Your Mental Health

The sun was just beginning to dip behind the cypress trees in Sonoma, casting long, amber shadows across my latest site plan, when I felt that familiar, suffocating tightness in my chest. I had spent the entire day wrestling with a drainage issue for a client, but my mind wasn’t on the topography; it was […]
Laundry Tips That Make Your Clothes Last Longer

I was sketching a new terrace design for a client in San Francisco yesterday, surrounded by the earthy scent of damp mulch and the vibrant green of my favorite fern, Barnaby, when it hit me: why do we treat our textiles with so much more aggression than our delicate ecosystems? Most people approach their chores […]
Yoga for Beginners: Poses to Start With Today

I was sitting on a mossy stone in a small courtyard outside Florence last spring, sketching a new trellis design, when I realized my own body felt as stiff as a dried hydrangea. I’d spent the morning hunched over my travel journal, and my spine felt less like a living thing and more like a […]
Kitchen Organization Ideas for a Clutter-free Counter

I was sketching a new terrarium layout in my journal yesterday—trying to find the perfect balance for a temperamental fern I’ve named Barnaby—when I caught myself staring blankly at my own kitchen counter. It was buried under a chaotic landslide of mismatched Tupperware and half-used spice jars, a stark contrast to the harmonious, intentional spaces […]
How to Clean Grout and Make Your Tile Look New

I was kneeling on a sun-drenched patio in Florence last spring, sketching the way the light hit a weathered terracotta walkway, when I realized something profound: we often obsess over the grand stones and the sweeping vistas, yet we completely neglect the delicate veins that hold them together. Most people think that once your grout […]