How to Lower Your Screen Time for a Clearer Mind
I was sitting in my studio last Tuesday, sketching a new courtyard layout, when I realized I hadn’t actually looked up from my tablet in forty minutes. My charcoal pencil was poised to detail the delicate, curling leaves of Barnaby—a particularly temperamental Japanese Maple I’ve been designing for—but my eyes were glazed, trapped in a […]
The Best Houseplants for People Who Kill Plants
I remember sitting in my father’s sun-drenched study back in San Francisco, surrounded by sketches of sprawling gardens, feeling that same overwhelming hesitation you might feel right now. There is a certain intimidation that comes with staring at an empty windowsill, wondering if you possess the green thumb necessary to keep a living thing thriving. […]
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 […]