Choose Non-Pollutant Wall Paint

Anjie Cho November 5, 2015

featured this month in Archi Expo

Collectively associated with outdoor air, pollution is present indoors as well. Toxic chemicals, such as formaldehyde, are more prevalent inside than out. This is because traditional indoor wall paints emit VOCs (volatile organic compounds), a variety of gases including formaldehyde that are harmful over short and long-term. To address this issue, some indoor paint brands are constantly innovating VOC-free, non-toxic paints to also meet color and durability standards.

Anna Sova Luxury Organics, a small Texas-based company that produces Greenguard certified paint, advertises that 90% of their paint ingredients are food-based. The company believes that breathing good air is as important as eating healthy. Anna Sova’s milk-based paints are a preferred product of professional designer Anjie Cho, a New York feng shui specialist and architect.

Californian company Dunn Edwards produces more affordable lines of eco-paint, some of which are Greenguard approved. Dunn Edwards is a go-to paint for California based interior designer Sarah Barnard who specializes in sustainability and historic preservation.

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Feng Shui Explained - 4 Essential Tips for Every Home

Anjie Cho November 4, 2015

featured this month on Lifestyle Designer Homes

So, you want to feng shui your home. It’s an ambition held by many, but comprehensively understood by few. To begin: What does “feng shui” even mean?

According to Anjie Cho, author of 108 Ways To Create Holistic Spaces, “The ancient practice of Feng Shui focuses on changing the flow of chi, the vital life force in humans and nature, to improve and transform lives.” Type “What is Feng Shui?” into Google, and the official definition appears to build upon the literal translation of the Chinese words “fēng” for wind and “shuǐ” for water: “…a system of laws considered to govern spatial arrangement and orientation in relation to the flow of energy (qi), and whose favourable or unfavourable effects are taken into account when siting and designing buildings.”

There’s a plethora of information on Feng Shui, some of it inconsistent. However, there are some basic principles that regularly appear across most Feng Shui guides, and we decided to break it down to the essentials. Go forth, and balance your home!

1. Map it out.

Most Feng Shui guides at least partially root the concept in the Bagua: “A map,” according to a realestate.com.au article, “that lays out the nine separate areas of energy and intention in Feng Shui.” In fact, the second chapter of Cho’s book is dedicated entirely to the map, which breaks down eight life components that can be reflected in the home: Abundance, recognition, relationships, new beginnings, health, completion, knowledge, path in life, and benefactors. Each of these factors, she explains, can be reflected and cultivated in respective areas of the home; for example, “What is going on in the Abundance areas of your home,” she writes, “particularly in your bedroom and office?

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