Wellness meets design
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“Our spaces are an extension of ourselves’
Design isn’t just about beauty; it’s also about how you want to feel and experience a space – from using colour to boost creativity or calm the mind to organizing spaces to reduce stress.
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That’s the simple yet transformative design philosophy of Tiffany Pratt, a multidisciplinary designer, creative director and artist known for her unmistakable and transcendent style.
She believes intentional design choices impact not just the look of our homes, but the way we live in them. “I think our spaces are like an extension of ourselves,” she says. If we were to look at our spaces as a person, Pratt maintains, we’d engage with our surroundings more intimately.
“I say that because we activate and animate our spaces based off how we engage with them – dusting, cleaning, painting, rearranging, adding in new things, fluffing stuff up, changing stuff on the coffee table. All that stuff reengages ourselves with our space but also makes the space feel very alive and happy.
“When I get hired to work on a space, I can always tell when a room is barely used versus a room that’s highly trafficked and then I can feel a room that’s been very well loved and used a lot and is constantly being engaged with and sort of fluffed.”
ORGANIZATION, LIGHT, COLOUR
Elements like organization, light and colour influence mental and emotional well-being. “Organization to me is the cornerstone of a happy space,” says Pratt. She shares her grandmother’s philosophy: ‘Everything in its place and a place for everything’ because she believes it’s “easy to live in harmony” with organized spaces. She advises homeowners to get rid of things that don’t have a place and that you don’t love.
When it comes to light, Pratt encourages homeowners using LED lightbulbs that make spaces feel “clinical and frosty” to switch back to incandescent bulbs, which make homes feel “cozy and warm.”
Next, think about light sources and windows. She recommends light-coloured draperies in social spaces to better allow natural light into the space. If a space doesn’t have a great light source, bring light in through colour. “I always say white equals light so wherever you put white in a room, it will bounce light into the space.”
Finally, Pratt encourages you to consider the healing power of colour. “People think of colour as an aesthetic thing but for me colour’s actually life energy. If you put someone in a colourless space and then you put them into a colourful space, their attitude changes.” And while everyone engages with colour differently, simple touches of the colour right for them can bring joy.
DESIGNING FOR INTENTION
“When we talk about intention, we talk about what is the purpose of your home, how do you live in it and also do you know what makes your home the most functional for you,” Pratt says. That can mean breaking the rules, such as not using the dining room as a dining room. Her’s is an art studio, while she’s seen homeowners use their dining room to house a ping pong table to keep kids entertained.
Finally, Pratt believes the creative process of design can become a form of self-care. Even her clients who don’t identify as creative people “light up” when they become involved in the creative process of designing a space “because they get to activate a part of themselves that they don’t always get to activate and they get to have a say in something that they don’t always get to have a say in.”
She encourages her clients to become involved in the design process as much as possible, from going on a “treasure hunt” or visiting a fabric store to choosing from numerous samples. “Certainly, I can tell people what I think would look the best or what I would choose but I’m not the one living there. I think the job of any good designer is to work with things that light people up.”
In doing so, the result is a home that’s very “dear” to a client. “When something feels very true to a customer or true to a style, they take a lot more ownership in their space because they had a hand in putting it together.”
Women’s Healthy Living Show
Tiffany Pratt will be at the inaugural Women’s Healthy Living Show. A hub for all things wellness – mental, emotional, physical, social and financial – it runs Saturday, June 7 and Sunday, June 8 at the Enercare Centre, Hall B, at Exhibition Place.
Pratt will present her talk, Original Magic, on June 7 at 3:30 p.m. on the High Heels & Hot Flashes Stage. The talk is all about remembering – remembering who we are, what we can do and how we can access it. She’ll also discuss breaking the rules in creativity and design, encouraging people to play more and create spaces that inspire them and reflect how they truly want to live. Visit www.womenshealthylivingshow.com to learn more and to purchase tickets.
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