by Furnishly | Mar 22, 2022 | Design Inspiration, Style
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I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect air purifier for quite some time. After all, since I have seasonal allergies, sensitive skin and eyes, and a tiny NYC apartment that retains the smell of salmon cooked two days ago, clean air is a priority. And while I’m a bit of a nerd that actually enjoys researching the best of the best products and gadgets, the air purifier market is tricky, confusing, and… not so fun. Saturated with complicated terms and acronyms and flashy marketing, it’s easy to succumb to advertising that tricks you into buying more than you actually need.
Enter the beautiful and thoughtfully designed Mila Air Purifier, a game changer dreamt up by three dads living in Shanghai, a city all too familiar with air pollution. Mila flips the air purifier game upside down, making a unique product that’s smart, simple, user friendly, and (stay with me here) hilarious.
What makes Mila different? For starters, instead of offering a line of models with different room-size capabilities, Clean Air Delivery Rates (CADR), and functionality, Mila makes just one high-performance unit that fits seven different filters, each designed to match breathing needs based on your lifestyle. The filters are constructed with different HEPA filters and carbon filters depending on your intended use. Think The Big Sneeze for people with allergies, The Critter Cuddler for homes with pets, The Mama-to-Be for when you’re breathing for two, and The Overreactor, which is billed as “the most neurotic filter around.” (Yup, I knew right away that the last option was the one for me, so that’s what I started with.)
I love that Mila is extremely simple to set up. As I opened the box, instructions were laid out simply on each fold of the box — no manual to leaf through! Pairing the device to my smartphone only took a few minutes, and the directions were easy to follow. In fact, this is the easiest app I’ve ever used when it comes to air purifiers.
Not only does the Mila app identify the particles in my air, it also explains what they are and how they impact my health. She (yes, I personalized her) gives me information about my air quality compared to what the air is like outside, actually showing me how well she’s working. Whether she’s telling me that she “detects weirdness” when I’m pan-frying salmon or lets me know she’s bored because my apartment’s been at an AQI of zero for a while, Mila has my back. She’ll even alert me to the presence of carbon monoxide inside if I’m ever in danger.
I typically leave my Mila on the automagic (aka automatic) setting, and moments after I spray hairspray, turn on my oil diffuser, or start cooking, she adjusts to rid the air of harmful VOCs and unpleasant odors. There’s also a manual setting where you can adjust the fan speed to your liking, as well as several modes that I’ve found helpful, like Bubble Boy, which rids the room of all particles regardless of how loud it may get; and Turndown Service, which activates an hour before bedtime for a deep clean that reduces nighttime allergens.
Since using Mila, my apartment no longer retains yucky smells, and I’ve found myself sneezing less and sleeping much more soundly. Not only is Mila an efficient, smart solution, but she somehow manages to make air quality fun!
Buy: Mila Air Purifier, $408
by Furnishly | Nov 6, 2021 | Design Inspiration, Style
If your local coffee shop has already traded in pumpkin spiced everything for peppermint mocha goodies, it’s easy to marvel over where the year has gone. Winter is coming — and sniffles, sneezes, and sore throats are (unfortunately) upon us.
There are plenty of ways to avoid being at the mercy of a nasty cold, and if anyone in my life is vigilant about that, it’s my abuelita, who always stresses that one must never go out with wet hair or have their feet exposed during cold and flu season. When my cousins and I were children, Pita would check us for socks inside the house multiple times a day over every holiday break. It was one of her many preventative measures for ensuring we wouldn’t fall ill in the colder weather. I can almost hear her urging me to blow dry my hair before setting foot outside.
If the cough did come, Pita was always prepared with some formidable restorative treatments in her arsenal. Such is their efficacy that I still turn to them to ease my cold, flu, and allergy symptoms as an adult. Though you should always check with your doctor before attempting a new remedy, here are eight DIY and at-home cold remedies my abuelita swears by to help ease cold and flu symptoms.
Warm Lime Juice and Honey
Abuelita soothed our coughs as children with the simplest concoction: warm lime juice and honey. That’s it! Honey is credited with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory traits, while limes are full of immunity-enhancing vitamin C.
To make her blend, she would squeeze a shot or two’s worth of fresh lime juice, heat for a few seconds in the microwave to warm, and add honey to our desired level of taste or consistency. Then, we’d either knock it back or sip at it every four hours to relieve our coughs and sore throats. For immediate throat comfort, she would also drizzle honey onto a spoon, sprinkle it with lime juice, and have us suck on the combo like a lollipop.
Alternatively, Pita dilutes the warm lime juice and honey with hot water for tea. She adds ginger for some extra boosting power in soothing coughs and sore throats.
When I was little, the faintest sniffle would sound the alarm. Pita would grab her off-limits-to-us cuchillo and vehemently chop carrots, cilantro, potatoes, fresh puréed tomatoes, garlic, green onions, spices, and herbs for a huge pot of caldo de pollo. Her swiftness at neatly dicing and slicing is an art she’s still nagging me to master.
Thankfully, I never had to assist her in the kitchen when I was sick. I was, however, required to finish every last drop of what she calls milagro en olla, or miracle in a pot. I would always feel revitalized after a day or two of eating the stuff. Abuelita attributes it to its nutritious content. Trust in her folk wisdom! It’s stocked with antioxidants and vitamin A from the carrots, and rich protein and zinc from the chicken. To this day, her caldo de pollo is what brings me out of every cold’s misery. It’s also one of the only foods I can manage to eat or crave when I have a bad bug or the flu.
Recipes are simple and widely available online, just don’t forget to add fresh-squeezed lime juice when serving. If you already know a delicious chicken noodle soup recipe, that works wonders just as well. Abuelita says plenty of good can be done by just sticking to soft nutritious foods, soups, and warm liquids.
The fragrant cure-all! The popular ointment contains eucalyptus, menthol, and camphor oils. Rub some on your chest, back, and over your throat for decongestion and to rid constant coughing. You must also apply to the soles of your feet at night time, and as Abuelita instructs, go to bed wearing socks. If nothing else, you’ll wake up with very soft feet!
Guava, Lime, and Orange Peel Tea
This is Pita’s immune-boosting go-to potion because it’s packed with vitamin C. To make it, she dices two or three guavas, splits two limes into quarters, and gathers the orange peels from one or two medium oranges. She boils the ingredients with water in a medium or large saucepan until the guavas are very tender, and uses a bean masher to mush all the ingredients well. Then, she’ll strain the liquid, which leaves enough for a few servings — her favorite way to drink it is to take it hot and with a generous trickle of honey.
Chamomile Tea With Honey, Lime, and Cinnamon
Abuelita’s favorite tea for throat lubrication, as well as relieving pain and inflammation, is chamomile, served with honey and lime. There is something truly soothing about a nice little cup of té de manzanilla, and its calming effects and medicinal claims are not just an old wives’ tale. Hot tea is good for opening up congested airways, as Pita says, and chamomile acts as a natural lubricant to reduce throat redness and swelling. Add cinnamon, which is shown to have many medicinal benefits, such as fighting infections and inflammation, and taste.
Peppermint Tea and Relaxation
Abuelita also brews peppermint tea for its sedative qualities as well as to help alleviate any soreness in the throat. Like many doctors, she insists that allowing the body sufficient rest is imperative to healing, so she would make us enjoy a cup of peppermint tea at night or before a nap, with honey in for extra power and comfort.
You don’t need a fancy steamer to harness the relief of a good steam bath. According to my abuelita, all you need is a pot and a stove. Once the water gets hot enough, transfer it to a heat-safe bowl and lean over it to breathe the vapor in. (Be careful not to get too close or burn yourself.) You can also inhale the steam from a brewing pot of chamomile, or simply take a hot shower or bath.
DIY Red Onion and Honey Cough Syrup
This homemade cough syrup has performed magic on my sore throats, colds, and coughs, and its taste is very mild and sweet. Because it’s loaded with antioxidants from the red onions, Pita believes it also helps keep our immune systems going strong.
She starts by thinly slicing a whole red onion and placing the slices in a bowl, exposing as much of the onion as possible. Next, she pours about a cup and a half of honey over the onions, covers the bowl, and lets it sit for two to three hours. After this time, a syrupy substance will have developed at the bottom of the bowl. This is the medicine! Pita transfers everything into a glass jar with a tight lid to store it for the duration of her cold, and takes a tablespoon every three or four hours. The onions continue to create more cough syrup as they sit, bringing a pep back in her step in no time!
by Furnishly | Jul 26, 2021 | Design Inspiration, Style
Name: Naj Austin
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Size: 1,000 square feet
Type of home: Brownstone apartment
Years lived in: A little over a year — it was a COVID move!; rented
Naj Austin is the founder and CEO of Ethel’s Club and Somewhere Good, both of which are “platforms centering identity, community, and joy,” she explains. Clearly, wellness is a focus for Austin at work. It’s also a major priority in her home, an old brownstone apartment built with captivating wood carvings at every turn that she’s filled with plants, books, art, music, and pillows.
“My home makes me feel healthy because it’s a place I can fully relax,” says Austin. “I’ve designed it in a way that separates work, leisure, and rest, and I think it’s helped me sleep better, work less, and chill more.”
Just one way she’s done this: by delineating tech-free areas that instead contain books and journals and are meant for rest and rejuvenation. Find several more below.
Apartment Therapy Survey:
My Style: Eclectic — odds and ends of the places I’ve lived, loved, and visited. Very homey and cozy; lots of round and soft edges; lots of plants, books, art, and music. I’m very into the Marie Kondo “but spark joy” ethos, and I hold everything in my home to that standard, literally down to my magnets.
Inspiration: I’m inspired by talented designers like Shannon Maldonado from YOWIE, who sourced a lot of the items in my apartment. Also artists and curators like Saeed Akil Ferguson, Kiyanna Stewart and Jannah Handy of BLK MKT Vintage, and Jared Blake and Ed Be of Lichen, who have changed the way I think about designing a space. They all find and make pieces that are beautiful, fun, and have personality, which is important to me. If you look around my apartment, you can see how I’ve pulled from their work and brought it into my home.
Favorite Element: The architecture. There are so many intricate details — carved dragons, stained glass windows, pocket doors. You can tell so much love was put into the building and the apartment. A year in, I still discover small things I’ve never seen before.
Biggest Challenge: Trying to not drown in all of the wood — it’s beautiful but was definitely overwhelming at first. Most of my previous apartments were you classic white box. I was not sure how I fit into the space with my things. I took the approach of leaning into it and not trying to fight it. My color palette was already green, white, tan, and black, and I think it accents all the reddish wood nicely.
Proudest DIY: TBH, the apartment was so put together with beautiful built-ins there wasn’t much to do. There were a lot of small things I did, like change the cabinet handles, swap out the bathroom mirror for something with more storage, small things like that, but otherwise it was pretty move-in ready.
Biggest Indulgence: I’m not sure what the most expensive thing is, but I do know that my fruit bowl was the most expensive fruit bowl I’ve ever had — almost $200. But I love it and had been looking for something specific like it for a long time. It’s enormous and extends the shelf life of my fruit. What more could I want?
Do you work out of your home? If so, how do you make WFH work for you? Yes — I have an office with a stand-up desk that I never use. It has the least amount of light so I often find myself in the kitchen near the snacks and the plants.
How does your home help you feel healthy (in whatever way that means for you)? My home makes me feel healthy because it’s a place I can fully relax. I’ve designed it in a way that separates work, leisure, and rest, and I think it’s helped me sleep better, work less, and chill more.
How have you set up your home for self-care? I prioritize areas that are meant for relaxing or rest/no phones, including areas with no phone or computer chargers and instead I have art books and journals and pens.
How have you designed your bedroom and any other areas to encourage relaxation and restful sleep? I have an automated light dimmer, which signals bedtime. I also use a device that starts a meditation and leads into “sleep sounds.” I also don’t really have any hard surfaces in my room since a portion of the floor is covered in pillows. I’ve even fallen asleep down there.
What are your favorite products you have bought for your home and why? My plants! They give the apartment an added layer of brightness. Every time I walk into a room, they make me so happy.
Please describe any helpful, inspiring, brilliant, or just plain useful small space maximizing and/or organizing tips you have: I love organizing. I have a lot of pieces from Open Spaces that have helped me organize a lot of the little things and put things out of sight, like blankets, extra cords, etc.
Finally, what’s your absolute best home secret or decorating advice? I would say have fun with it. I felt this overbearing sense of seeking perfection when moving in, but I’ve found so much joy bringing it to life slowly with stoop finds, stuff on Craigslist, art from my friends, etc. At the end of day, I love that my home feels like mine — not an Instagram ad.
This house tour’s responses were edited for length and clarity.
Apartment Therapy’s Healthy Home Issue was written and edited independently by the Apartment Therapy editorial team and generously underwritten by Dyson.
by Furnishly | Jul 26, 2021 | Design Inspiration, Style
Name: Jessica Malaty Rivera, Joshua Rivera, and kids Samia (4) and Laith (2)
Location: Los Angeles, California
Size: 1,600 square feet
Type of home: Craftsman bungalow house
Years lived in: One year, rented
If you’re the kind of person who likes to fill your Instagram feed with useful information, you may already know of Jessica Malaty Rivera, an infectious disease epidemiologist and the science communication lead at The COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic. On Instagram, Rivera offers critical context about COVID-19 to her nearly 300,000 followers.
She also sprinkles in photos of her family: husband Joshua Rivera and kids Samia, 4, and Laith, 2. The four of them have spent the past year in a Craftsman bungalow house in Los Angeles, near Rivera’s childhood home.
“To be honest, my husband and I were not expecting to be in Los Angeles this year,” Rivera says. “We were days away from signing a lease to another apartment in San Francisco (a painfully more expensive apartment), where we were living at the time, when I thought, ‘Why don’t we look at LA and see if we can live close to my parents for a year?’ I found this spot on the first day of searching, and we both thought it was too good to be true. I knew the place was going to work for us almost immediately — the amount of windows, the layout, and the outdoor spaces were all on our ‘How do we survive all four of us being home 24-7?’ list.”
Apartment Therapy Survey:
My Style: Modern with an affinity toward things that are Spanish-Mediterranean. I like minimalist living spaces that are warm with a lot of light.
Inspiration: Travel is really important to us, and it’s something we’ve greatly missed during the pandemic. When we travel, we try to bring something home — specifically for the home — from each place that’s really special. I also follow a number of designers and brands on Instagram for room inspiration, like @moncxiii and @jakearnold.
Favorite Element: My favorite thing about our home is how much sunlight we get, especially in the dining room in the mornings. The kids love it too, and we have a “rainbow catcher” that just delights them every day.
Biggest Challenge: The biggest challenge was knowing that we were only going to be in this home for one year, during the pandemic. I knew I couldn’t do the kinds of personal touches — fresh paint, new window treatments — that I would have done if we were staying a while longer. It was really important to me to make it as homey and as familiar as possible for all of us, especially the kids, without breaking the bank.
There’s also one structural quirk that we just never overcame: The closets upstairs are not full height due to the Craftsman bungalow roof shape. It works well in the kids’ room, but not really in ours.
Proudest DIY: The back patio! We didn’t really use it much because it’s just gravel back there. But my husband strung up lights and we got some affordable outdoor furniture, which really transformed the space. We kept telling ourselves: Why didn’t we do this sooner?
Biggest Indulgence: Our Restoration Hardware 1588 World Map, and yes, it was worth it. It’s my husband’s favorite thing that we own. And our Ratio Eight coffee maker. It’s like an automated pour-over system, which was our way of surviving without coffee shops during the pandemic.
Is there something unique about your home or the way you use it? Since we weren’t hosting any friends or family during the pandemic, and we’ve never had this much space (having lived in tiny apartments in New York City and San Francisco), we turned the fourth bedroom into a playroom for the kids. With the kids being home from pre-K, that felt like a luxury to have a place dedicated to toys… and mess.
Do you work out of your home? If so, how do you make WFH work for you? Yes, I’ve actually worked from home since 2017, so in many ways this was familiar, except I used to be alone, in a quiet house. The house came with a built-in desk in the office, which has been great since I never had a dedicated work space. My husband and I review our work schedules each morning to see who needs the office (for Zoom calls, presentations, etc.) so that we can best share the space. Since our kids are home with us full-time, it doesn’t always work out perfectly, but that’s something that’s become so normalized during the pandemic that I’ve had to embrace the interruptions.
How does your home help you feel healthy (in whatever way that means for you)? My home helps me feel healthy because of how easy it is to step outside for fresh air, or a break from work. At least once a day, I’ll take a call from the front yard, or even the back patio. The kids love being outside as often as possible, and it’s been a wonderful way to boost our mental health.
How do you use your home to help keep your family healthy? I love to cook, but I’ve cooked way more than I ever have during the pandemic. It’s become a mental escape from the seriousness of my work, and a fun way to learn new and healthy recipes to feed my family. We also do a lot of at-home workouts, which the kids have enjoyed too!
Do you have any health-focused home organization, design, or cleaning tips and tricks? Having two toddlers means we have a lot of spills, stains, and messes. The pandemic has been a great opportunity to invite the kids into the clean-up process and to focus on good hand hygiene. All four of us are allergy sufferers, so we have a few air purifiers throughout the house to help us breathe a bit better.
What are your favorite products you have bought for your home and why? Probably our CB2 leather ottoman. We used to have an industrial-style chest for our coffee table, which proved to be quite hazardous for two toddlers. When we read the reviews for this ottoman, it seemed like the majority of them were written by relieved parents of young children. It’s cute, soft, and we don’t worry about the kids bumping into hard edges in the living room anymore. And candles: Jonathan Adler, BYREDO, and diptyque are some of my favorites.
Please describe any helpful, inspiring, brilliant, or just plain useful small space maximizing and/or organizing tips you have: We’ve lived in small places our whole marriage, so we’ve picked up a few hacks, the most important being multifunctional pieces and, if you can, buying things you love, not just like. Since we move a lot, it makes packing and decisions on what to keep a lot easier and prevents us from accumulating too many things.
Finally, what’s your absolute best home secret or decorating advice? If possible, only buy things you need and love. I think it’s easy to fill your home with things that end up creating clutter and/or end up in the donation pile in between moves. Fewer, better things is my motivation for my closet and my home.
This house tour’s responses were edited for length and clarity.
Apartment Therapy’s Healthy Home Issue was written and edited independently by the Apartment Therapy editorial team and generously underwritten by Dyson.
by Furnishly | Jul 26, 2021 | Design Inspiration, Style
Name: Amilia James and her dog, Charlie
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
Size: 960 square feet
Type of home: Single-family home
Years lived in: Two, owned
Amilia James’ Knoxville, Tennessee, house (aka the Rose Door Home) has always given her positive vibes, including when she first visited it a little over two years ago. “I remember seeing my house listing in the morning while I was at work,” she recalls. “I texted my realtor, and a few hours later we were at the house. I spent about five minutes in the home before deciding to put in an offer — I just had a good feeling about it! That evening, my offer was accepted.”
Over the past 16 months, James — who is a licensed clinical social worker and professional photographer — has spent way more time in her home than she probably anticipated during that first viewing. In addition to working from the dining room, she’s used the time to dive into an assortment of colorful and functional DIY projects, from building an emerald green window seat to painting a “mini mural.”
As a therapist, James explains,”I spend most of my days sitting with other people who are struggling. It’s a real honor to get to do the work that I do, and there are times when it can feel really hard. It’s important for me to have a space that feels cozy and comforting. It’s also been so helpful to have a creative outlet through doing home projects. There are few things more satisfying than a great before and after picture and to feel the pride that I made it happen myself!”
Apartment Therapy Survey:
My Style: I’ve been inspired by 1940s home design, which is a little mid-century, a little traditional, and a little art deco. I love mixing traditional design, like wall molding, with mid-century furniture and bold wallpaper. The longer I’ve lived here, the more comfortable I’ve become taking design risks, like adding pink tile in the kitchen, painting scallops around my doorways, and building an emerald green window seat. My home is over 80 years old and definitely has its imperfections. Embracing my home’s quirks has allowed me to let go of some of my perfectionism. Things change and warp and age, and it’s absolutely OK.
Favorite Element: The first thing I noticed when I saw my home the first time was how many windows it has! The house still has the original wooden windows and so many of them. My house is light and bright year-round. My other favorite thing has to be my pink doors. Painting my doors pink was the very first project I did before I had even moved in.
Biggest Challenge: The back entryway of my home, the one I use most often, also serves as the laundry room. When I moved in, the entryway wasn’t set up for a stacking washer/dryer so I had them awkwardly side by side. There was no space to put my shoes or coat when I walked in the door, and doing laundry was not easy. I decided that I wanted a stackable unit, which required cutting a new dryer vent in the side of the house. I also wanted to increase storage, and so I built an enclosure around the washer and dryer with shelving. This was my first big build project, and I am so proud of how it turned out! The entryway is now super functional. I store my shoes, cleaning supplies, and Charlie’s supplies in baskets, which are both cute and functional.
Proudest DIY: I think I’m most proud of my laundry room custom built-in DIY. This was the first build I’d ever done, and I learned so much. I finished the laundry room right as the pandemic started, which kicked off a year of me being stuck in my house and doing every kind of DIY imaginable. I’ve built my own dining room table, built a custom window seat, painted a mini mural, added molding to the walls, installed a new bathroom vanity, and the list goes on and on. Tackling that laundry build gave me the skills and confidence I needed to dive into more DIY projects.
Biggest Indulgence: I invested quite a bit of money in my outdoor patio seating and fence. This was hands down the best money I have ever spent. During COVID, I wasn’t able to hang out with my friends inside, and we spent so many hours together on the patio with my dog, Charlie, running around in the yard. This past year was really hard on my mental health. I was living alone, isolated, and pouring a lot of emotional energy into supporting my therapy clients. Having my yard was invaluable in supporting my mental health, and I will be forever grateful for that space. This year, I’ve built several raised beds and have dreams of a luscious garden with climbing roses and cut flowers.
Do you work out of your home? If so, how do you make WFH work for you? Last March, I transitioned from working in the office to working from home in the course of one weekend! I very quickly had to set up a work space in my dining room. I ended up building myself a new dining room table, designing a gallery wall, building a window seat, and adding wallpaper. It was quite the room transformation! It ended up being a really great space to work in. I just recently transitioned back to working in the office several days a week, and I’m thinking about what changes I want to make to reclaim my home from my impromptu office setup. Life transitions can be hard, and sometimes it’s helpful to think if there’s a way to make changes in your environment that help support you as things change around you.
How does your home help you feel healthy (in whatever way that means for you)? I’m a therapist, and so I spend most of my days sitting with other people who are struggling. It’s a real honor to get to do the work that I do, and there are times when it can feel really hard. It’s important for me to have a space that feels cozy and comforting. It’s also been so helpful to have a creative outlet through doing home projects. There are few things more satisfying than a great before and after picture and to feel the pride that I made it happen myself!
How does your home help bring you joy? This past year, I haven’t been able to host many people in my home because of COVID. I am so excited to be able to host friends in my home again! It brings me joy to create a space that feels comfortable and welcoming for others. I never want my home to feel “too perfect” that other people can’t come in and make themselves comfortable. I’m also strategizing how to make my home more functional for hosting, like buying some additional seating (and plates!).
How have you set up your home for self-care? One of my greatest forms of self-care is reading, and my home is certainly set up for lots of cozy reading spots! Whether I’m curled up on the couch with Charlie, taking a bath, or in my big, comfy outdoor chair, I can escape to fictional worlds.
What are your favorite products you have bought for your home and why? I will forever be obsessed with this little Bluetooth radio. I play music all the time, and it’s just too cute! I also love the vintage pieces I have in my home. My grandparents bought me my vintage mid-century credenza the first time they came and visited me at a local shop, and I couldn’t love it more.
Please describe any helpful, inspiring, brilliant, or just plain useful small space maximizing and/or organizing tips you have: Like many old homes, my house does not have a lot of storage or closet space. I’ve learned to take advantage of vertical space for storage — for example: building shelving around the washer dryer, adding floating shelves in the kitchen and bathroom, and adding shelves in closets. I’ve also learned to take advantage of any time you can get furniture pieces that also double as storage. You wouldn’t know it, but I have an air mattress stored in my beautiful vintage credenza in my living room!
Finally, what’s your absolute best home secret or decorating advice? Do what makes you happy! We spend far too much time in our homes to not love the spaces we live in. As someone who has moved around a lot, it took a little while for my home to feel like mine. I hesitated to personalize a lot of my spaces because I was worried that I would move in a couple years. But no matter how much time I have left in this home, I will never regret the time, energy, and money I have put in to make it mine.
This house tour’s responses were edited for length and clarity.
Apartment Therapy’s Healthy Home Issue was written and edited independently by the Apartment Therapy editorial team and generously underwritten by Dyson.
