Have you noticed how many busy bees there seem to be swarming throughout the Interior Design market? It seems our stay-at-home Covid cabin fever has grown a colony of suppliers each individually showcasing their own perspective within the Wellness Design beehive. While that is all good, it seems more difficult to find an accurate description and a complete set of guidelines and even a Google search results in more noise and confusion.  

It would appear that Wellness Design is commonly referenced as design for Spa’s and health areas for relaxation, with lots of biophilia, natural materials and circadian lighting. But surely there is a far bigger pot of honey out there!  

As a naturally environment-sensitive person I have alwaysfelt the need for 'feelgood’ environments and always arranged my own spaces to my own comfort needs. Even while staying at hotels, visiting restaurants or Spa’s, I have always instinctively chosen the place without that annoying AC streaming directly onto my face, or moved away from noisy loudspeakers or water features, and preferred sitting with a view to the door, and away from too much light glare or busy areas.  

Unfortunately, I always had to make compromises as those ‘perfect’ places are hard to find, and I concluded this might just be my very personal ‘mania’! But when I then came across Feng Shui for the first time, my instinct for positive environments suddenly made sense and I knew I was onto something.  

There are rules out there for creating positive spaces, but it seems no one has ever put them together from the myriad of various sourcesand perspectives, especially when it comes to incorporating the ancient wisdom from imperial China.  

It was then when I learned that ‘energy’ is far more than ‘power supply’ or ancient myth, but also science based, in that we are all surrounded by energy and instinctively seek out positive energy! Add-in the environmental radiation caused by the Earth’s natural geopathic energies and more importantly the energy we absorb from today’s technology overload, and we start to understand the challenge. So, I knew it was my ‘calling’ to create a balanced guide and put my perception for these energies into a tangible, measurable and replicable‘model’.   

Fast forward a couple of decades and my passion for ‘feelgood’spaces has resulted in the Second Nature© model, a 360-degree catalogue of criteria applicable to all spaces, be it homes, hospitality or commercial offices. Through combining Eastern Feng Shui techniques, Western Design principles &  Global Wellness standards, the result is an all-encompassing approach to designing ‘feelgood’ spaces that address our modern-day lifestyle with all our human senses. 

I too am one of the busy bees with my personal collection of industry criteria accumulated over many years of travelling, visiting, and working with hospitality, retail and office environments, but also listening to and gaining feedback from my clients. 

So maybe I have coincidentally created a guideline for Wellness Design even before this became a ‘thing’ in the industry and I have now the answer ready for those who to have a desire to benefit from positive spaces, and are seeking that golden handbook?  

For now, I am happy to taste the sweet success of my clients’ positive experiences as they implement the Second Nature© model into their hotels, offices or homes: their spaces now feel ‘right’ …just like second nature.  

Your Queen bee 😉