The Future Of Home Series: Volume 1 - The Healthy Home

We’re starting a new series this month that focuses on “The Future Of Home”. So many of us are spending more time at home, and if you are like me, you have pinpointed a few things you would like to change. And I believe that with the events of 2020, we’re going to see a lot of shifts in how we design our homes, live in our homes and work in our homes.

Photo courtesy of restechtoday.com/delos-darwin/

A large part of our business is working with clients who are building custom homes. It’s important for us to act as an integral member of the team from the very beginning of your project. Our work is not done in a bubble where we only focus on the finishes and furnishings. We really do take a whole home approach and work with your architect, your builder, your home AV and Technology specialist to help you build a home that not only looks great, but functions well for you and helps you to live your best life. We travel to conferences and trade shows throughout the world to learn more about the latest technological advances and product innovations that we can introduce you to in the building process. We want to be able to bring those discoveries and trends to you so that you can plan for the future of your own home.

June is national Healthy Home Month, and the perfect time to focus on making our homes our sanctuary.  Let me suggest that starting by making your home a HEALTHY haven is the best thing you can do for your physical and mental well-being. Locally, in Richmond, we work closely with Inaray, our techonology integrator who work with us and our clients to design appropriate lighting systems for your home, AV and home entertainment systems, as well as security and sound systems. Inaray owner, Todd Peace, recently introduced me to the DARWIN™ system from Delos. Let’s examine each pillar, and how the DARWIN™ system works to maximize each one in your home. Check out this extremely informative video and beautiful home designed by Jan Vitrofsky, owner of HedSouth, where he incorporated the Delos DARWIN™ system.

Water

Access to clean drinking and bathing water is a privilege that we should never take for granted, and one that everyone should enjoy. We work with builders in the design phase to install the latest filtration technology. DARWIN™ Water Filtration helps improve your home’s water quality by filtering out impurities and improving taste. Cleaner filtered water also reduces scale deposits in your pipes saving you costly repairs in the future.

Air

Breathe deeply, and easily with state of the art air filtration systems. Now, more than ever, we are spending time indoors during the day as many have transitioned to home offices. Installing a whole home air filtration system ensures that the air you and your family are breathing is free from pollution such as toxins, harmful chemicals and pathogens. Clearly the need for this has never been more evident. Check out the system from DARWIN™ and how it shows you the air quality throughout your entire home so that you can identify trouble spots.

Light

Lighting plays an incredible role in our everyday health and wellness. For the past few years, experts have warned us about the effect of blue light from all of our devices. That’s because our bodies have a natural circadian rhythm. Light quality and temperature throughout the day can really impact that rhythm. The DARWIN™ platform integrates with systems that provide this type of Circadian lighting, such as Lutron owned Ketra. I saw an in person display of Ketra last year with the folks from Inaray and it was highly impressive. These types of lighting systems mimic nature’s light patterns which help to improve hormone balance, appetite, sleep, energy and productivity. Check out this demonstration of Ketra at work.

Comfort

The DARWIN™ platform includes a “Dawn Simulation” function which provides a uniquely calibrated lighting sequence that mimics the rising sun. This is definitely a more peaceful way to start your day than a blaring alarm. The platform also helps to minimize light pollution and disturbances at night to promote better sleep. What contributes to more comfort in your day than a peaceful beginning and end to that day?

As the 4th pillar of wellness in your home, “comfort” is where we get to play the biggest role. Anybody can jump online and find a “pretty” sofa or chair to order from some website for a good price. But how do you know whether that sofa is going to be comfortable when it arrives, let along when you’ve had it for a year? Our society has become a bit of a throw-away society, but I hope that recent events will help us return to the days where we valued locally sourced and American made quality, instead of cheap imports. I sure hope that we can become less dependent on roll of the dice importers. We travel to furniture markets throughout the country and we have taken a lot of time to educate ourselves on the quality of the furniture that we source for our clients. We’ve done several in depth factory tours to watch the furniture being made so that we know how each upholstery company makes their frames and how their cushions sit. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all of the products and companies that we take the time to learn about and truly get to know. Don’t even get me started talking about plumbing fixtures or appliances!

So if you’re considering building a home, consider addressing these four pillars of wellness so that your home can provide you with a more comfortable and healthier haven! And if you want some help along the way, give us a call. We would love to work with you and introduce you to some other great technologies and products that can help make your home a bastion of wellness. In the meantime, stay safe and stay healthy everyone!