How To Design Wellness Spaces Into Your Charleston County Home

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How To Design Wellness Spaces Into Your Charleston County Home

By Katie Marie

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Our surroundings affect both our psychological and physical health. And since your home is your safe place, why not include areas that lend themselves to your well-being? Wellness architecture focuses on creating spaces in your home that make you feel better when you’re in them. 

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Design for Air Quality

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Clean air is essential to good health. Using natural materials in your design, like wood, stone, clay, and metal, is much healthier than those with dangerous chemicals. They’re also easier to clean and sanitize. Furniture, carpet and certain flooring, including vinyl, release those chemicals into the air where you and your family breathe it in. 

Another way to keep it clean inside is a fresh air intake system that pulls filtered outdoor air into the house. Typically installed in a foundation vent, the system removes ozone, pollen, mold spores, and more before they enter your home.

Include an entryway in your home design. Add a bench for guests to sit down and remove their footwear as they come in. This keeps whatever’s on the bottom of their shoes out of your home.

And don’t forget plenty of windows you can open when the outdoor air quality is good!

Fitness Areas

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What better way to stay healthy than a workout room or home gym? Include space in your design for yoga, aerobics, or weightlifting. How about a large area for a basketball court? Get creative and put in a rock-climbing wall or add ladders. Floor-to-ceiling windows with a great view will keep you coming back to the room each day. High ceilings are a must so you can jump and move freely.

Don’t forget storage space for activities that take you outside. Activities such as paddle-boarding, golf, softball, and hockey require a place to put the equipment when you aren’t using it. Incorporate large, easy access closets in your home design.

Use Natural Light

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It’s common, when designing a home, to want as much natural light as possible. Natural light can make you happier, help with better sleep, and keep depression at bay. It boosts your body’s Vitamin D storage, helping prevent heart disease and weight gain. Natural light benefits vision by causing the eye to produce dopamine — the neurotransmitter necessary for healthy eye development in children.

Huge windows and skylights let in natural light and bring energy into your home, with the added bonus of great views of nature. But placement is critical to avoid generating too much heat, glare, and other problems. Chris Rose Architects will work with you to create a design that focuses on natural light, which will look great and be functional.

Create Outdoor Spaces

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Creating the right landscape is also good for your well-being. A wellness garden provides an outdoor space for you to meditate, walk, or simply sit and reflect. Include paths, patios, and benches among the foliage. You may desire water features like a fountain or small fish pond. Whatever brings you peace of mind will fit right in.

Feature plants and flowers that are low-maintenance, leaving you more time to de-stress. Although, for some, the act of gardening is a stress reliever in itself. Native plants such as Southern magnolia, are especially good for your wellness garden since they acclimated to the region. Keep your garden natural, without the use of chemicals, and you will also be helping the environment.

Katie Marie is a writer, avid yogi, and outdoor explorer. She spends most of her time practicing meditation and wellness using organic elements within nature.

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Corten Steel Stairs being installed

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Sean Ahern of Ahern Anvil started this week installing the front entry stairs for a contemporary home we designed for a young Chicago couple at Kiawah on Sweet Spire. The stairs are made of Corten Steel wall over a concrete base. This type of steel doesn’t need painting as the steel rusts the rust provides the exterior protective “crust”. The main curved Corten steel wall was inpired by American sculptor Richard Serra who’s sculptures use curved steel walls to define space. Ahern Anvil has done an excellent job installing these. Complimenting these stairs, landscape architect JR Kramer of ReMark Studio are using curved steel as retaining walls on the site. Matt Byrd of Byrd Builder is doing a wonderful job as the general contractor on this home. They have handled these sophisticated elements with ease.

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Building Green and Sustainable Homes

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Article in Post and Courier

We are quite pleased that our LEED Platinum home designed for Indigo Park is featured in a recent article published by the Post and Courier newspaper. Nice to see they are raising awareness with smart design how we can offset the affects of global warming.

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Anniversary of Dream Home benefiting local charity

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Six years ago we designed the 2013 HGTV Dream Home.  A winner was chosen and then the developer could put the house on tour for a month and the monies earned would be given to a local charity.  Our developer, Candace Dyal of Dyal Compass, LLC chose Community in Schools.  This organization helps fund school supplies for local teachers.  These tours were very successful and raised over $180,000.ºº.   This is more than any other HGTV Dream Home up to that time.  We were so happy that so much money was raised for such a good cause.  This home was designed using sustainable and green materials and was awarded the highest green rating Platinum LEED.

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Dockside Condominium Hallway Renovations begin

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Since we are eyeing Hurricane Florence reminds us of the Hallways and Elevator Lobbies at Dockside Condominiums which were last updated after the damage of Hurricane Hugo.  Renovations have begun on the lobbies by updating all of the materials.  Raising the ceilings in the elevator lobbies with indirect uplighting and new platinum leafed light fixtures.  New porcelain ceramic floors, wainscoting and moldings will complete the design.  Construction has begun by Chastain Builders and will take around six months to complete.  #docksidecharleston #charlestonsc #Chastianconstruction #charlestoncondos #charlestonrenvoations.

HERE IS OUR RENDERING OF THE FINISHED LOBBY

DEMOLTION OF THE OLD CEILING HAS BEGUN

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Christopher Rose Architect designed home makes record sale for 2018.

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109 Flyway Oceanfront home at Kiawah that our firm renovated for a client in 2009 has recently sold for $11.1 million which is a record sale for 2018.  In our renovation we turned a stucco Georgian home into a shingle … Continue reading

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2018 Faces of Charleston Feature

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I’m quite honored to be featured as one of the 2018 Faces of Charleston in the June issue of  Charleston magazine. 

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Home at 151 High Dunes Progress

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The shingle style home we have designed for a Chicago couple is coming along nicely.  Drywall is being installed. VIEW FROM HIGH DUNES LANE VIEW TO MARSH FROM UPPER BALCONY VIEW TO MARSH FROM UPPER BALCONY VIEW OF REAR DECK … Continue reading

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Christopher Rose Architects Featured on Houzz

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Grand Lawn Coming Together

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VIEW FROM GRAND LAWN VIEW FROM UPPER DECK OF LAWN AND ATLANTIC OCEANSTEPPED GREEN RETAINING WALLRETAINING WALL DURING PLANTING Our clients the Kendall’s could have built a three story home on the ocean at Kiawah.  However, they chose to do … Continue reading

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