Wellness

For those times when you need a little more motivation (and cash flow).

Many of us thrive on routine, but when things become too cyclical, time can feel like it's speeding up.

Crack open the cans of eggshell paint, and rev your vacuum cleaners, astral voyagers. April ignites the cosmos with a clean, clear call to action, as Aries energy urges us to refurbish, renew, and re-dedicate ourselves to our one-of-a-kind designs. This particular season comes locked and loaded with Pluto power. The lordess of the underworld, this planet’s position in April is a crushed red velvet carpet invitation to relish taking responsibility for our own existences.

Standing your ground isn’t always easy. No matter how confident you feel about something, being openly assertive with others when communicating your needs is an entirely different beast. So we called on Antonia Di Leo, licensed therapist and clinical director of Andrea Cornell Family Therapy for advice on how to be more assertive from day-to-day.

Do you feel like you can’t officially start your morning until you make your bed? Well, it turns out that there’s more anecdotal evidence that this simple task could contribute to your productivity. In a survey of 1,000 people, the company Best Mattress Brand determined how bed-making affects productivity and health.

Queue the ’90s Enigma and bust out your Swiffer duster pads, astral voyagers. March 20th’s Spring Equinox offers up a sparkly return to innocence, and an opportunity to get fresh and clean both inside and out. Ushering in the cosmic New Year, the spring equinox is a potent portal that takes us from the dark, interior wintry mix of claw-footed bathtubs and down comforters, and into the light bright of rolled-up blinds and new life emerging through the pavement cracks.

A healthy morning routine can truly set the tone for an amazing life. Starting each morning with intention and thoughtfulness can transform your relationship to the rest of your day. Morning routines have been linked to heightened productivity, lowered stress levels, and more effective time management. Sounds great right?

Here are some ways to honor the powerful silent types in your life this week—especially if that person is you.

If you thought your dried-out mascara wands weren’t good for anything but the trash can, think again. Thanks to Reddit user marilynbmonroe, the web is abuzz with a surprising—and potentially life-saving—way to repurpose your old mascara wands when you’re done with them. The Wands for Wildlife initiative is asking supporters to recycle their mascara wands to help save the lives of wild animals.

‘Tis the season for filing taxes and more importantly, receiving your tax refund. But before you go and blow it all on a trip to Tulum or a pricey pair of shoes—guilty!—you may want to consider some more productive ways to use your tax refund. We called on financial advisor Douglas A. Boneparth, CFP and President of Bone Fide Wealth for advice on how to smartly use our tax refunds, no matter how big or small the amount. But first: savings.

We’ve all been there. Whether you’ve packed up your life for a cross-country move, or you’re just on an extended business trip, sometimes you can’t help but feel a little homesick. How can you cope when you’re yearning to be home and more importantly, what do these feelings even mean? We called on clinical psychologist Joshua Klapow, Ph.D., to help us break down everything we ever wanted to know about homesickness.

Designing a cozy home isn’t just about on-point aesthetics. Have you ever thought about how your home actually makes you feel? Interior designers and therapists alike believe home design influences your well-being and emotions, and can even exacerbate your anxiety and stress levels. Whether you are facing clinical anxiety or situational stress, creating a peaceful living space is a great first step toward preventing—and managing—stressful emotions.

In between juggling film and TV roles, being a wife, mother and getting her zen on with the help of organization photos, Kristen Bell somehow managed to find time to launch a line of baby products with her husband Dax Shepard. This week, the couple announced a collection of baby goods named Hello Bello, an adorable moniker that pairs well with Kristen and Dax’s reputation for being unbelievably cute at all times. There’s even a nod to K-Bell’s favorite animal—the sloth.

We all work so hard to make our homes beautiful, relaxing spaces where we can host our friends and family. So what if I told you that by merely uttering one little word, you could derail all the positive, beautiful attributes of your home in the eyes of your guests? Please, lovelies, never say this! “Sorry about the mess.” “Sorry it’s so hot in here.” “Sorry, we’re out of milk.” Sound familiar?

Because staying focused isn't always easy.

Essential oils, which are essentially (see what we did there?) concentrated plant parts used for aromatherapy, are ultra-trendy for a reason. Not only do they smell good; essential oils can be used around the house to clean, soothe, and set the mood. Having a hard time sleeping at night? Studies show lavender might help. Tummy problems? Grab your peppermint oil. Looking for a non-toxic way to de-germ your countertops?

It starts with good intentions. How many of us have, in an effort to shake off the stress of the workday, ended up in a daze on the couch? Whether you spend your evenings bingeing on Netflix or mindlessly scrolling social media, the post-work lull can compromise productivity and, in the end, keep you from truly relaxing. So why not set your post-work self up for success? All it takes is a little intention.

If you’ve ever commuted by train, bus, or bike or regularly hike with your dogs, then this genius new hybrid to-go container will no doubt solve one of life’s pressing problems—by combining your water bottle and travel coffee mug in one. No longer do we have to literally juggle beverage containers while trying to channel an octopus, or choose between life-giving caffeine and hydration.

Everyone shows love differently. The Five Love Languages, developed by counselor and author Gary Chapman, sum up the most common ways we give and receive love. Chapman’s theory is that every person has a primary “language” for loving, which is how they naturally show their affection to the people closest to them. Curious how your roomie or partner’s love language comes out at home?

As January turns into February, it would seem that the harsh cold weather is here to stay. One day we have temperatures in the 40s, and the next, it’s a frigid 5 degrees. With these fluctuating temperatures comes dry skin and brittle, damaged hair. The winter weather can even take a toll on those who don’t color or use heat tools, or those who already have silky hair. One way to combat dryness is using a hair mask to help keep your locks hydrated.

Perfect Night In is a series where we ask actors, artists, entrepreneurs, and beyond how they’d spend the ultimate luxury—a blissful evening at home. If you watched the Golden Globes, you witnessed Darren Criss hitting a major career milestone when he won Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film, beating out big names like Hugh Grant and Benedict Cumberbatch.

It’s official: 2019 is here and it’s time to get your money right. We called on Priya Malani, co-founder of Stash Wealth, a financial planning firm for millennials, for advice on how to better handle our money in the New Year. From setting up a different savings account to signing up for automatic withdrawals, here are five money-savvy tips to jumpstart your 2019 financial goals.

We’ve seen that many travelers have been eager to indulge in the #camperlifestyle. This includes scouting the perfect sites to explore and sleep in, but most importantly, shopping around for a camper that will make for the perfect road trip. Add incredibly cute, family-friendly, and comfortable into the mix, and you’ll get the Summit: a charming teardrop trailer from Colorado Summit.

They say idle hands are the devil’s playground. Or is it an idle mind? When our twitching fingers tap from “add to bag” to “checkout” before we know what happened, it certainly feels like our good intentions of not spending money uselessly have been thwarted by a devilish boredom that whispers, pitchfork held aside, to go on ahead and just check to see if there are any good sales.

The driving force in how you decorate your home—and really just how you live in it—is dictated most often by your personality. Who you are as a person impacts what art you hang, how you set up your rooms, how often you host people, your cleaning tendencies, and how you unwind at home.

Creativity starts at home. That’s why it’s important to know what kinds of things you can do around the house to get your creative juices flowing. We called on two of our favorite creative experts: Rahti Gorfien, Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and ACCG at Creative Calling Coaching and Danielle Raine, a U.K.-based creativity coach for advice on everyday habits that can help improve our creativity from the privacy of our own place, and they had lots to share.

Budgeting is too often misunderstood. The problem: Many people look over their expenses after the money is gone. Then they get startled or—even less productively—embarrassed at how much money was spent on things like eating out or buying new clothing, and vow to cut back next month. It’s an endless cycle that does little to change your spending habits.

While my showering habits have shifted since having kids (read: I shower less), I’ve always been a morning shower-er, purely for practical reasons. My fine hair styles better when I don’t sleep on it, and the ritual of a morning shower jolts me awake and helps me mentally prepare for the day ahead. Plus, I tend to get hot at night, and I feel fresher when I rinse it all off in the A.M. But fans of night showers defend their habits for similarly practical reasons.

Your to-do list is long and your bullet journal is bursting. It seems like there’s always something you could or should be doing—but maybe that’s exactly the problem. While the pressures to be (and stay!) productive have reached an all-time high, overscheduling your free time could actually do more harm than good. Enter “Should-Less Sundays”—your new favorite weekend tradition.

I never used to spend much time thinking about aging. I’m 29 and hang out in a mostly 20- and 30- something bubble in Washington, DC. Getting older was a vague, abstract concept on a far off, distant horizon. But then I began seeking out conversations with ladies in their 50s and 60s. I had started a new job in innovation focused on women over 50, and embarked on a quest to uncover ideas by speaking with the target market.

Whether your day job involves sitting at a desk, driving to sales calls, or bent over your phone responding to emails and texts while you run around town, we all could use stretching breaks throughout the day. “Stretching is very important, but not in the way people think, says K. Aleisha Fetters, M.S., C.S.C.S. You’re not thinning out your muscles, she says.

What is it about the beginning of fall that always brings out the back-to-school spirit in us? It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since you graduated school, there’s something about September that makes us want to turn over a new leaf and be more productive. So, we get organized, set bigger goals for ourselves, and buy some super chic office supplies.

Minimalism is all the rage in decor. From Marie Kondo to the airy white images floating around Instagram, it’s hard to escape the burgeoning love for simple living. I used to joke with colleagues that soon, the new minimalist trend would be to toss out your furniture. Well friends, it’s finally happened. The furniture-free movement is the newest home decorating trend—and it’s all in the name of optimal health and minimalist living.

A morning gone wrong can make us feel like the rest of the day is doomed, a thought which might all too easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Of course, there are things like the proverbial (and actual!) spilled milk that we can’t control, but there are plenty of things we can. Setting ourselves up for success in the morning is one of them. And it starts with the last ten minutes of the night before.

Little money-saving habits don’t ever feel like they’re doing much in the moment, but in the long run they can add up to significant savings. And, no, we’re not talking about the same well-worn advice to brew your own coffee or bring your lunch to work. These are at-home habits, most of which involve a minor change in your routine and might only take a few seconds each.

Turns out that red double decker buses aren’t all hop on, hop off. Located in the village of Hartland, Devon—about a four-hour drive from London—is the Bertram’s Hotel, a bright red converted bus that provides a one-of-a-kind overnight stay.

Life can be taxing sometimes. With busy work schedules, family responsibilities, and financial obligations to worry about, staying optimistic throughout day-to-day life often feels all but impossible. But fret not my stressed out friends: There’s hope to be had. We called on life coach Annie Lin of New York Life Coaching for advice on how to keep positive in everyday life, and she had lots to share.

Have you been collecting succulents or other small plants recently? If you don’t have a garden of your own, chances are you’ve got a plethora of plants adorning your apartment. There is actually a reason you might love to have green little plants around your place. Green space is good for your mental health. According to a recent study, symptoms of depression can be reduced when people in urban areas have access to green space.

If you’ve ever done a home renovation you know what comes along with it. Gut-shredding, teeth-grinding, hair-pulling, night-terrors stress. It is an absolute wonder why any of us would ever do it again. But, maybe as is the case with other painful things like tattoos, or (I hear) childbirth, we seem to forget in our headlong rush to start that next project just how bad it can be.

Most of us take on a lot of different roles in life. You’ve got to be the housekeeper, bookkeeper, nutritionist, chef, personal shopper, stylist, events coordinator, therapist, bodyguard, CEO and assistant of You, Inc.—all the time, around the clock. Oh, and cheerleader too, if you hope to have the stamina and enthusiasm to do it all over again tomorrow.

Full disclosure: I’m the last person to give advice about not worrying. I was up half the night last night thinking about everything currently going wrong with my home renovation. Trust me, if it wasn’t that it would be something else. But look, there’s plenty of actual Bad Stuff happening out in the world—none of us need to add to that worry load. So take a look at a few things around the house that I believe we can just strike off the list.

According to the Boston University sustainability department, an average shower uses about 5 gallons of water per minute. That means if you shorten your shower by just 2 minutes each day, you can cut your water use by 10 gallons at a time. It really adds up–with major impacts to your wallet and the environment. Whatever your goal–lowering your bill or just your water usage overall–it’s quite the challenge to try and shorten your time in the shower.

Slip into your seashelled sanctuaries, star-kissed space holders. This month in the cosmos finds us craving deep emotional retreat, and learning how to live with our longings, even when they can’t immediately manifest in the external world. The Sun spends most of the month in feel-it-to-heal-it Cancer, and the sign of the crab asks us to tuck into our secret shelters and childhood hideaways, to protect our tenderness, and to lean into our loony inner lifeworlds.

It's natural for your heart to hurt on days like this, whether your father has died, or you feel disconnected or estranged from him.

Springtime relief from winter weather is often, sadly, overshadowed by the suffering that comes from seasonal allergies. But you may not be as helpless against them as you think. Here are some sneaky little mistakes you might be making that, once remedied, could help give you some much-needed relief so you can actually enjoy the flowers and warm air and bird songs. Typically, air filters should be changed every three months. However, if you have pets, you’ll need to change them more often.

If you were one of the folks—like me—hoping bullet journals would be a flash-in-the-pan lifestyle trend, I have to report that we’re wrong. Bullet journals are here to stay. Why did I write off bullet journals for so long? (Pun absolutely intended.) Well to me, they seemed like they existed as a sort of vanity project—an Instagram-worthy journal where perfect people can showcase the elements of their perfect life in perfect handwriting.

Move over, Himalayan salt lamps. There’s a new trend in town. Himalayan salt lamps, known for their orange glow and dubious air-cleansing properties, have had their time to in the spotlight, but it looks like these accent pieces are about to be dethroned by the latest addition to the well-decor scene: selenite lamps. Bonus: These new crystal-based mood boosters are already one step ahead in the looks department. Selenite lamps are made out of a naturally semi-translucent form of gypsum.

When it comes to grocery shopping and my food budget, the worst thing that can happen isn’t running out of food (although that’s pretty close) — it’s discovering that half of the precious produce I bought just two or three days ago has already gone bad. It’s no fun finding mushy apples or a wilted head of lettuce that I so carefully wrapped and stored in the crisper.

Spring is a time of renewal, so we feel like there’s no better moment than now to pick up a new habit or try out a new idea. Even better if that idea inspires some good ‘ness — you know… happiness, coziness, wellness or just all around better living at home.

Slip into some sweet silk sheets and get ready to drift away, mystic mermies. For most of this month, the Sun is in touchy-feely Pisces, and the prescription is pure surrender and shell-colored shades of allowing. Think of the possibility of simply “melting” into every area of your life. No hard focuses. No musts or shoulds. Just a sense of moving with and alongside the tidal shifts exactly as they are.

Crunching numbers quickly can give you answers to pressing real-life questions such as, "Is this shirt a good deal?" or "How much should I tip my Uber driver?"

Even if you aren’t a self-proclaimed “morning person,” creating a solid AM routine can set the tone for your day. If right now that “routine” includes 30 minutes struggling with the snooze button, followed by guzzling coffee while simultaneously blow drying your hair and responding to your email, you might be ready to switch things up. Who better to borrow some inspiration from than some of the healthiest people out there?

When we first visited illustrator Lisa Vanin’s Toronto studio apartment a couple of years ago, I was so impressed by how she made 390 square feet so livable. Cozy colors, vintage finds, a distinct living room and bedroom area—Lisa’s clearly a small home arranging wizard. But can living in such a small space be sustainable — mentally or physically — for the long haul? Can one thrive in under 400 square feet for years and years?

Did you know that you can find incredibly stylish, modern jewelry on Etsy? You can, if you just know where to look. We’ve rounded up a few of the best pieces, to save you the trouble of hunting. Any one of these would make an excellent gift for a friend or loved one, or even for yourself — we’re not telling. It’s always nice to have a few statement necklaces to reach for to add a little something else to an outfit, and this geometric piece fits the bill perfectly.

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, many people are starting to think about the things they’re thankful for. But sometimes—especially when things get stressful and you’re dealing with a major life change—it can be hard to get into the right frame of mind or even remember the things you’re grateful for.

Minimalism, in modern culture, is a word infused with so much meaning that it doesn’t seem to mean anything any more. “Minimalism” is thrown around carelessly, and often offered (in the case of a book or an article, including many you might see on this site) without enough context to understand if we’re all on the same page. And often, we aren’t. It turns out there are many different ways to practice the same underlying, abstract foundation.

As anyone who loves someone who snores can attest, getting a good night’s sleep is one of the hardest things to come by in your day-to-day life. But it’s pretty important for a happy relationship, according to a new study featured in the New York Times yesterday.

Most people — particularly those who are just starting out in their careers — find the prospect of asking for a raise daunting. Talking about money is often uncomfortable, and having to talk about yourself and why you’re worth a certain amount of moola can push the awkwardness factor off the charts. But, as one of the badass creative women we spoke to for this story pointed out, “If you don’t ask for yourself, who will?

Americans collectively spend a whopping $2.7 billion dollars every year simply replacing the items they can't find.

From fretting over which wall color to choose to wondering if you made the right decision on that couch, there are a lot of physical element decisions that go into making a home. It’s absolutely worth the time to learn about design principles, storage ideas and decor tricks — all things that will make your space so much more livable and enjoyable.

If you’re looking to lead a simpler life, reconnect with nature, maybe even snag a few backyard chickens, look no further then Instagram, where happy homesteaders share peeks of their idyllic agrarian lives with the rest of us. You can find practical advice and inspiration for making everything from clothes to kombucha, or just get lost in a sea of perfectly styled shots of adorable kiddos in rustic wool caps running wild in the woods.

I used to pride myself in being a “yes girl”. If my girlfriends invited me out for drinks, I said hell yeah even though what I really wanted to do was just spend the night reading in bed. If my boss asked if I could take on an extra assignment, I happily accepted even though I was already feeling overwhelmed. “Yes” was pretty much my automatic response to (almost) everything.

Welcome to Scandi Week—Apartment Therapy’s seven-day focus on all-things Scandinavia (often defined as the countries of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway). Sometimes it seems like the whole world is obsessed with trying to copy this corner of the globe, from its timeless style aesthetic to its now-famous coziness rituals. For the next week, we’ll take a look at all of it—cleaning, pop culture, and of course tons of eye-popping design inspiration.

Book clubs are great because they make you read more and hold you accountable for doing so (no one wants to show up to a book club meeting when they haven’t actually read the book up for discussion) and they also give you an excuse to see friends more often (and for something meaningful, too). But if you lead a busy life and don’t have time to devote to reading novels all the time, a book club can be a lot to handle on top of all your work and other activities and responsibilities.

I’ve always believed that homes need good design to support a good life, but the greatest design of all is the design of a life itself. Visiting my aunt Sheila last year in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I was stunned watching her teach for the first time and shocked to realize that in my whole life of knowing her, I’d never really known this side of her as Ms. Rozann, master ballet teacher.

So… it’s not date night and you don’t have any major plans, but that doesn’t mean you have to be relegated to a night of watching Netflix on the couch. If you and your partner are bored of the same TV routine, there are plenty of little ways to switch it up without leaving—or straying far from—home, or putting in too much effort when you’re already tired from a long day. Need some suggestions? Here are 10 you can try tonight.

I’ve never been a person who’s good at New Year’s resolutions. I’d always set my sights on a bunch of lofty aspirations and then wind up dropping off after a few months or a few weeks, never getting to exactly where I’d hoped I would by the time the next December 31st rolled around. And it always felt terrible, because I thought I was failing. In 2016, I decided to try something new.

I’ve been setting New Year’s goals and resolutions for like, forever. Every December 31, I sit down to craft a super long list of things I want to achieve in the New Year. Every year, I tick a few things off my list, which feels incredible, but the things I don’t accomplish make me feel like I didn’t do enough. (Sound familiar?) Instead, for 2017, I’m doing things a little differently—opting for New Year’s intentions instead.