My Healthy Home: A Fitness Pro’s Sun-Drenched Brownstone

Name: Bianca Jade
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Size: 2,813 sqft
Type of home: Brownstone
Years lived in: 1 year, renting

Whether she’s reporting on the latest fitness trends, sharing skincare secrets, or posting pics of her amazing nail art, wellness expert and TV host Bianca Jade is always on the move. So she needs her Brooklyn home — a gorgeously restored brownstone full of natural light and warm wood details — to be a place of calm and relaxation.

“This is where I unplug,” Bianca says. “Home should be like a vacation. A real estate agent once told me that and at first, it didn’t make sense, but now I totally get it.”

If home should be like a vacation, then Bianca’s is like a serene spa getaway in the middle of the city. A devotee of routine, she designed her home to serve her many self-care rituals. The spacious living room isn’t too cluttered, so she can easily do yoga or shoot videos and photographs for her business, Mizzfit. She stores fresh fruits and vegetables on the counter of her light-filled kitchen so she’s inspired to prepare them daily. And to create her stress-free bedroom sanctuary, she made sure to position her bed — piled high with pillows — in a spot where it would receive the most morning light. She also decorated her bedroom with a light touch, so that it feels restful, not busy.

Bianca’s healthy home is made even healthier with strategically placed Dyson air purifiers. Their latest purifiers are re-engineered to deliver 50-percent cleaner air (compared to their first purifier, TP01), and they’re fully sealed to trap pollutants inside. So whether Bianca is doing yoga in her living room or having a soak in her stunning clawfoot tub, she knows that her home is as committed to wellness as she is.

Bianca worked hard to make her home a place that supports her daily routines and rituals. “Home feeds your soul in so many ways. It takes a lot of work to create that foundation that fully supports you. I give anyone a lot of credit who has the time and vision to do it.”

My style: It’s a clean, classic home that has a transitional modern country home vibe and a bit of shaker minimalism to it.

My inspiration: My friends. I’m blessed with friends who have amazing style and work in the interior decorating and renovation industries. Many of my friends are artists too! They completely renovated and styled their homes with a beautiful modern aesthetic and filled them with art. I’ve tried to incorporate what I’ve learned from them, and how they pick and place furniture, or combine different textures to create a truly aspirational home environment that’s artistic but also comfortable.

Favorite element: High ceilings. High ceilings make me feel like I’m in a very important place. They make a space feel larger and more prominent. I’ve always lived in apartments and homes with super high ceilings. It’s a non-negotiable for me.

Biggest challenge: Putting in air conditioning. There’s no central air. It’s an old house. It can get really hot and stuffy.

Biggest indulgence: My dog. Bringing a pet into your home changes a lot of things, especially if you let them on the furniture and let them sleep in your bed like I do. Frida is allowed everywhere. She completes this home and fills it with love, comfort, barking when friends arrive, and lots of cuteness when she races up the stairs or runs around the living room. When you spend a lot of money on your home, you think twice about getting a pet. But this place wouldn’t be home without her.

Most unique part: The outdoor space is special and doesn’t feel cramped or much like a city to me. I love that it reminds me of my family house. You can eat and drink wine outside with the door open to the kitchen, making it easy to grab more wine or go for another helping of food. In so many NYC apartments, you have to go through a compact space just to get to the kitchen, or the navigation is totally non-sensical. Everything in this home just flows. Back home in Missouri, I can look out onto our backyard from the kitchen, and that’s what I love about this home too.

Favorite products: I love the sliding wooden doors in my bedroom and the old wooden drawer vanities. It brings a very earthy feeling to my space, and I like the contrast of mixing new and old together. The soaking tub is also one of my favorite things in my home. I’m big on bath time!

Best decorating secret: Less is always more. Acrylic trays bring order to your clutter. Who knew grouping your essentials could look so fancy? You can find trays throughout my home.

How I feel healthy at home: I feel serene, carefree, and like I can shut the craziness and noise of the city out. I love everything the city offers, but living in the city means knowing how to unplug from it, too.

How I work from home: I take my office to a room that’s not my bedroom. I make sure I have all the essentials on my desk and that they stay there and don’t travel anywhere else. Work needs to be in a room that’s meant for just that. I go into this room with a certain energy, and I also leave it there. I’m definitely a Type-A person, so I bring a lot of intense energy to my work ethic that I don’t necessarily want in other parts of my home. I need lots of light because I’m either on the computer or shooting/creating content. I need peace and quiet. And somewhere for my dog to be close by.

Why wellness at home matters: Home is where all the good stuff is supposed to happen: the delicious meals, the long phone calls, the first snow of winter, the fun nights of toasting with your girlfriends. And it’s where you’re safe and can be the most in your element. So creating a supportive environment that’s a means to express yourself but also a place to hang up your hat, well, that’s what I call wellness.

Thanks, Bianca!