Design your home with wellness in mind

When some people think about wellness, they think of spa visits, mental health apps and gym memberships. But these days, many designers, architects and landscape designers are increasingly championing thoughtful designs that promote wellness and well-being.

“I think the wellness boom is a response to real, deep exhaustion,” said Page Finlay, principal designer and owner of Page Finlay Design in St. Helena. “People are recognizing that optimization culture isn’t sustainable. You can’t biohack your way out of burnout if your environment is working against you.”

Finlay, who experienced burnout herself, says that making her home a place of rest and healing “changed everything.”

Recently, she was a panelist at an afternoon salon presented by Design Bay Area, a design community platform, in partnership with Backen & Backen Architecture, a well-respected architectural firm with an office in Sausalito.

The event was held at Jack’s, a former restaurant-turned-private venue in San Francisco’s Financial District.

The discussion revolved around the concept of how thoughtful contemporary architecture can reduce stress, preserve cultural memory and create spaces that support resilience in everyday life for people.

“We spend 60% to 70% of our lives inside our homes,” said Finlay in response to questions following the panel discussion. “If that environment is designed for productivity rather than recovery, you’re essentially trying to rest in a space that’s telling your nervous system to stay activated. That’s the missing piece.”

Her definition of wellness departs sharply from the commercialization of the trend.

“Wellness, as it’s often presented, has become about addition, adding routines, products or effort,” she said. “But to me, wellness is about regulation. It’s whether our nervous systems have the space to downshift.”

Clients, she notes, rarely ask for a “wellness home.” Instead, they might say, “I can’t sleep,” “My kids are overstimulated” or “Home feels like another place to perform.”

Finlay hears something deeper.

“Those are nervous system signals,” she said. “My job is to design environments that allow the body to recognize it’s safe to rest.”

Backen & Backen Architecture’s employees have seen that shift too.

Known for projects like RH in Corte Madera, Il Fornaio and various new homes and remodels in Marin, as well as extensive work in Napa and Sonoma and beyond, Carson Howell Costa, Backen & Backen’s regenerative practices coordinator, sees the wellness and well-being trends as shifts to mitigate stress.

“Stress is now recognized as one of the leading causes of illness and disease today,” she said. “That’s why wellness has become such a huge focus for our culture.”

But she makes a distinction between wellness and well-being.

“Wellness is how you feel in your body and mind every day,” she said. “It’s your comfort, energy, clarity and ease as you move through your home. This is shaped by light, sound, air, temperature, movement and the way our daily tasks flow through this.”

On the other hand, well-being is how your life feels over time, Costa said. “It’s your ability to rest, connect, recover and grow across seasons and life. For us, a well-designed home supports both.”

Backen & Backen’s practice incorporates biophilic (introducing natural elements into built environments) and salutogenic (creating environments that promote physical and psychological health) design principles, along with a deep understanding of the individuals who will inhabit or use the designed space.

The latter results in architecture that’s rooted in lived experience rather than aesthetics alone.

“By starting with lived experience rather than assumptions, the home becomes a responsive environment,” she said. “It supports health, calm and connection over time.”

Design decisions are not neutral. They are physiological inputs.

“I find that every design decision is biological input,” Finlay said. “Our bodies are constantly scanning the environment for safety or threat.”

Harsh overhead lighting, synthetic material and reflective surfaces can keep the body in fight-or-flight mode. Natural materials, soft acoustics and layered warm lighting, however, activate what scientists call “rest and digest.”

“Design directly affects the body by shaping how we move, rest, breathe and recover throughout the day,” Costa said. “Light influences energy and sleep, sound impacts stress and focus, and air and temperature affect comfort.”

The good news is that wellness design doesn’t necessarily have to be elaborate or done all at once.

“Saunas and spas offer proven health benefits, but simple elements work too,” she said. “The first step is to notice where stress, friction or fatigue occur, then make targeted changes.”

Here are some of Costa’s suggestions:

• Increase access to daylight and fresh air

• Improve lighting quality

• Reduce noise

• Choose natural materials and toxic-free furnishings

• Create clear boundaries between work, rest and gathering

• Rethink furniture layout

• Introduce nature through views or plantings

• Improve storage to reduce visual clutter.

Finlay says homeowners can start small and offers these tips:

• “Replace bulbs with warm white bulbs of 2700 Kelvin or lower, add dimmers and layer lamps throughout evening spaces,” she said. “Avoid overhead lighting entirely after sunset. That change alone can improve a space instantly.”

• “Look at materials you interact with most, such as bedding, towels, rugs and window treatments,” she said. “Swap synthetic textiles for natural ones such as linen, wool or cotton. The body registers that shift immediately.”

• For acoustic softness, add “thicker curtains, wool rugs and upholstered pieces,” she said. “If you have hardwood floors and bare walls, your home is constantly reflecting sound back at you.”

• Create intentional pauses. “A reading chair by a window, a bench in the hallway, a corner for your morning coffee that isn’t the kitchen counter and analog spaces where tech isn’t allowed,” she said.

• Create intentional spaces. “Are morning spaces near windows? Are evening spaces designed to encourage winding down?” she asks.

For Finlay, the concept of adaptive reuse, or repurposing existing buildings rather than demolishing them, and sourcing beautiful vintage furnishings that add patina and history to a space also play a role.

“Older buildings have materiality and acoustic quality that’s hard to replicate,” Finlay said. “Solid plaster walls, real hardwood, thicker construction. They carry memory. There’s something regulating about spaces that feel like they’ve held life before you.”

The goal isn’t perfection, she said. “It’s reducing long-term nervous system load wherever you can.”

As the wellness industry continues to expand, architecture may become the most fundamental expression, where it’s not about adding another layer of optimization but a quiet recalibration of the places we inhabit every day.

In the end, the most important question may be the simplest: How do I want to feel in this space?

“If your designer isn’t asking you that question first, they’re designing for the eye, not the body,” she said.

Show off

If you have a beautiful or interesting Marin garden or a newly designed Marin home, I’d love to know about it.

Please send an email describing either one (or both), what you love most about it and a photograph or two. I will post the best ones in upcoming columns. Your name will be published, and you must be over 18 years old and a Marin resident.

PJ Bremier writes on home, garden, design and entertaining topics every Saturday. She may be contacted at P.O. Box 412, Kentfield 94914, or at pj@pjbremier.com.