September 19, 2022

Last week’s “Future of Home” conference underscored the role of wellness – not only in residential interiors, but on a personal level as it pertains to design professionals. Recognizing how the last couple years have put insanely intense pressures on practitioners, The Business of Home team created a program that was intentionally and intelligently uplifting to the design community.

BOH editors Kaitlin Petersen, Fred Nicholas and Dennis Scully moderated conversations with business coaches, entrepreneurs, authors and others that addressed the various forces that impact designers’ emotional fitness. From coping with financial and staffing challenges to responsibly using technology in a human-centric way to embracing the role of trust in working relationships, the programming offered designers implementable strategies for managing stress in ways that benefit themselves, their businesses and their clients.

Several exhibitors, too, zeroed in on health. The Wellness Lounge (above) was curated by Well-Designed, a trade organization that aims to facilitate wellness-centric learning experiences through industry-supported events and workshops. Well-Designed co-founders DeAndre DeVane and Caleb Anderson, who designed the space to be at once serene and stimulating, partnered with Benjamin Moore, Crypton, Kravet and Kohler on the installation at the Future of Home conference. “We’re offering tools and resources that are specifically tailored to the architecture and design community,” said Anderson. “When we prioritize our mental health, it creates a domino effect that elevates the industry as a whole.”

A development that holds particular interest for kitchen designers was the preview of Polished (dot) com. Launching in the next few months, the platform aims to streamline the selection process for purchasing kitchen appliances and provide concierge-level support to the design trade, from product selection to white-glove, scheduled delivery, install and haul-away services. A “Love-It-or-Return-It’ 30-day policy and trade discounts will also be offered. Brands currently on board include Forté, GE Café and Viking. As the parent company of Appliances Connection, Polished had broad exposure to the residential renovation boom of the pandemic years, and is now looking to aggregate that experience on its platform.