“This Interior Designer Says Your Home Is Controlling Your Life! Here’s How”

This is iDesignLab, a podcast where creativity and curiosity meet style and design. Curator of interiors, furnishings, and lifestyles. Hosted by Tiffany Woolley, an interior designer and a style enthusiast, along with her serial entrepreneur husband Scott. iDesignLab is your ultimate design podcast where we explore the rich and vibrant world of design and its constant evolution in style and trends. Today, we're joined by Gala Magrinha, an award-winning holistic interior designer and thought leader who's redefining how we think about our spaces. As the founder of Gala Magrinha Design and host of Going Beyond Spaces, she blends design, wellness, and ancient practices like feng shui to create environments that support clarity, confidence, and overall well-being. Gala believes our spaces don't just reflect who we are, they actively shape who we become. Welcome to the iDesignLab podcast. Today, we are joined in studio by Gala Magrinha, who is a fellow podcast host, but also interior designer who specializes in the holistic and wellness field. So, we are so excited to have you in Florida as you come from New York. Thank you. And you're going to tell us and introduce to the iDesignLab listeners, tell us about yourself. Okay, thank you for having me. This is a great studio. I'm excited to be here. So, not a traditional interior designer via design school at all. I actually went to school for film and television. So, when I get to do things like this, it's like a full circle moment. I came in through fashion being a window dresser. That's a fun job. I know. That's a great job. I mean, such, I love. Great job. And it was when I was in college, like for film and TV. Where was college? So, UCLA, and then I finished at NYU Film. Okay, got some in LA. Yeah. And I needed to work while I was in college. And so, I was a terrible salesperson, and then I saw somebody one day, like, decorating a display case, and I was like, what do you do? And he was like, I do visual merchandising. And I said, well, what's that? I mean, he goes, I make the store look pretty. And I said, that I can do. That's like a prop person in the movie business. Yes, exactly. Yeah. So, I started doing windows and stuff like that. And then, typical, you start growing a career that you didn't ask to grow in. So, my mind, I was doing all this freelance work on films and stuff like that. I wanted to be a director. I was working art department at the same time. And I just kept getting promoted in this Italian fashion company. And eventually, I was US Creative Services Manager. Wow. Designing stores, designing their events, designing their showrooms. So, that's really branding as well. Exactly. Yeah. Wow. And I was there for 12 years. And then, you reach a point where you're like, I've learned everything I can learn. And I was like, all right, let me go out on my own. And I opened up a design and production agency. And we actually did a little bit of everything. So, event design, store design, window design. Is this in Los Angeles? In back in New York. Back in New York. So, you're back in New York. Yeah. In the city or? In the city. Okay. And we had clients everywhere because it was marketing and events and everything. So, I traveled a lot to Los Angeles. We did events everywhere. And then, what happened was, is life kind of guides you to where you need to be. Yes, it does when you're open. That's right. And in tune, we would do somebody's pop-up. And then, they'd say, hey, our pop-up came out so good. Can you design what we look like if we were a retail store? So, when you say pop-up, a pop-up store, some merchandise or retail. Exactly. Yeah. Or, you know, you did our fashion showroom. Can you do my apartment in Tribeca? Sure. It really crossover like that. That's it. And then, it was doing a bunch of those compared to producing, let's just say, live events for Harper's Bazaar, which is like high stress. And this sort of spiritual journey I went on where I learned meditation. I went to India. I started sort of practicing life in a more holistic fashion. Did you go to India for that reason? For meditation. Really? What brought you or thought or made you go that way? I've always been curious, a seeker kind of. And I was reading Buddhism books at like 18. Unbelievable. And you know, you just get this itch for something. You feel like life isn't, there's more to life than how you're living it. Yeah, absolutely. And I followed that. And I had always been curious about meditation, but it had never clicked for me. And I found this mantra based meditation. Which is, you know, you close your eyes and they give you a mantra and you repeat it, repeat it, repeat it. And it kind of like tricks the brain into going to a place of no thought. And I sort of… To relax yourself? Yeah. Center. I had this experience of no thought for the first time ever. That's pretty interesting. You really get in touch with like your true being in a sense by doing that. And so then I remember producing like one of our biggest events. Like we projected onto the Empire State Building. There was helicopters. There was, Kendall Jenner was right next to me. And I remember pulling off this feet and going to the back of house and being like, what am I doing with my life? This is just not aligned anymore. Oh, wow. And doing these interiors and creative spaces for people to live and work in is so much more fulfilling. It is. And so we just, I started putting all our marketing dollars and really going after that I worked with a coach in 2018 because running an event business and a creative agency is not the same as an interior. Totally. That's a big kind of risk making a change like that. And you know, I always say the universe whispers before it screams and before it drags you. So it was whispering. I was paying attention. Yeah. The money was so good doing some of these other things that I couldn't fully say no to it, right? Right. And one has to offset the other kind of thing probably. Right. Yeah. And then 2020 happened. Right. COVID. It changed so many people's lives. Isn't it crazy? It really did. It was a good reset. Yeah. For the world if you opened up to it that way. Exactly. It really was. And I said, well, you know, events aren't happening now. And that was like a big driver of this. And everybody's home. And everybody's home. So what are you going to do Gala? So I closed M Crown Productions and I officially launched Gala Magrina Design. And then that coincided with about 2018. I had gotten all these certifications and holistic design and Feng Shui in well, certified in well. I did Parsons Healthy Materials. And then I began studying for Vastu, which is like an ancient Indian architecture sort of thing. And it all came full circle. And then it was like, okay, well, I'm doing, you know, residential and commercial interior design, but with this sort of holistic wellness twist. Because that's what I think sort of, I've always felt how much our spaces affect us. And I think that it can leverage so many other things for them to support us in a much deeper way than they are. So you're switching from events to basically residential and commercial interior design. You know, that alone is a big jump in risk and chance in doing so and great entrepreneurial aspect. But I think about what and how you're doing it from an holistic approach and so forth. I got involved with Tiffany with her interior design, I don't know, three or four years ago. Well, kind of COVID. COVID, yeah. Everybody has a COVID story. It feels like it was three or four years ago. I've already watched her for years and listening to her, getting clients, finding clients, clients coming to her. But you're going after or you're focused on a very unique sort of base of clients. Are there that many people out there looking for those types of services or understanding? So now it's coming. Now it's coming. When you say now, what do you mean by now? Well, so you're seeing a lot more. So let's just talk about wellness. And central, you know, people, every podcast I listen to almost has some sort of comes back to wellness, mental health, cleanse. Like whether it be cleanse your home, cleanse your body, you're on a cleanse. Like they're all intertwined. I think sense that it would come. But you're decorating and designing people's homes and commercial properties with a sense of this isn't just about the place looking nice. It's about how it feels when you walk in and when you sit in the room, which I think is fascinating. Oh, yeah. I mean, I'd like for us to learn more about how do we sell? How do we present something like that? Sure, because we met some, we did a podcast a few weeks ago with someone that does similar. Okay. And afterwards I went home and I said to Tiffany, a living room where our kids practice and have all their instruments. Like I said, I don't feel good about this room. There you go. And Tiffany said to me, what are you talking about the room? I said, well, the first thing is that couch. Yeah. I said the couch feels too like, I don't know. It's like, where's on me? It's like too heavy. It's like too big. And I said, I think it affects me on how I feel about this room because when I go out into our family room. And you walk through it every day. Yeah. That's what I call energy drains. Correct. They are. Right. And I started to realize and then I said, how do we, so tell us more about this. Energy drains. That's, I want to, yeah. Yeah. So where, where to begin? Let's see what. Because before you start, I just want to say that most everyone spends so much time in their home. 90% of their time is in this. And I don't think people ever really think about it, but if you, for every person listening to this podcast, when they go home tonight or they're in the house and they stop listening, they should kind of reassess how they feel about. Yes. Well, and how does that process get recognized? Like, well, how do they get to you and then your, where does your focus take the project? Sure. Sure. So, so there's a couple of things. So the first thing that I want to say is like spaces have a tremendous impact on us. Right. The Global Wellness Institute has this quote that's actually got me started on this journey. So let's start with that. And that is that our studies show that our homes, communities and environments directly affect our daily motivations, behaviors and lifestyle. And those in turn determine 80 to 90% of our health outcomes. Well, if you think about history. Yeah. I mean, that's how everybody evolved was through these little communities and communes and everybody helped each other and they grew things and everybody had a role. Yes. And their role was facilitated and made important. Gathering, like absolutely. And so, you know, great modernization happened. We now have buildings with HVAC and, you know, all these wonderful things that we lost an aspect of it. So, you know, I'm going to give just basic examples that listeners can connect with. Okay. As a designer working with an architect, let's just say I'm designing an office space and it's a creative agency. If I raise the ceilings and do taller ceilings, that influences big picture and creative thinking. Right. I agree with you on that. If I lower them, it's for very focused sort of task work precision. Oh, so good. Yeah. Right? Makes sense. One example. Sure. If I do bright colors, reds, yellows, oranges, I am going to energize the room. Maybe I don't want to do that in a dining room where there's alcohol and in-laws. Right? Yeah. Or in a bedroom. Or what do we see the most? We see children's kids' rooms, kids that have the most energy. I have a four-year-old. And we fill them with bright colors and bright things. And calming colors in a calming palette actually soothes and brings the energy down. So the color that I paint a room can affect how people subtly feel in that room. I'll give you a third example. Angles versus curves. So angles, right? We grew up when, like if you go back to caveman times, we grew up in nature and connected to nature. Right? Angles in nature represent danger. So think of thorns and crits. Right? It activates the, I think it's the amygdala, the fear center in our brain, and it's like, you know, watch out, right? So subtle spikes in cortisol, probably. That we're not even, you know, tuned into. Curves is associated with the feminine. It's round. It's soft. It's inviting. It's soft. Yeah. The shapes of the furniture that I use are subtly affecting how you feel. Now I've just named three separate things. Right. And they're all so intentional. There's so many more. And when I combine them together, it's like interior design on steroids. It really is. It's like totally a different perspective. It takes into that intentionality to the nth degree. And to your point, now everybody's so focused on wellness and they're talking about sleep and diet and exercise. But in that conversation, they're not talking about interiors or architecture. So most of your clients who are coming to you have this philosophy or they're coming to you for the design. For the education of it. Or they're coming for interior design and you're bringing them to another level of how to really enjoy their home. So I would say when I first started, let's not count 2020, 2021, it was a lot of educating and people just wanted cool, nice stuff. Because we have a cool aesthetic, right? I would say in the last two years, I'm seeking you out because I love the way you're talking about interior design. And I want to know more. And I'm really connecting with, we have a methodology with 12 different points. Somebody might say, I have an autoimmune disease and I really love that you're into healthy materials. Or another person is like, I have anxiety and I love that you're designing for to help with that. So that's what I'm saying. We're beginning to see it. The wellness industry, I think is one of the fastest growing industries right now. And wellness real estate within all of the categories is one of the biggest growing. So I feel like I'm an early adopter, but I'm in a good place right now, whereas people are becoming more aware, we're well positioned in that market. So some of the things that you just said about how a person, they may have anxiety or whatever. Are you like being their shrink when you first met them? I feel like that's a little bit of part of the job too. Part of the design. But to learn a little bit more about them and how you can help them. That's a great question. So I tell clients that our design kickoff meeting is going to be part creative brainstorm session. So yes, I want to hear if you like wallpaper, what colors you like the typical questions related to design. We established the design direction. I had hero images. And then I'm like, this is the first date, but only I'm getting to know you well. And I'm going to ask you, you know, I send a questionnaire ahead of time. You do. Because some people come to us, they know what they've signed up for. But I'm asking questions of like, did you feel safe in your childhood home? You know, how did it, you know, do you suffer from anxiety? You know, what do you want more of in your life? What do you want the next 10 years to look like? I'm not asking typical, like, what color questions, you know what I mean? So I'm, I really want to get, I want to see things in them that they don't even see for themselves so that then I can design in a way that's almost like a giant surprise for them and that, that helps elevate them in a sense, you know, in one aspect of their life. Would I like everything you're saying just resonates so much with me. Do you ever have like difficulty delivering when it's like, can you fit it in this time frame and this type of, but like, yes, like how does all that correlate in? Absolutely. So budget, you know, it's probably very similar to how you establish your budgets. Like, that's what vendors I use. You know, yeah, I'll be like, hey, what furniture do you have now? You know, what are we incorporating? Exactly. I kind of roughly know the price per square footage and I know the amount, what the clay costs that I need to work with at this point because I've done enough projects. I think one aspect of what you really, what you said is really important and that's the time. So we have a process and we need to abide by that process because that allows for discovery, reflection, you know, I'm thinking about your project when I'm in the shower. Right. Some of my best ideas come after I meditate. I think they do. To do that. Yeah, you do. When you rush it and so much about our modern society is about speed. That's what I asked the question for because it's something that I feel like. You lose something. Yeah. And I understand that you may want to get in to throw your Christmas party. Right. But I'm doing a disservice to you. If I say yes to that. I know. Because I'm going to go to the easiest selection and I'm not going to take the time to really sort of breathe you in and breathe the project and let it marinate and let things develop. Now that said, I came from a live events background. We are very process oriented and very efficient and I always say the journey needs to be as beautiful for you as the final product. So I balance those two. But like if a client's like I want, you know, by this day, I say no to that. And I also learned by fire so many times I've said yes, because we needed the project. I needed to pay the bills. Like let's get real too. How do you manage that? And it bit me in the butt. It just bit me in the butt. So we don't do that anymore. And if I say to a client, you know what? I'm going to do you a disservice. If I agree to your timeline, they usually get it. They usually understand it. I like that. I need to tackle that a little bit better. It's hard. It is hard. You have to pay the bills and you need the income. And the process does take time. And as you said, you're thinking of it when you're in the shower. You think of it when you're like, I can't put an hourly time on this. This isn't an evolution. It's a growth. I'm taking you in on the weekends. It's so true. Yeah. It is 100% true. So we discussed like a little bit of the psychology and how and how things can be calm versus chaotic. Is that like one of the more important aspects of the wellness? Yeah. It's ident well, because the world's crazy. Yeah, totally. It's moving at light fast speed. I think most people probably... It's noisy, I say too. Like we're taking in so... Yeah, so much stimuli. And I think people are operating, you know, before stress served us very well. Let's go back to caveman times, right? You saw a tiger, your cortisol level spiked. It gave you the ability to focus, to maybe run faster, get away from the danger. But I feel like now a lot of us are in that constant state of stress and survival, right? And we've normalized that. And it's not normal. And so I do think that home now has to be many different things. And one of them is sanctuary, this place of refuge, not just shelter, but a place that can sort of hold you and reset you to get you back into the world better. I think a well-designed holistic home can do that. And when you're saying well-designed and holistic, it's like I'm thinking too, like just when you're in your own home and things need taking care of and tending to, I mean, those can be things that are annoying and put you on edge. Like how? A thousand percent. That's like the chaos, right? And like that crack on the wall that I see every morning when I walk in my door and I go, oh, I got to do something about that. And I start my day off thinking I'm less than because I have not tackled that in three months. That's an energy drain. At the most basic level, let's talk about like everything sort of functioning and being repaired and everything like that, that that can be an energy drain in and of itself. Totally. And I feel like we talked for a second when we first met coming in that I'm like, people don't realize what they get comfortable with. And you obviously, I tell my kids all the time, get uncomfortable with being uncomfortable with being uncomfortable. Because that's where the growth happens. And we do part of our job is to create beautiful spaces and pretty pictures. There's a lot of uncomfortable moments to get to that, a beauty. A thousand percent. So. A thousand percent. And I think too, I want to go back to this point about how we get comfortable in our spaces. So one of the beautiful things about us as humans is that we adapt, right? We're built to sort of adapt. And I think a lot of the times if you're in a space that you're unhappy with, whether it's for economic reasons or because you, you know, many people feel overwhelmed. I don't know how to paint. I don't know what to do. So let me just inherit, you know, my family's furniture. And even though I hate it, at least I have something, right? And you know, in Central Park or the horse carriages, how they put the blinders on the horses so they can't see. I feel like this starts to happen a lot when we walk into our office spaces, our homes day after day, after day, after day. And at the same time, the environment is still having an impact on us. And so I think if you can, you know, go like this, one of the tips that I tell people is if you've been away from your office or your home, like on holiday or whatever, and you've been like a week out of it, when you walk back into the space, I want you to ask, I want you to look around and A, like be like, how do I feel in here? Does anything bother me? What would I change if I had all the money in the world? Yeah. And that can give you a pretty good clue, like if that space is a reflection of you, if it's supporting you or if it's draining you. Do you think everybody has something to complain about their space for? Not, I don't think so. I think if it's been two things, I think one, if you're visually and creatively inclined and you're able to put a room together, I have friends that aren't designers per se, but they can put a room together nicely and it feels harmonious to them and they're in touch with themselves. So they're choosing things that spark joy. That like, it doesn't have to be so intellectual, like what sparks joy for you, you know? And then, yes, it kind of has to go to the same party or design style or it can look kind of crazy, but like very simple things of, you know, what sparks joy. And then we know that bringing like plants in and biophilic elements boosts your mood and lowers your cortisol. We know that natural light boosts mood. So say, you know, a home of a non-designer that has those three elements, that's already going to feel good. Do you know what I mean? But I would say to your point, that's probably a minor percentage of the population, because I think the majority get overwhelmed. They want a beautiful space. They want a space that supports them. But they're like, oh, my God, I love all these things, but when they put them together, they don't look good. Well, I say that all the time. You know what I mean? You can love a lot of things, but it doesn't mean they're all going to work together. And I think that's really where people get stuck and overwhelmed. Yeah. Yeah. So how do you work with like a new client and you go to their house for the first or second time and you realize, okay, there's a number of things that people want to keep, but you realize that it doesn't work. Yeah. Or it's probably draining. It's probably how do you. So I tread lightly because I want to honor, you know, they might have sentimental value or, you know, whatever. I tread lightly. You know, there are some designers that are a quick hard hand and there are some that are just a soft guide. I'm definitely a soft guide because I acknowledge that people are emotionally attached to their spaces. And when we get into them, even though they've hired and they've paid us, there can still be some barriers that go up. I'm sure you felt that before. Oh, for sure. And so I tread lightly and I just invite. I say, you know, these, what helps me a lot actually is choosing what I call hero images for a project. So me and the client walk out of that first meeting with five to 10 images that's going to guide the design. So anytime we, they deviate from that, for instance, if they want to keep these two arm chairs because they love them, past offsets, I'll show them, hey, this is, this is where we're going. And does that look like this goes to this? Right. And they answer their own question. No, it doesn't. Okay. Let's say goodbye. Let's say thank you. Let's say goodbye. Let's donate it because I'm all about sustainability and that, that saying that one person's garbage might be another person's treasure. Let's thank it. Let's send it along and let's get something that supports the version of you that is here right now and where you want to go in the next five to 10 years because the space has to evolve with the person too. Well, if you think about it, like when I was mentioning a few weeks ago when we went home and I didn't like the couch and whatnot and I said to Tiffany, I said, there's a whole bunch of stuff here that if we put it in a box and put it in the garage or put it down to the curb, I wouldn't even care. It would probably make me happier because this would be maybe less, I don't know if it's less cluttered or just feel like, or feel like there's more room. I get to breathe. Yes. The air is better. It's how simple is that? I know. Yeah. I know. How simple. And it's because, you know, you had those blinders on, you had that conversation, you walked in with the blinders off and you were really able to, in that second, tune in to like, okay, how is this really making me feel? You know? So these feelings and the emotions to deal with interior design, how do you interject them in a design intent aesthetic? Like, you know, there was a time, I'm using this, like especially in South Florida, in like the late 90s, everything was like over the top Mediterranean, super dark colors, lots of gold and fake stone, you know, it was kind of like over the top. And we're like trying to, like I always say, I'm trying to like declutter, de-gloop, you know, everything. And then there was also another time where like, I don't know, sometime in the early 2000s that some of these architects just started putting angles in the craziest places and these bedrooms have like nine angles. I said, I feel like all I'm doing is cleaning things up, just squaring things up again. And then again, now we're in this, you know, my kids call them microwave houses where they're just boxes, all white walls, super clean, which there's an appreciation for, but I also feel it's very sterile. There's not a lot of life there, you know, and windows in very stark angle. Like, it's so how can we or how it's the process of translating all that into such, you know, like architectural digest worthy homes. Or where you can breathe, where you feel. I think, yeah, I think, you know, for me, like, I think we have to look at how we've defined luxury interior design in the past. Like when I think of luxury interior design, I think of massive homes, lots of ornate details, sort of materiality for the sake of almost showing off. Of course. You know what I mean? I think artista. Yeah. Very curated. Yes. Like museum. Like, right. And yes, and but I think if we evolve from there, all, you know, let me just walk you through, let's put it into like really simple terms of like what luxury feels like to me and what that could look like. I think a home that is not too big and not too small, where every single room is being used, because I've worked with clients that have these massive homes and you walk by these rooms that nobody's been in for a year and you can feel the energy in there is off. Yeah. That's an energy drain in your home. I don't care if it's a $20 million home, that's an energy drain in your home. Yeah. Right. And a resource stream. And if you think about it, so I think a home that's not too big and not too small, I think a home that reflects who you are and not necessarily that you're trying to show off for whoever comes over. I think there's a lot of that in luxury interior design. And so then it's not a reflection of self, you're doing it for somebody else, if you think about it. Three, access lots of natural light. I would probably throw in some hunter-douglas blinds that are automated so that every window, like it goes up and you get, you know, if you're in a home with a lot of windows, a lot of the times you can't get to opening the blinds, so it ends up being dark all day. So, electric. So waking up to those automated blinds, I would put in a circadian lighting system that's changing color temperature with the sun throughout the day so that my circadian rhythms, I'm perfectly in tune with the sun and it's talking to my body. Wait, so explain that a little bit more. So circadian, so the sun. You're changing like the Kelvin? Yes. So what happens, like when we draw the sun as little kids, we draw it as this like yellow thing. Right. But actually, as the sun rises, it has a hue, and it is color temperature, so it's more of like a pinkish-orange-ish. Right. And then around 10 a.m., it's like this bluish light. Yeah, you're right. And then in the evening, it goes down. Never even ever thought of that. So the yellowish pinkish in the morning and at the end of the day is connected, sort of tells our body and our hormones and our circadian system to sort of get sleepy, calm down. And then when it goes to blue light at around 10 a.m. until like 3 p.m., that's our active, productive state, and that blue light sort of wakes you up until it comes back down again. So it goes to like a bright, bright. Bright, it's a blue. It's a blue. It's like when you use, I think, like 4,000 or 5,000. You do that like in a laundry room because you want to be, you know. So the sun is doing that throughout the day, and that is connected. We take that in, and it's signaling to our bodies, right? So if I'm indoors, if I could have a circadian lighting system, even... That's luxury. That's luxury to me, right? Because it's a health thing, as is the natural light. Then I'm going to put in the best air, right? Because we also know good oxygen can also wake you. And then you consider like the best air. Wake you or bring you down. I am not an engineer, but like an HVAC system that is either new or been cleaned after construction. Let's start there. Yeah. With filters and exactly. Yes, like sort of top of the line. Very boring stuff, right? We have a house right now that the client wants it in all of their ACOs. We're putting that in. Yeah. And then I'm going to probably do some furniture. If I'm going to think about what rooms I want to be active in and what rooms I want to be calming in. And I'm going to design for that. So I'll probably do some sharper angles, some brighter colors and maybe a gym or a work from home space. But I'm going to make sure that my bedroom, things are rounded. There's a lot of textures. The beauty of this circadian lighting system from Lutron is that at the end of the day, it starts bringing the lights down to a dimming thing to sort of make you sleepy in the evening. And it kind of puts you into a good sleep mode. So it's affecting your sleep, right? That's taking lighting to a whole other level. Oh yeah. It's a bit. We could do that. We use Lutron, but we have settings. Yes. So similar. When we have guests and friends and stuff. We don't do it on a daily basis. Well, not on a daily basis. But when we have friends or we entertain or people coming over, we got a setting in the house and it changes the light in all of the rooms. And it's a mood and it's a vibe. Right? Like put a movie on or watch a TV. We hit the. Yeah. And I am a big lighting person, but I've never like broken it down in my mind that way. No, we're very much into the lighting. Well, and what you're creating to there is variable lighting, which we talk a lot about in interior design. And if you think about it in that's replicating nature. Nature does not have overhead recessed lights with the same color temperature that doesn't change throughout the day. Like you walk outside, there's light being filtered through a tree. The sun is going in and out of the clouds. Like, you know what I mean? So you're recreating that in the home. And a lot of what I'm talking about is you're really kind of like indoors, but you're kind of recreating what nature does naturally. And that's like what I talk about. Like this disconnection. You know, I mean, we just suggest Saturday we had people over for dinner at Bellevue and the backyard. How our pool, you know, turn the light on the pool because it's LED. We can all different colors. But depending on what we're doing, we have a nice dinner party. So I put on like an aqua blue. Like, yes. But if we're like, you know, pool party or something, I'm putting on like a red or a yellow. Right. Yeah. I put the colors on based on what's going on. Instinctively. That's the thing. We're all, this is all, this is all inside of us. Yeah. Somebody's just breaking it down. I'm just breaking it down and it almost like it's a remembering of going back. And it changes the vibe and the feeling and totally. Yeah. So I know you have your podcast going beyond spaces. Is it driven towards kind of teaching these practices and giving people tools to implement them? Yes. It's that it's breaking down like the 12 different steps in my methodology, but it's also having guests on to, you know, like talk about classical Feng Shui versus modern Feng Shui. When I was in the, I have another Feng Shui question. Okay. Yeah. Okay. No, yeah. Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean by classical? That's what I mean. Like it's not a one size fits all. No. And, and, you know. What is the difference? Like. So the thing is with these ancient practices like Feng Shui and Vastu. If you are practicing them in the true, true traditional form, A, I think it's impossible to do that because it happened so long ago that every time you pass on knowledge, it gets diluted. It's like the game that you teach the kindergarteners, telephone, like, I know. So I like to start there because some people like write or die by Feng Shui. And I'm like, well, let's really talk about the fact that like, what, what have you learned and what have you received of a knowledge that happened 6,000 years ago first, you know? Like, so I'm a bit of a purist. Secondly, I do think though that one way to look at it is some of the best aspects of these ancient practices do survive and sort of get passed on and everything. So if you look at some of these classical practices, Feng Shui and Vastu, which predates Feng Shui, it's very much connected to sort of the land, what's around it, the energy of the land, what directions we're facing. Yeah, that was so important. The measurements of things and the qualities they bring in. You're bringing up the land and stuff. I just have to say that there's a new television series it's on. It's called The Madison. Okay. You should watch it. Okay. It's a teleshire and show. We've been like addicted to it. Okay. Kurt Russell and Michelle Pfeiffer. Okay. And what is it? It's so magnificently shot and done, but it's all about connection, the connection of us and where we are. And Kurt Russell played, you know, a wealthy couple in New York. Manhattan. Oh my gosh, that's a meet. Yeah. But his life is about Montana. And the two. And the energy that when he goes. He had like a ranch that he built with his brother and he would go like twice a year for two weeks. To hang out with his brother. Okay. And she never went and then he died. Well, I don't know if we're going to, but. And then she goes and starts to experience. She goes and realizes. I have like goosebumps talking about it. It's what this is all about. It's just, it's so well done, but everything you're saying, anyone who, you go watch that series, you're going to feel like, oh my God, how important it is. Yes. Where we are. What's how we, what we breathe and what we're seeing. Yes. What we're touching. We didn't even get into healthy materials as a tourist luxury and a healthy home. It's, it's true. It is true. And, and that series is a great kind of a segue because we do so much for wellness and what we take, what we eat. It's so mind blowing that we're having that we're just starting to tackle the home because you people who are like, oh, that sofa is like $12,000, but it's like they'll go buy a handbag or a pair of shoes, you know, right? That's in the 10th of that. So it's so mind blowing to me that something, it's almost like we're left to reeducate or to. That's our job. Yeah. And, and, you know, going back, we were talking a little bit about like interior design school and all of that, like a lot of this isn't even being taught there. And that's what's so mind blowing to me. Like, don't you think approaching interior design in this way elevates what we do so much more? Absolutely. So why isn't everybody looking at it and being trained this way and educated this way in it? I feel it's like almost like I said earlier, how do we're trying to figure out how do we bring this into our business? Yes. Yeah. Because it's so important. You're designing people's homes and how happy they are, but putting more emphasis into, you know, the holistic and how it feels. Yeah. Versus just how it looks. That's the surface. That's important. There's something called neuroesthetics. We know that beauty and art. And we want to live in beautifully curated spaces, you know, like something is more intentional. And like you just said too, the luxury. I mean, the show happens to have one of the most magnificent apartments that's like, you know, highlighted there in Manhattan. So it's very well appointed and detailed and textures and stuff like that. But I feel like we need to be putting that on the forefront of luxury, but it has to have purpose. It has to have, yeah, this intention. That's what I'm saying. You can be intentional and it can still be beautiful. You can still spend, you know, a million on a piece of art. If that art sparks joy or it reminds you of something or, you know, and you put it in your foyer where you're going to see it every day and it does like that. You know what? Fantastic. You know, you've just elevated that. It's not only beautiful, but it's serving a purpose that's going to make you better or, you know, help you feel more positive, whatever it may be. Right. Versus putting it just where it might look good. Whatever. Irvine, because your collector said, well, this artist is going to be famous in 10 years. Yeah. Well, worse than that, which I see is clients say to Tiffany, just pick me up five or six pieces you think that look great in the house. And I say to, I hear that and I say to her like later that evening or whatever, like, I don't understand that person that you're picking up five or six pieces of art for them. They don't really care. What? Which is hanging in their house. They're going to look at it every day for probably as long as they live in this house. And for me, I look at everything as in our house. There's a meaning behind everything. Like we bought that piece because of this reason. Yeah. Or we were on vacation and it reminds me of when we were all together. Or I lived in the street vendor. Yes. Yes. I don't think so. So true. That can have more value than a Picasso. It's so true. It's your version of that. Exactly. Yeah. So you touched a little bit on the feng shui and I'm not familiar with Vastu. Okay. So and you say that's predates feng shui. Is it a different area? So it's India. Okay. And feng shui is China. China. Exactly. I didn't finish the modern versus classical feng shui, but that was really just about how things have dropped off and now it's practiced like in a more modern way that really, in a lot of ways has nothing to do how it traditionally was, you know, with compass, with directions and all of that. And so I always like to say when I say, oh, I'm certified in feng shui, I like to clarify that it's modern feng shui, you know, and to honor that I'm not practicing it classically. And unfortunately, I only had this realization after the fact. And so could I go back and do I have the time to go back? I will go back and study the more classical form. And Vastu is what made me realize that. Where do you learn? There's there's teacher, no, there's teachers online, you know, online live courses. There's teachers in New York all over the place. If you're your show notes, I can put recommendations of where all these certifications are, if that's helpful for you, people can find it. But bot bot to answer your question, Vastu was really a practice. This is really cool. It's kind of out there. So let's go on a journey to create temples in India. And the idea was if structural temples or like temples and body temples to go in and worship at right. And the idea was if you chose the proper land, if it was oriented in the proper direction, if it had these special measurements, Ayati measurements, if certain functions, well, that's when it transferred to home. So it started with temples, but now I'm going to move to them, they started realizing, okay, we can build homes like this. It started with their concept of how the physical world came to be. So how energy turned into matter. Some people will call it the big boom. Some people, you know, that are religious will say that the world came about in a different way, but essentially the moment that energy turns into matter and organisms start to build and then the world starts to build and all of that. So essentially it's taking that process and building a home in a very similar manner. And the idea is that then when you're inside of this temple or these walls and you've enclosed energy in a certain intentional way, it resonates with the divine and therefore you benefit from that because you're inside a structure that's doing that. So that's Vastu. And I think to practice it in a true, true way, I don't know if that can be done in modern society. Well, now I was just going to ask that too, because I feel through history, you do like an architectural, you do realize people, well, if they're in line with a lot of these philosophies, they did create cities with those intentions. They create, I mean, throughout history, we definitely have lost that in our more mass consumption world. 1000% and when you think of developers putting 30 condos up on this strip next to the highway, it's the last thing. Yeah, they're not considered. It's cheap land, it's cheap materials, it's how fast can I get this up? That housing is going to have a different feel and vibration than something that's been thoughtfully. Yeah, it's like a sicker society, honestly. Do you know? A lot. We know someone who built the house with all that thought. And the whole thing, huge home created on the ocean. Every aspect of it was built about... With ancient practices. Oh, yeah, it was actually, he actually had, he brought 200 Balinese craftsmen. Carvings, wow. When the house was hand carved, it was made with no nails, no screws, it was all tongue and groove. I don't know why. Have you been in the home? Yeah. How did it feel? Very... I mean, it was a little over the top. The house had, I forget how many, it was like six million hand carved shingles out of this wood. And the shingles were like this big. But it was all tongue and groove, the entire house. The bedrooms had... What were they called? Those like day beds. They were like a... The Maharaj. Oh, yes. Like a bed inside of the room. So it was a little over the top. Opium-dense type. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got inside and you closed the doors and the bed. I think one of the other things I talk about a lot and sort of one of the tenets in my methodology is this less is more. So go back to what you just said about choosing a piece of art from a street vendor, but maybe it was on vacation with your family. Yeah. For me, all of that or nateness and everything, I can revel in it. I like to look at it and appreciate it. But that's not to me what holds me and supports me in my home. And so for me, less is more is like being really intentional about the things that are important to you. So for me, it would be like that natural lighting, soft textures, round curves, a lot of plants. And art that sparks joy and that has memories to me. Certain colors. And so it's not this sort of, I don't know, maybe you would say it's like extravagant, but to me, they feel like very simple, but like meaningful, intentional things for me. That's what makes me feel rich. I love that. You know? And it's less is more. But it's good, like the yummy things, what I really love. Yeah. If that makes sense. Totally. And maybe this person really loved Balinese wood structures and that's what sparked joy for them. Which is true. And I'm sure it did at that time and during that process. Yeah, there were a lot of unique things. And I wish I even in the experience of going to the house, thought of how it made me feel, honestly. Like even just approaching these projects, like with a feeling versus such a design. It's such a simple question that people can just start asking themselves, how does this office make me feel? How does this home make me feel? How does my mother-in-law's home make me feel? I don't hear clients ever ask these questions. No, to her point, it's our job as designers to educate so much of the conversation too, even around sustainability and healthy materials is like, it's our job to know this. If it's hard for us to wrap our heads around it, imagine our clients. We really have to educate and be the guides if we want to change this industry and sort of elevate what we're doing. With purpose and intention besides just the pretty. And I've had a few conversations in the last few weeks that I feel like with possible clients and clients that I've realized the shift coming through these conversations. So I really appreciate that you have this opportunity to talk to us and our audience. Share these principles. So you practice them mainly in your own business. And then you also share online and through your podcast. So where can people hear your podcast? Thank you. Yes, it's Going Beyond Spaces with Gala. Season three will come out this year. Oh, that's so cool. I just do it like an audio documentary because it's too much pressure to do it like once a month. And so it's like five or six episodes. They get dropped at once. So you can binge listen. And then kind of how your podcast is by calling it Going Beyond Spaces. I can kind of like expand what I talk about. So one of my best friends is like a holistic coach. And I had her on to talk about ways in which interior designers might trigger their clients without knowing it. So it helps designers kind of go deeper in how they work and how they live. And she came up with like six different ways. And it's just mind blowing to me. So it's also trying to help interior designers kind of slow down and go a little deeper. Because I think when you can slow down and go deeper in yourself, then you can also practice in this way because it requires a little more thought and intention and slowing down. And the faster we go, the more disconnected we are. Well, and it is a business of details. It is. And those devils in those details. Exactly. I mean, it's so finite. Exactly. You know, exactly. Do you go to Highpoint? I do. To Market? Yes. Have you ever thought of looking into being like a keynote speaker, talking about the subject matter for? I have. I think it would be. Can you talk to them? Because I had a meeting with the person that books the keynote speakers. Really interesting. He said to me, well, typically it's a celebrity that does that. And I said, okay. But this year, there's somebody, I think this guy's name is Mike from Science and Design is actually going to talk and have a big talk there. So I'm hoping that's going to lead the way because I do a lot of public speaking. You do a lot of, not necessarily, I don't know for sure, but if I'm saying this right, collaborating is huge. But I know you go to a lot of events regarding the industry itself. Very involved. And I've done public speak talks for business. Do other vendors, like companies, ever even think of doing like Hunter Douglas, for example, or Benjamin Moore? I mean, adding this philosophy. I've done talks with Benjamin Moore. I've done talks for a lot of brands and stuff like that. And everybody's very into it. And afterwards, interior designers come up to me and be like, it's like I turned a switch on that was already there. Like, oh my God, I love this. They would be great by Benjamin Moore or Sherman Williams from a color standpoint, to talking about colors and how color can. Because I've been using a lot of Faroan ball paint, which are like, they definitely, the colors are have this less intensity. I can't explain it. And there is a level of just calm that brings, that bring, even though it's a bright color, even with the way the, it's truly the pigment or whatever. I'm like, who knew? Like, I've recently gotten into Portola paints, the Roman Clay finish. I have all there. That's a vibe too. Like I'm like bedroom, meditation room, like everything in Roman clay. But yeah, are their names. Portola paints is yeah, that's the brand. Portola. But do the names resonate with? He's thinking the name of the color. I don't know if I don't think so. No, no. Also paint, like paint colors, I feel like somebody just like smoked weed and like starting like, they're so funny. I could do a whole meme about it. We could. Oh my God, that's so funny. Because I have people who'll be like, well, I like the name of that. So we'll paint it that color. Like, no, that's not. It's also the most bizarre names ever. And then, you know, the other thing, I love, I personally love Benjamin, Benjamin more because of all their colors, but I love that they have a low VOC paint and Echo's back and Regal. But there's this other brand, they don't have that many colors or finishes, but it is the healthiest paint on the market. It does like, it like ends up purifying the air. And it's called Alchemist and that's A-L-K-E-M-I-S. So check them out. That's really like for, it's the only paint on the market that they can say no VOC, which is. Because it's like anything in the every industry, like even now, like the makeup, everybody's wanting the pure. Exactly. You know, everything's like, now we're going to, dilute it all back to. So you just mentioned air, which is something we really haven't spoken about. So going into a home or going into a business and Tiffany's into this, how the air feels and smells. Yes, yes, yes. How important is that? And it's up there with light. Absolutely. And it's boring, but it's up there. What do you think of all those companies doing those air conditioning, like attachment systems that put the smell into the home? So that would be considered a toxin. Right. That would be a toxin. Yep. Consider a toxin. Toxin. Because it's a scent. You know, bad. Yes, I would think. You know, it's a scent. So if I had an air monitor and I was monitoring that air, you would probably see spikes in probably VO, VO, I imagine VOCs, right? So from a feng shui or holistic perspective. It's really not a great. No. And is there a way to do something like that in a holistic way? So like if you're in- Because I have a client who won't even burn candles. And they're technically right. You know what I mean? Because that's creating CO2. Yeah, yeah. That we breathe. Yeah, that we breathe in. Just natural flowers. Right. Everything just go back to nature. Eucalyptus branches. Eucalyptus at the bottom of your shower. Yeah, we've done that. It's really simple. Yeah. You know, but we are so disconnected that it's like eating healthy. Eating healthy if you break it down is really simple. But it's hard to do to get in that time to go to the farmer's market and get the ingredients. Yeah. You know what I mean? Because we move in a quick world. So true. It's slowing down is such a big part of it. Yeah. To doing life better. Right. And this is just another aspect to doing life better. Yes, exactly. It's doing it in your life. What advice would you give to a person that's about to start interior decorating? Okay. But before they start, how to think about the house or what they can do right now to their house? To make. So I think the first would be that simple assessment. Like go away, come back, take the blinders off, ask yourself, how does it feel? You know, what do I like? What do I not? Let's do it today. No, no. Well, if you think about it, we just, we were away. We went away a couple of weeks ago. We were gone for two weeks to London. And we came back, came back to the office. Yeah. The office. And I said to her, this place is a crap house. There you go. You didn't say that coming in today. Well, because it's a behind the scene. Well, they had a couple of vendors come in, they were cleaning out all the different, you know, the library and the fabric books and stuff. Yeah. And it wasn't, I like everything pull forward and pristine and nice and neat. I understand that. And the carpet things, well, you know, it's like today it's kind of like, I come in and like, I don't feel like like settled. Well, so I think, you know, that test, I would say the biggest culprit that people deal with and that bogs them down would probably be clutter to your point. And the easiest way to tackle that is to start small, like a closet in a small room. And I think people knowing that clutter is not only physical belongings, but it's tied to like it emotionally can sort of hold you down. And it can take up space where new opportunities can arrive. So I think, yeah, they even have studies like working in a cluttered environment, what it does to your brain. So I think if people can connect, okay, if I take an afternoon, instead of going to the beach, I'm going to clear out this closet, which sounds really boring, but it has all of these benefits. And I'm not going to stop until I finish this one project, because people get overwhelmed. And then they like do a little here and a little there, a little there. And then they look back and you don't see a change. But if you can finish one closet, the beauty of it is a, as you're working, your mind is focused. So you stop thinking about your problems. That's like one benefit. Yeah. The second one, you're like actualizing a space so it better supports you, you're getting rid of things. Using positive. Exactly. And creating space for new things to come into your life. And then third, when you're finished, you get to look at it and you go, I did that today. That's where people can start. Yeah. Clutter is the biggest. I always had a philosophy and businessmen in my production company touch a piece of paper once and don't touch it again. So you get that paper, whatever it is, do it and throw it. No, get rid of it. Whatever it needs to be done, get it done. Because I would go around people's offices and if they have same piles of crap or you know, they haven't gotten anything done, right? I would commit with the garbage pile and I would just become more lists on top lists. You didn't do it for a reason. Wherever else it would have been like crossed off. And I think this also goes back to like less is more, you know, we're in a society that consumes a lot. There's a lot of consumption. When you're feeling down, it's very easy to go out and go shopping. We've all done that before. Yeah. Little retail therapy. But then those things just end up, you know, taking up space or, you know, like weighing us down. And so truly, I think another aspect of luxury is living with less, but like really intentional. And that's a hard thing to do. Even like I that know so much about this, even I'm trying to do that like on a bad day, like not go shopping, you know, to like get rid of something instead. So it's hard. It's hard when society is showing you a different picture, you know, that we're fighting again. So you're based in New York, your business. Do you do business outside of New York? Do you travel around the country or with clients? That event background essentially allowed us to like operate anywhere. Amazing. Right now, the majority of our clients are in the tri-state area. But I would, you know, love to do a project in Miami or Florida. Right. So for someone who is looking to reach out to you after hearing about you and hearing you, how it's the best way for someone to reach out to you. Yeah. So our website, galamagreenadesign.com on Instagram at galamagreenadesign. And if you want to listen a little bit more on my podcast, it's Going Beyond Spaces with Gala. Well, thank you so much. What a fun conversation today. Thank you guys. This has been so interesting. You guys had some great questions and I appreciate it. I can keep going and pick your way. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for being here. Thank you for having me.