Stronger
Hello my fancy friends, thank you so much for tuning in. I never thought I would be saying this, but I'd love to work out. I am so all about loving my body for exactly what it is today, and believe me it does not align with conventional beauty standards. But I do happen to have the exact same figure that my grandmother had at my age, and that makes me feel connected to her every single day. So I look at exercise an opportunity to care for the body as it is, to take care of muscles, maintain flexibility and range of mobility, and to just connect with how I’m feeling on any given day.
It hasn't always been that way. When I created a dedicated space for movement in my home, I was able to implement some really important design factors that make it feel extra lovely to move my body, that's when I really became a fan of working out.
My goals with exercise have changed and evolved over the course of my life. I used to be all about going to the gym. There are so many cool class types, great music, people watching, and the locker rooms can make you feel like you did a quick trip to a spa. But I never felt 100% comfortable there, I tend to really get distracted by comparing myself to other people, and it’s really not the right environment for me.
But I still like the ambiance of a cool fitness center. The space I’m using to stretch and build my body is special and, dare I say sacred. In my work as an interior designer, I've worked on a few fitness class rooms and gyms in my career, and the tips I'm going to give you today can be applied to everything from a dedicated home gym to the corner of your bedroom that you use for stretching. And if you are a gym goer, you can use these tips the next time you’re checking out a new studio facility to see if it hits the mark. If you implement these tips, any space can be transformed from a room you see every day to a stylish boutique body celebration.
But first let’s talk about the color of the week! The long awaited third studio album from heartthrob Harry Styles, called Harry’s House, has finally been released and it’s a lot of fun. There are definitely a handful of songs on there that I think are really great for movement and energizing, particularly the first few tracks. The album art is a surreal photograph of Harry standing on the ceiling in an upside down room in what we can assume is his living room. The room itself is pretty minimal and empty, with a dominant warm, off white color on the walls, carpet, and ceiling. That’s why Sherwin Williams SW6105 Divine White is our color of the week. This is paired this with a deep camel colored sofa, a lemon yellow ceramic table lamp, matching cream colored lounge chair, a black side table, lots of silver accents, and a vase of pink roses. This is a fantastic color scheme, and if I was decorating Harry’s House, I would let those colors pop a little bit more by incorporating them into the carpet or maybe even using the camel as an accent wall behind the sofa for a little bit of depth and dimension. Bringing that yellow into the curtains in front of the window would help balance out the whole room. But overall it's a very fresh and modern color scheme that would look good in anyone's house.
There are so many different aesthetics and vibes that you could assign to your workout space or your workout room in your home, but the principles we are going to go over can apply to any general aesthetic. So we're talking about if you want to have a very calming natural feel, or a high energy sporty vibe, or a dark and moody aesthetic. That's all frosting on the cake. The building blocks we’re reviewing, are things that you need to pay attention to you to make sure that your home exercise room feels and functions its best.
The very first thing that you want to think about is any equipment you need to accommodate. I know people love their exercise bikes, for a long time elliptical machines were everything, and some of us just use bodyweight resistance or simple hand weight. It's important to consider if you are going to have a major piece of equipment, like a weight machine, if this is something you want to be able to move or store away. This may look like having a dedicated closet, or if that's not available consider bringing in a storage piece such as a low credenza or a more hefty piece like a wardrobe or armoire. This will be one of the very few pieces of furniture in your space. The goal is to leave lots of open room for either movement or larger pieces of equipment, so you want this storage piece to be something you love to look at. That may mean you get some thing really cool from a vintage furniture store or maybe you rehab an older piece and paint it a color that energizes you. This piece can double as a counter space if you choose to go with a low credenza, which is great for adding more atmospheric elements that we will talk about at the end.
If you're dealing with limited space, you want to match that with limited equipment. So maybe a few hand-weights, a work out mat of some kind, but nothing that can’t be easily tucked away. If you don't have a dedicated exercise room, that means you're using an area of your home - so you're working out in the dining room, bedroom, living room, whatever - you really want to focus on a minimal footprint or something that can easily be stored away.
If you do have a dedicated space, then by all means fill it with whatever equipment is going to support you the most in your workouts. The one thing to keep in mind with larger pieces of equipment is the weight. These can get pretty heavy, and so you need to understand any structural implications this may have on your home. You can and should ask a structural engineer for a consultation if you’re bringing in major weight lifting equipment or anything heavier than 30 lbs per square foot. If you are in an apartment situation, consider your neighbors below. Tread mills or dumbbells that get dropped can create lots of noise can ultimately disrupt your workout time if your neighbors complain.
Now if you have a dedicated space for your home gym and you are taking the time to renovate, consider the flooring. There are so many incredible flooring products that are especially meant for gyms; from very thick rubber to thinner imitation wood products that will not only protect the sub flooring below but also hide scuff marks, and give you the best grip to prevent slips and falls. If you have existing flooring you have to keep, you can consider getting some durable and slip resistant area rugs like the ones that Chilewich makes. This is a floor covering that is woven out of a plant-based polymer yarn. It comes in lots of colors and patterns and looks a little bit like woven linen, but it’s vacuumable and wipeable. You can also go for a truly natural look with a sisal area rug, but keep in mind you’ll need to put an additional work out mat on top of this material as it can be a little rough to the touch.
Next, you’ll want think about lighting. If you have huge windows with a great view, of course, that's always ideal. But many times home gyms get shooed into the less exciting parts of our homes, so you'll need to create an interesting, dynamic, and most importantly flexible lighting scheme. This is comprised of multiple sources of light, ideally all on dimmers. If you're renovating, an indirect light cove in the ceiling is a great move for a home gym. This provides enough ambient light to keep the space bright and clear, but prevent any light fixtures from shining directly in your eyes. In a gym we tend to find ourselves facing directions we might not normally be in other rooms like laying on the floor so, having strong overhead lights shining directly in your eyes while you're in a supine twist is not necessarily the experience we're going for. An easy DIY solution is using wall-mounted battery operated lights, like the ones from Wood Venture, Nanoleaf, or of course Ikea always has a product like this. You can even find wall lights that have apps or remote controls that will let you change the color of the light to anything in the rainbow to really set a mood.
So the idea with having multiple, dimmable light sources, you control how light or dark the space is depending on how you like to work out or what mood you're in that day. For years, having full bright lights was the thing to do in a work out space. It's safe and logical, but when cult favorite SoulCycle opened, their popular studios specifically put riders in the dark. Lowering the lights during class allowed spinners to focus more on themselves instead of what was going on around them, and feel less inhibited. Some even said it allowed them to push harder in their workouts or experience catharsis. And who doesn't love when you're cooling down after a long work out to dim the lights and let yourself truly relax after a good sweat. But of course this technique is not for everyone and therefore we have the ability to turn the lights all the way up if needed.
Speaking of getting distracted by what's going on inside the room, a tried and true tradition in workout rooms is to have floor to ceiling mirrors. This conjures up visions of classical ballet studios and aerobics. If you're super focused on the form of your exercises having a mirror be immensely helpful. But, if the idea of watching yourself as you work out gives you the ick, by all means keep a mirror free space. Everything that goes into the room needs to make you feel good about moving your body, and there are no rules about what that entails. Alternatives to a mirror on the wall include a bright colored accent wall or a cool graphic wall paper. You can even add in some of your favorite pieces of artwork if they help you feel good.
Okay, so the last thing we're gonna talk about is a few decorating ideas to really pump up the ambience. Having a great set of speakers in your space will allow you to put on music that makes you feel motivated to move. That might be anything from Soul to Binaural Beats. That credenza I mentioned early is a great place for speakers, or you can mount the around the room for a more immersive experience. You can also consider giving yourself a hydration station at the storage credenza. Pick out a beautiful tray, a set of matching glasses, and a beautiful bottle to keep cold water or something with electrolytes to really boost that feeling of luxury. You should also consider the olfactory in a space like this. The air that we breathe is super important in a workout space as our heart rate increases and we often take deeper breaths. This can be a great room to add an electronic air filter, sometimes these can also double as fans, which is really nice. Or you can bring in some kind of light scent diffuser or even a candle.
The nice thing about working out is at home is that you don't have to share a locker room, however that doesn't mean you have to skip out on the great products and the spa-like experience. Consider having cleansers and soaps that you use only after you work out. This can help the process feel like a special ritual and give you something of a treat to look forward to afterwards, that's a little bit different than your regular routine. Bringing in some aromatherapy can really help you relax after all the hard work you put in.
Whether you love to work up a sweat to simply to stretch and feel good, creating a space that supports your movement can make all the difference, and have you looking forward to work out time. I hope you have a great day and I will talk to you in the next episode.
