Latest / Chatting with The Experts with Paula Okonneh / Creating Comfortable & Safe Living Spaces

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Creating Comfortable & Safe Living Spaces · Chatting with The Experts with Paula Okonneh

• 0:00
  Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Chatting with the Experts
• 0:04
  TV show, where I, Paula Okonneh, the host, bring to you women from Africa,
• 0:10
  from the Caribbean, or in the diaspora, who share with you messages that bowl
• 0:18
  me over, and I know will bowl you over.
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  The mission of this show is to inspire, to educate and empower women globally.
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  And I always have women who are successful business owners or professionals
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  to come walk this journey with me.
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  The title of today's show is Functional and Livable Homes.
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  And my guests is Monique Holland, who is the CEO and principal
• 0:47
  designer of Holland Custom Designs.
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  I'll tell you a bit about her.
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  Monique left the corporate world and launched her own interior design firm
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  after working several years in various real estate investment trust companies.
• 1:05
  Her vision and design aesthetics coupled with her professional, I
• 1:11
  can't speak today, professional and streamlined approach is what keeps
• 1:15
  clients coming back year after year.
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  She holds a degree in business administration from Strayer College and
• 1:23
  she is ASID certified in Biophilic Design and health and wellness in the home.
• 1:30
  And she's also CAPS certified.
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  I always have so many things to say about my guests because their
• 1:37
  bios are so impressive, but what I love doing is inviting them to
• 1:41
  talk a bit more about themselves.
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  So with that, I want to welcome Monique Holland.
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  Hi Monique.
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  Hi, how are you?
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  I'm awesome.
• 1:52
  I know I didn't say enough about you because your bio is so impressive.
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  So are there any gaps that you need to fill in for you?
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  I mean, no, I mean, I would say that I had a successful corporate career.
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  However I've always been an artist and ever since I was a little kid and creative
• 2:12
  at heart and that continued to gnaw at me throughout my career and during the
• 2:18
  latter part of my career, I continue to take continuing education courses
• 2:22
  and design to get to where I am now.
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  Awesome.
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  Awesome.
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  So I've known Monique for about five years.
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  Yeah.
• 2:30
  Coming up five years and talk about being a phenomenal interior designer.
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  She designed what you're seeing behind me.
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  So I'm not just talking because I like what she does but
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  I've experienced her myself.
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  So today we're going to be talking about interior design, and this
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  is going to include components of biophilic design and health and
• 2:52
  wellness in the home, as well as aging in place and what it really means.
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  That sounds like a mouthful, but I'm speaking with Monique off camera,
• 3:03
  she's so passionate about this.
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  So Monique, tell us more about this.
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  So, you know, we do full service interior design already, which is what we've been
• 3:12
  doing since I opened the company in 2018.
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  In 2020, we included and incorporated into our regular design services
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  offering the biophilic design and health and wellness in the home.
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  That was just an additional service that we could provide to our clients
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  on how to bring nature in to their homes with, you know, through lighting,
• 3:34
  natural elements to you know, create the kind of environment that they want.
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  Because studies have shown that bringing nature into spaces you know, helps
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  our overall well being and how we, you know, generally feel about ourselves.
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  So we've already been providing recommendations and suggestions to
• 3:53
  clients since 2020 on biophilic design and health and wellness in the home.
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  And now we have added in 2025 our CAPS certification.
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  So what is CAPS?
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  And I think this falls in line with, you know, my mission for
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  just, I mean, interior design is about helping people, right?
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  And so there's multiple ways in which you can help people make their homes, the
• 4:17
  spaces that they want to, you know, be in.
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  And so what CAPS is, is a certified agent in place.
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  Now, when most people hear that, they think about elders.
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  They think about, you know, ramps and and stair climbers and things for their home.
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  When actually CAPS is really about safety, accessibility, comfort, and convenience.
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  And all of us are aging in place, whether you're kids or adults.
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  It could be sensory issues.
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  Something affecting your eyes, your ears, your taste, smell.
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  It could also be cognitive issues.
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  It could be a ADHD.
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  It could be dementia.
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  Those sorts of things.
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  And it you know, there's so many ways that you can make your
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  home as we're doing the design.
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  You know, we take into account the issues that those clients may be having,
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  and then we can recommend that they incorporate some of the items that
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  help with their overall health and well being and safety in their environment.
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  So we're just closing the circle, if you will of interior design, which is,
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  of course, most clients say, I want a comfortable, relaxing, and cozy feel.
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  So biophilic design allows us to bring that in, in terms of how you feel.
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  And AS and CAPS allows us to make sure that your home is safe and accessible
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  and comfortable for everyone in the family, including your extended family.
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  So, you know, I love that part.
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  You know, you say your home is comfortable.
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  CAPS incorporates comfort for everyone in the family, because initially I
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  was thinking, you know, this is for like aging in place for right over 30.
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  Let's put it that way.
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  But you're saying for everyone, so you're saying the design puts into consideration
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  like children who may be having some cognitive behavioral challenges?
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  Yes, it can.
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  It can incorporate things to help with that.
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  And if you have eye issues and, you know, certain people have various
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  diseases where with their eyes, maybe their colorblind or what have you.
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  And so some of the things that I might recommend to people in their
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  homes is the different color, you know, instead of having a floor and
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  the cabinetry and everything kind of being monotone the same color.
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  You want to kind of mix that up in the space.
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  And for certain issues, having black countertops could potentially
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  be an issue and you would want something a little lighter.
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  So, there's various you know, health issues or, you know, that
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  can impact what kind of additional recommendations we can make for people.
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  And, you know, when you are retrofitting your home, a lot of
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  times people are tearing out the old and putting in the new, right?
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  That is the time, which is why I think this is a great segue
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  in addition to my business.
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  Because this is a great time to, many of my clients are between 45 and 70.
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  So, many of them, I would say the majority of them are empty nesters.
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  Like myself, we've gone through having kids leave our homes.
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  We have our own body parts wearing out in many respects.
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  Many of us have parents who we unexpectedly got ill and needed
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  to come or and come live with us.
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  And so our homes are not ready and prepared for what it is that they need.
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  And some of us have long term things like eye issues.
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  So, you know, as you get older, the way you see light changes and the way
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  that is captured in your eye changes.
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  And so, you know, just making sure one of the things we always talk
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  about is the lighting in the home.
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  And, you know, that one simple thing can make a key difference in
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  being able to read without having, you know, your readers everywhere.
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  And so we're always making those suggestions for people.
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  So, wow, that's interesting, because I have readers all over
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  the place, glasses all over the place, and you just mentioned...
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  me too.
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  So it's both of us, right?
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  So you said, the light thing so that you don't have readers all over the
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  place, I mean, without going into too many details, how do you do that?
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  Well, you know, certain spaces in my house have more dim lighting and it's
• 8:36
  just a function of the areas that have more windows and natural light.
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  And I find when I'm in the kitchen area, which is way brighter and I have the
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  window line right there at the table, it's easier for me to read print.
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  But I find when I'm in my bedroom, where the light is in the middle
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  of the ceiling and I have blackout draperies, right, even with the
• 8:58
  lamps, it's a little harder to read.
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  So, I probably could use better task lighting as well.
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  But even if you have better task lighting, you know, sometimes
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  you find it still a little bit difficult to read smaller print.
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  So everything that you can do to make your life easier and more comfortable
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  and to save your eyes, right.
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  You know, as long as you can because clearly, you know, everything
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  we do centers around seeing.
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  It does.
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  It does.
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  So I'm just curious again, talking about well, what are task lights?
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  What are those?
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  Task lights would be like lamps floor lamps, table lamps.
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  You may actually have a spotlight that just shines on a certain spot.
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  You know, a lot of people have sconces on the walls that are adjustable
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  that can move, you know, they could be over the nightstand, but when
• 9:47
  you actually need more lighting to read, you can pull them closer.
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  And so, you know, part of our questionnaire is asking questions about,
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  you know, how you see, are there any, you know, issues that we should be aware of.
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  Now, we're not advocating that we're a healthcare professional,
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  but we do have sconces.
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  We have A coordination with general contractors who specialize in retrofitting
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  homes for you know, for caps, but we also have a health company, a national
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  health company that has, you know, PTs and occupational therapists that
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  we can recommend and refer you to if you need to make more global changes.
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  So, you know, there's in many times people who have issues, existing
• 10:30
  issues already have someone that they are, you know, health care
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  professional that they're speaking with.
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  But you know some of the things that I ask people to share with me are there any
• 10:41
  allergies in the home that may affect the type of rugs that I bring into your home?
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  Do you have pets?
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  Do you have little kids who are crawling around on the floor?
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  How difficult is it for you to get up from the sofa?
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  So, do you have any knee or hip issues that I need to be aware of?
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  Do you find yourself, and I'm paying attention during those appointments,
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  do I find that when they stand, they're using their arms to help lift them?
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  And so, some people, quite frankly, start to have issues before they
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  realize they have an issue, and they don't even realize they have it in many
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  cases until it becomes more severe.
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  And so these are the types of things that we're paying attention to.
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  And, you know, sometimes I'll say to a client, did you just notice that
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  when you got up, you used your arms?
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  Like what?
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  No, I didn't.
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  I said, Do you do that all the time?
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  I didn't realize I did that.
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  And so the wife might chime and say, Yeah, you do that all the time.
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  And so that's an opportunity for me when I'm looking at seating.
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  I make a note of that.
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  Then I'm going to get them seating that sits higher up and that it has arms that
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  allows them to get up better because the more modern seating what you see the
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  younger people getting can be 16, 17 inches off the ground seat height, and we
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  can get higher seating for older people.
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  So you want to be more comfortable because that older, you know, if you've
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  ever been to a home where, you know, at our age and you go to sit down on
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  a sofa and it's hard to get back up.
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  You understand exactly what I mean.
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  I know exactly what you mean, because I'm becoming a lot more conscious of that.
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  I go to a place, even restaurants, and I look around like, okay, should
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  I take the seats that, you know, when they have those tables at higher seats?
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  Sometimes I'm like, I'll opt for that because it's easier to get.
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  In and out that now one of those lounging chairs that I know
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  I've got to be like my kids.
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  I would be okay.
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  Come pull me up, right?
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  Yeah it's a lot more difficult.
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  Well, you know, I know off camera we talked about, you
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  know, we're talking again about people between the ages 40 plus.
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  Right?
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  Or 35 plus, 40 plus.
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  And you told, you said, you know, in the past some people would redesign their
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  houses so that by giving the entrance to the house, they'll put a ramp.
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  But you said there are better ways of doing that now.
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  Well, there's better ramps.
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  There are better ramps out there that instead of the just old, I mean, there
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  you can still take the metal ramp.
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  You know, that's what you usually see, right?
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  So you can take those kind of ramps and you can screen them with
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  plantings and different things so that they're not so obvious to the house.
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  But now they have electronic ramps that go from flat to stairs.
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  And so, you know, you can walk onto it and then it lifts you up for someone
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  who needs a little bit more assistance getting into the house and walk
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  straight into the house, but then it can go back and convert to stairs for
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  those that, you know, do climb stairs.
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  So it can be multifunctional.
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  They have all new.
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  I mean, the products that they have out today are cutting edge and I
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  expect that to continue going forward.
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  And so my job will be to, you know, just educate people on what's out there.
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  We'll, you know, start doing a series on Instagram and LinkedIn and the
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  various social media platforms.
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  To just kind of educate people about, you know, here's some simple things
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  that you can do for example, for $1,000 it, you know, most people could change
• 14:07
  the light bulbs in their house to LED lighting, they could do lever handles.
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  So instead of knobs, because, you know, maybe you get harder to turn them.
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  A single level faucet as well.
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  And then you have those little toggle light switches.
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  So those are just four things that while we're designing, we can just
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  make sure those things get done while the contractors are already there.
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  And then you can slowly start implementing them.
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  Another thing is people are not aware that there's financing
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  available for a lot of the retrofits.
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  And so we can educate them on that and we can refer them to
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  resources for which they can apply.
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  There's resources for, you know, everyday humans, but there's also
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  resources for veterans as well.
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  Okay.
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  That's awesome to know.
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  Financing is possible, because some people, you know, know what
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  they need to get done, but just thinking about how they're going to
• 15:00
  afford it is what keeps them back.
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  Right.
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  And then there's tax deductions for some of these things, too.
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  Depends on, you know, are you a business owner that's in your home?
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  And, you know, working out of your home and you need these things not, you know,
• 15:14
  not only for yourself, but maybe for clients that might be coming in as well.
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  Say if you have a tax business and you know, maybe the client chooses
• 15:21
  a side door or what have you.
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  Is the door radius or the width wide enough?
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  So, you know, these are all the things, you know, we're always asking clients
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  about, okay, who else lives in your home?
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  Who else do we need to consider?
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  How often do you have parties?
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  Are they mostly family?
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  Are they younger people?
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  Older people?
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  So I kind of let people in advance know that the purpose of our
• 15:42
  questions is not really to pry and to violate any HIPAA laws.
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  The purpose of our questionnaire is to make sure that we can help you
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  with what we're educated about to make sure that as we're designing your
• 15:54
  home, we can recommend fitting in, you know even you know, we can start
• 15:58
  with some things that you know, most of my clients don't have any issues.
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  So when I say, you know, we should think about ADA, many just are dismissive or
• 16:07
  they laugh and they say, I'm not old.
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  I can still walk.
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  I can still do everything I, you know, need to do.
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  But that's really not the point.
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  The point is preparing.
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  Preparing.
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  That's the key.
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  Preparing because yes, we may not be old today.
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  Like some things that I know that didn't bother me.
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  Like I live in a house with stairs and two years ago, my niece started bothering me.
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  And for the first time, I thought to myself, I didn't listen.
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  That probably should have had my bedroom on the first floor.
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  So, you know, when I was, when the house was being built, that wasn't
• 16:43
  a consideration because I'm not old.
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  But when he started to bother me and I'm like, I didn't think five years
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  ahead, 10 years ahead, 15 years.
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  So that's very valid.
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  And we never think it's going to happen to us.
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  And you know, I remember, you know, me and my husband were enjoying life
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  and we were just waiting to graduate the last kid from high school.
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  And then my dad got ill and got dementia and had to move in with us.
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  And so, we weren't prepared for that adjustment.
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  You know, it's not just preparing for us.
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  Like I said, it's the extended family.
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  So, you know, as a people, we typically take care of our parents, right?
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  We'll take care of a sister as we need.
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  So it's just not necessarily preparing for the unknown with
• 17:28
  you, it's other people as well.
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  So I try to like communicate that to people now people aren't always receptive
• 17:34
  to it But many of our clients call us back later and say I remember you said
• 17:38
  something about this, you know, we're at a point now where someone has an allergy?
• 17:43
  We might need to change out the rug or something of that nature.
• 17:46
  We need something that's because we have a parent now here and
• 17:50
  you know, there's accidents.
• 17:52
  Can we get a more man made rug that's cleanable?
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  So, people start thinking about it, but you know, boy, if we had
• 17:58
  thought about some of these things ahead of time, I'm not advocating
• 18:01
  that we prepare for doomsday.
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  I'm just saying, the more you're educated about this stuff, and
• 18:07
  that's part of helping, right?
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  The more you educated about this stuff you can think about it as you decide when
• 18:13
  you're retrofitting your house and your bathroom and your flooring, you can start
• 18:18
  to think about these sorts of things.
• 18:20
  Yeah.
• 18:21
  So you know we talked about, you know, as a people we take care of
• 18:24
  our elderly, but we also love our younger ones like grandchildren.
• 18:30
  Oh my god.
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  There we go.
• 18:33
  I knew that was going to touch you.
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  So how do you talk to, you know, people who are, you know, expecting
• 18:42
  grandchildren, already have grandchildren about, you know,
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  putting that into consideration with the design, redesign of their homes?
• 18:52
  So I mentioned it.
• 18:54
  I, you know, especially I'm always asking how many children they
• 18:57
  have and what their ages are.
• 18:58
  You know, if they're young children, 9, 10, I mean, I'm
• 19:01
  not really talking about that.
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  Just trying to find out so much if the current children have any
• 19:07
  issues that I should be concerned about, or I should be aware of.
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  But if they are about to be empty nesters, then say, oh, eventually you're going to
• 19:15
  have grandchildren and so I won't... I'm not trying to sell that from day one.
• 19:20
  What I'm saying is when I do the presentation, I may have options of those
• 19:25
  cleanable rugs, more cleanable man made rugs that take into account the unknown.
• 19:31
  And so I'll do a mix and say, hey, this is, you know, you know, wool rug.
• 19:35
  You know, this is a natural fiber versus this is more of a man
• 19:38
  made fiber and just educate them.
• 19:42
  I mean, that's the beauty of an interior designer.
• 19:43
  We're educated about the products that we sell.
• 19:47
  And so we can talk about the benefits of a wall rug versus a viscose rug, you know, a
• 19:52
  rug that's partially polyester and viscose where that doesn't respond well to water.
• 19:58
  And getting wet and can discolor very easily.
• 20:01
  So that's our job to educate, and we're doing that already.
• 20:04
  But now we just have more stuff to educate them about now.
• 20:08
  Gotcha, gotcha.
• 20:09
  I want to talk about something that is standard, beds.
• 20:12
  Beds.
• 20:13
  Yes, all of us sleep.
• 20:16
  You know, I used to love sleeping on couches until I realized, okay,
• 20:21
  I may love it, but my back doesn't.
• 20:23
  So,
• 20:26
  , what advice can you give to, you know, those of us who are realizing
• 20:29
  again that our bodies are aging.
• 20:31
  I mean, we, in our minds, we still think we are 16 at least I still think I'm 30.
• 20:36
  I'm not.
• 20:38
  . And my son reminded me, mom, you know you're not 30.
• 20:41
  I'm like, yeah, I know that.
• 20:42
  Thank you.
• 20:45
  I mean the advice I would give to people about beds is just
• 20:48
  to take we don't sell beds.
• 20:49
  I mean we can sell beds and mattresses, but that's such a personal choice
• 20:55
  that I opt not to sell that I want people to go out sleep on mattresses.
• 21:00
  There are people who do nothing but sell those you know, do you have issues?
• 21:04
  Where maybe you might need a lift bed.
• 21:06
  And so they can educate you more on the various types of beds, but also those
• 21:11
  showrooms allow you to lay on beds, right?
• 21:14
  You can just lay on them.
• 21:16
  You can read all the literature on them.
• 21:17
  They're very educated about them because that's all they sell.
• 21:21
  And so I think beds is a very personal choice as well as pillows.
• 21:26
  We'll buy pillows for people, but, you know, I'll say, hey, do you
• 21:30
  know what type of pillow you prefer?
• 21:32
  And if they don't, I'm saying, okay, this is what we're getting you.
• 21:35
  In case you want to take a look but, you know, we will buy those, but
• 21:39
  I prefer not to even buy pillows because that's also a personal thing.
• 21:42
  It depends on, you know, if you have a spinal issue or a slight curvature
• 21:46
  in your spine, there are certain pillows that you shouldn't be sleeping.
• 21:49
  You know, there are some that are hypoallergenic that So you want to be
• 21:52
  careful you know, I try to be careful about selling those things just because
• 21:56
  I think those two things are very personal choice and you need to get
• 22:01
  the investment in a mattress today, a quality mattress is thousands of dollars.
• 22:06
  You could spend three thousand or you could spend 12, 000 on a mattress.
• 22:10
  So that's just not something, you know, i'm going to stay in the
• 22:13
  lane of what i'm an expert in.
• 22:16
  Gotcha.
• 22:16
  Gotcha.
• 22:16
  Gotcha.
• 22:18
  Hey, you know, we've been speaking for almost 30 minutes now.
• 22:21
  So what's...
• 22:22
  Really?
• 22:23
  Yeah.
• 22:24
  It seems like, you know, it's easy to talk to you, Paula.
• 22:27
  It really is.
• 22:28
  I just thought we were just done for about 10 minutes.
• 22:33
  Not at all.
• 22:35
  But it's because the conversation is so gripping and so I'm enjoying it.
• 22:39
  I'm enjoying every bit of it.
• 22:40
  All right.
• 22:42
  So, before we round up.
• 22:44
  What's one thing that you really want to share with everyone?
• 22:48
  I think that the one thing that I would like to share with everyone is
• 22:53
  to take time to go to our website and, or social media and take a look at us.
• 22:59
  And, you know, one of the things that I recommend to my clients, I do want
• 23:04
  everybody that I talk to hire me.
• 23:06
  Right.
• 23:07
  But at the end of the day.
• 23:08
  Hiring a designer should be a good fit.
• 23:12
  And so you should look at when you interview designers or when you call
• 23:17
  a designer, you may want to call more than one and have something to compare
• 23:21
  to because, you know, as with many of my clients, I start every year with
• 23:26
  repeat clients because we've established that rapport and it started from the
• 23:31
  very first time we met each other.
• 23:33
  We connected.
• 23:35
  We felt it was the right relationship, right?
• 23:37
  And so I think that's critically important.
• 23:40
  Is that you make sure you take time to research the, you know,
• 23:44
  the company that you're hiring and make the best choice for you.
• 23:48
  I mean, you know, you kind of know when it feels right, right?
• 23:51
  And you kind of know when you're checking all the boxes of whether
• 23:55
  this person is professional, whether they're on time, you know, whether
• 23:58
  they appear to be someone who would keep their promise in terms of what
• 24:02
  they told you that they could deliver.
• 24:05
  So, you know, this is not just like buying a car.
• 24:08
  It's not a process to be taken lightly.
• 24:11
  Designers can offer wonderful benefit to clients that hire them.
• 24:16
  But, you know, you definitely want to make sure that you take time to, you know, find
• 24:20
  the person for you, whether it be looking through social media or getting a referral
• 24:24
  from one of your friends or family.
• 24:27
  That's so true.
• 24:28
  I mean, this is a personal thing.
• 24:30
  This person's gonna be coming into your home.
• 24:32
  Yes.
• 24:33
  This is your safe space.
• 24:34
  This is the space you come home to.
• 24:35
  This is where you want to feel happy and comfortable.
• 24:38
  It's important, I think, to have a good relationship with whoever that person is.
• 24:44
  Yeah.
• 24:45
  So treat that, you know, like an interview.
• 24:47
  And I'm sure that, you know, many of my colleagues in the interior design
• 24:51
  world would say that I won't do that.
• 24:53
  That's not really a good thing.
• 24:55
  But I do.
• 24:55
  It's important to me that the people that work with me are a good fit.
• 25:00
  And so, you know, if people say I've looked at you and you know, everything
• 25:04
  that I've seen is what I want.
• 25:06
  So please come, you know, we'll do that.
• 25:09
  But if someone says they're interviewing other people, I say that's great.
• 25:13
  I encourage that and I'll look forward to hearing back from you because I
• 25:16
  think they're going to call me back.
• 25:18
  So, you know, I'm pretty confident in what we do and the service
• 25:22
  we provide to our clients.
• 25:23
  Absolutely.
• 25:24
  It's like when I told you I was doing a podcast, you said, I'm going
• 25:27
  to get you a room that will just be just right for you and your podcast.
• 25:32
  Yes.
• 25:32
  Here we are.
• 25:33
  So I know you mentioned that people should go to your website, but are there
• 25:39
  any other places they can find you?
• 25:41
  Are you on Instagram?
• 25:42
  Because some people I realize that.
• 25:45
  They just favor one spot.
• 25:47
  Some may be okay, linkedIn.
• 25:48
  Some may be like, they go to your website.
• 25:51
  Well, Instagram and Facebook are typically the social media platforms that my clients
• 25:58
  are visiting on a day to day basis.
• 26:00
  We will start adding more content on LinkedIn.
• 26:03
  That's really not where we've been putting a lot of content.
• 26:06
  We do intend to do that.
• 26:09
  As we, you know, educate people about the whole ADA accessibility piece that
• 26:15
  can be incorporated into design, but you can find me on Instagram, you know,
• 26:19
  hollandcustomdesigns or Facebook as well.
• 26:21
  We have a business page on both.
• 26:24
  Awesome.
• 26:25
  And so, hasn't she been amazing, everyone?
• 26:27
  She is the best.
• 26:29
  As far as I'm concerned.
• 26:30
  Thank you, Paula.
• 26:31
  I may be biased, but I believe she did the best.
• 26:35
  And so for those of you who would like to be a guest just like Monique
• 26:39
  has been, I ask for you to reach out to me on my website, which
• 26:44
  is chattingwiththeexperts.com.
• 26:46
  I'm also on LinkedIn.
• 26:47
  I love LinkedIn.
• 26:49
  So I'm always there.
• 26:50
  I'm on Instagram.
• 26:52
  My handle there is at chat_experts_podcast.
• 26:58
  And I'm also on Facebook and you know, we always encourage you if you have
• 27:04
  watched this show to reach out to our guests because they're amazing.
• 27:09
  But for those of you who have joined us today, please stay back so that
• 27:13
  you can have a one on one chat with Monique and learn more about.
• 27:17
  Some of the things that she probably forgot to mention or didn't think of
• 27:22
  mentioning while we were speaking now.
• 27:25
  And of course, I have to end by saying Monique, you are the best and thank you.
• 27:33
  Thank you, Paula.
• 27:33
  Thank you for having me.
• 27:35
  Absolutely.