Make room for your brilliant life.

Reading the room.

We have a lot on our minds, right now.
Not a great time for a book about
how to make your house pretty. Right?
Or maybe it is.

DESIGN FOR YOUR MIND is about more than aspirational countertops. It's a story about how any of us can use interior design to help us find our voice and our strength and creativity, build community with other people (IRL!), and recharge our lives.

If you could use a boost, right now, check it out. DESIGN FOR YOUR MIND: How a Family Caregiver and Mental Health Therapist Renovated Her Home to Recharge Her Life—and Didn’t Break the Bank by Annie Guest is hot off the proverbial press. We can find hardbound, paperback, and ebook editions on Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Just click on this UBL (Universal Book Link) to order a copy.

https://books2read.com/DesignForYourMind

What is the book about?

Many of us know from experience that family caregiving is hard and that, for all its rewards, the work can drain us over time and challenge our zest for life.

This is a story about how I drifted from the self I knew and finally came up with a way to turn things around. After my parents passed away, I decided to tap into my passion for interior design and use what I understood as a mental health therapist to renovate my home in ways that would help me find my spark again. I wanted to jump start the reconnection to my focus and creativity. I also needed to throw myself into creative work to grieve my parents’ passing and make sense of their final years.

And maybe to prove to myself that my plan was working,
I wrote this book during the renovation to record
the process and what I was learning from it.

The book includes some 95 color 'before' and 'after' pictures, as well as a few family stories. I did my best to keep talk of the science of mental health and interior design lively and fun to read. I can vouch, albeit anecdotally and personally, for the effectiveness of the design choices you’ll see. The book demanded so much attention to detail, research, and new skill-building that I couldn’t have written it in an environment that didn’t offer the right blend of stimulation and support. I wouldn’t have kept my head straight or sustained my energy in a cluttered environment, and my creativity would have crashed in a setting that didn’t nourish my mind and spirit.

DESIGN FOR YOUR MIND is for all of us who are making a new beginning and would like to create an environment that supports our well-being -- whether we're caregivers or college students, new home owners, people settling into a new apartment, or newly single or widowed. We can all create spaces that express and empower us as we move ahead.