Making Your Home an Oasis

With these helpful design tips, respite and retreat aren’t far away

BY KIRSTEN HOLMSTEDT

TThere is something magical about traveling. Whether it’s to the beach, the mountains, a foreign country, or a small town here in Arizona, just getting away from the day-to-day can make you feel brand new. And it’s not just in your head! Research has found that those who take more frequent vacations reported less stress and depression, a boost in happiness and satisfaction, and enhanced creativity.

But what if I told you that these benefits are available even when you’re unable to travel? Our everyday environments affect our mental and physical wellbeing – that’s partially why traveling is so beneficial. There are easy ways to turn your home into an oasis and replicate those feelings of vacation. Read on for seven tips to help you create your own retreat so you can reap the same benefits you experience when traveling while staying at home.

Create Calm Zones

Our homes should be a retreat from the busy world around us. I like to create different calm zones in various rooms when possible, to invoke meditation and relaxation as a means to decompress. Calm zones can be whole rooms or a quiet corner, and there are a few different ways to create this space. First, make sure that the chosen space is clear of clutter. Remove any distractions — this is a laptop, tablet, and phone free zone. Next comes the decoration — I like to choose calming colors such as neutrals, shades of blue and green, utilize natural elements like plants and wood, and find ways to increase natural light.

Turn Your Bedroom Into A Luxury Hotel Room

To me, the bedroom is one of the most important rooms, since it is where we both start and end our day. I may not have a way to guarantee a chocolate on the pillow, but there are plenty of ways to turn the bedroom into a retreat. The easiest way is to upgrade the bedding with comfortable textiles. I love adding plush elements to the bedroom like fluffy pillows and a cozy, neutral chair.

Rearrange Your Furniture

When I was a teen, I remember feeling so accomplished after rearranging my room. There was something energizing about creating something new in my everyday space. Dr. Nicole Villegas, an occupational therapist, agrees. She points out that rearranging the layout of a room offers people the ability to take control of their environment, which sends a signal to our nervous system that allows us to feel safer and more relaxed. Try moving your furniture to different rooms or locations, changing out your pillows and rugs, or moving around your décor. It’s a creative exercise and might even help you declutter.

Bring The Outdoors In

Have you heard of biophilic design? It is a way to connect to nature and has a ton of proven benefits like supporting cognitive function, mental and physical restoration, decreased stress, and more. My favorite thing about biophilic design is that there are so many ways to incorporate it while still getting all of the benefits. The easiest way is to bring natural elements into your space through the use of plants, water features, natural light, and natural finishes. But you can also incorporate things that represent nature like pictures of nature, patterns that mimic nature, or it in a box for six months. If you don’t use it during that time, chances are you won’t need it in the future. Finally, I love to create an aesthetically pleasing organization system using baskets, bins, and trays. Everything should have a home!

Indulge The Senses

Your sense of smell is an incredible thing. Information from what you’re smelling is sent to several different parts of the brain and can impact your mood, emotions and even your memory. I like to use candles that remind me of my different travels. Not only do they smell amazing, but they bring back those happy memories. Different smells can also have a variety of effects on your mood. A few of my favorites are ylangylang for feeling calm, lemongrass to increase my energy, frankincense to help me focus, and bergamot to reduce stress. It’s these small things that can ultimately make a big impact to make you feel good.

Freshen Up Your Walls

natural colors. I like to hang photos of the different places I’ve traveled, in addition to adding house plants to living areas.

Clear Out The Clutter

One of the fastest ways to create a Zen space is by getting organized. It’s a medical fact: organization has been found to improve sleep; reduce stress, depression, and anxiety; and even improve your relationships. If you don’t know where to start, here are the steps that I follow. First, I pull everything out and clean the area. Then I sort all of the items into one of these categories: trash, things to donate, things to sell, and things to keep. If you’re undecided on an item, put

Color theory is powerful and you can completely change the energy of space with a new coat of paint. If you want a more relaxing environment, use cooler colors like blue, green, gray, and purple. If you want to energize a space, use warmer colors like orange, red, and yellow. I design using mostly a neutral palette that includes creams, grays, and natural wood tones. To me, this keeps a space fresh and calm.

We can’t travel all the time, but we can turn our living spaces into our own oasis. Using any one of these tips will help you create a home that helps you to recharge every day.

Kirsten Holmstedt is the founder of Treasure in the Detail, a Gilbert-based interior design firm. For more information visit www.treasureinthedetail.com.

Exploring Arizona in all its natural wonder

BY JOSH CODDINGTON

TThe state of Arizona is enjoyed by more than 40 million visitors each year, who come to the Grand Canyon State seeking outdoor recreation, culinary delights, and curated wellness experiences. Fortunately, the state delivers on all these adventures and offers many, many more.

But Arizona’s amazing experiences certainly aren’t just reserved for tourists! The largest group of visitors to Arizona destinations are, in fact, Arizonans! So, just in time to kick off the summer road-trip planning season, here are a few quick suggestions on how to explore Arizona like an expert! These ideas and more are available at www.VisitArizona.com/explore.

Dark Skies For Curious Eyes

Arizona is famous for beautiful sunsets, which bathe the landscape in brilliant, colorful hues. But as the sun dips below the horizon, another show is just beginning. With the Four Corners region offering more Dark Sky communities than anywhere else in the world, Arizona is a premier destination for stargazing, with nearly 20 Dark Sky places. The clear night skies offer an exceptional chance to view many of the stars, planets, and celestial bodies which inhabit the Milky Way.

Arizona’s own wonder of the world, Grand Canyon National Park, is one of the largest official International Dark Sky Parks, with lodges on the park's South and West Rims providing great opportunities to appreciate the stars above while relaxing closer to Earth. The 2023 annual Grand Canyon Star Party will be held June 10-17 and offers a week of events including free nightly astronomy talks, constellation tours, and telescope viewing. Lodging options include the elegant and historic El Tovar Hotel, the cozy cabins of Bright Angel Lodge, and the more contemporary Kachina and Thunderbird lodges.

Basking In The Glow

Wander among the bright, blinking lights and neon signs of Tucson’s Ignite Sign Art Museum, an illuminating look at the history of Southern Arizona and beyond through signage. High-"lights" include a spinning orange 76 Gas Station ball and a towering Arby's cowboy hat. Check out the imagery-based scavenger hunt, which encourages visitors to look at some of the smaller details around the museum. While there, don’t miss the 30-foot-tall neon "Gateway Saguaro" on North Oracle Road near West Drachman Street, which was designed by local artist Dirk J. Arnold and was a centerpiece of Tucson's "Miracle Mile Strip" in the 1950s and 1960s.

Revel in the beautifully colored and vibrant lights of the outdoor Neon Sign Park on Casa Grande’s Main Street. This four-acre park in the Arizona Plaza opened April 2019 in the heart of the Historic Downtown District, with 14 lovingly restored and salvaged signs mostly from the 1950s.

PULL UP A CHAIR AT ARIZONA’S SMALLEST BAR

Bisbee, a once raucous, 1880s mining camp, has embraced its rich historic identity and built a reputation as an eclectic enclave that's the envy of small towns everywhere. In addition to a welcoming, free-spirited arts and culture community, the wineries, vineyards, and tasting rooms, while there’s much information to be explored through the Arizona Wine Growers Association’s visitor’s guide. The grandeur of Arizona’s 50+ parks, monuments, and recreation areas is now even easier to explore with the Arizona Parks Digital Passport. From iconic cacti-studded landscapes to sandstone canyon walls, thick pine-tree forests to the Sky Islands of southern Arizona, there is always an adventure awaiting. For a fun twist, the passport can also divide the parks by their prominent features, such as “colorful canyons,” “dark sky wonders,” “lush landscapes,” and several more.

Route 66 has long held a place in the hearts of travelers near and far, its legendary status catering to lovers of Americana, nostalgia, and the feel

Southern Arizona town also offers unconventional experiences. Visitors in-the-know will head up the stairs at the Silver King Hotel to crowd into Arizona's smallest bar. Room 4 Bar is an eccentric watering hole that offers two barstools and two seats at a table, but patrons are welcome to stand and order a drink. The quirky setting, personable bartender, and robust alcohol selection keep Room 4 Bar packed. Of course, "packed" means something different when the bar is only 100 square-feet.

Plan Your Own Adventure

Arizona is defined by a dizzying array of natural beauty and inviting terrain, all of which beg to be explored. Many Arizonans who are frequent travelers enjoy the ability to discover something new, plan a quick escape, or add stops to an existing adventure.

The Arizona Digital Wine Trail Passport uses geolocation to deliver easy access to the state’s 120+ of the open road. Discovering the undeniably Instagrammable landmarks and one-of-a-kind experiences that can only be found along Arizona’s Mother Road is easier than ever with the Rock the Route 66 Digital Passport. From Topock 66 on the Colorado River in the west to The Painted Desert Trading Post in the east — plus miles of famous sights, shops, eats, and towns in between — the free digital passport makes planning a Route 66-centric road trip easier than ever.

Appreciate Az

As Arizonans, we’re lucky to reside in an amazing state that attracts millions of national and international visitors each year. Everyone who enjoys the places and experiences Arizona provides also shares a responsibility to maintain and protect this beauty for the travelers of today and tomorrow.

As such, it’s up to all who traverse Arizona’s beautiful terrain to apply responsible and sustainable tourism principles to every trip. The Arizona Office of Tourism is dedicated to making it easy with its AppreciateAZ program, offering simple ideas on how to “Plan Ahead & Prepare,” “Stick to Trails,” and “Be Careful with Fire.” With certification taking only about 10 minutes on average, it’s a no-brainer when it comes to protecting our natural lands.