Holistic Spaces 2015 Holiday Gift Guide

Welcome to our first ever Holistic Spaces Holiday Gift Guide! 

I really love gift-giving all year round, so the holidays are a fun time for me! It's not about how much you spend, but the thought that counts. I've included items at all different price points and even some DIY ideas. And of course each of the gift ideas can assist your loved ones in creating a holistic space and lifestyle, so that they can be happier and feel supported in their lives.

Book: 108 Ways to Create Holistic Spaces

for the feng shui fancier

Yes, of course I just had to include some of my own products. In case you didn't know, I wrote a book and I have signed copies of my book available on the Holistic Spaces store.

This book is a great introduction to feng shui and holistic design principles.

Feng Shui can change your life -- but learning how to use it can feel overwhelming. Architect and feng shui practitioner, Anjie Cho clears the clutter and shows you how to apply feng shui and green design principles to support and enhance your life. From the bedroom to the home office, and from furniture placement to the use of color, these simple, straightforward tips will transform your home and workplace to improve the flow of energy through your life.

Receive Free Shipping on your purchases over $45 through December 31, 2015 with the code GIFTGUIDE

Available at: Holistic Spaces

The moon glass set

for the moon worshipper

The Moon Glass set was designed by Seoul's Tale Ltd (my peeps! the Koreans!). The moon is yin and is related to the feminine principle, intuition and introspection. We look to the moon often in feng shui to gain insight on what's happening on the inside.

This design is such a delightful and graceful reminder of all the phases of the moon. "Fill it up with a nice rice wine (or any other beverage of your choice) and watch as each sip you take brings the moon from full to three-quarters, half, and crescent. The trick is achieved by a slope inside of the cup and the sleek black glaze creates a fantastic contrast with opaque or cloudy beverages."

Available at: the Colossal Shop

Sashiko cloths handmade by grandma

for the textile lover

Sashiko, "little stabs," is traditional Japanese embroidery and my newest obsession. While browsing Etsy for some sashiko supplies, I stumbled upon these beautiful little gems: Handmade sashiko cloths hand made by a Japanese grandmother! 

Nina explains: "This is made by my grandma who is 97 years old now :) She is quite active and loves to embroider. Some stitches might be jumped but she is sticking with love. We would be happy if you feel love from Japan :)"

How cute, right?!?! I snatched one up right away!

Available at: Litre Japan on Etsy

Reclaimed Birch Coasters

for the green enthusiast

The brainchild of "redesigner," Kelly Anderson, everything on the Refreshed Designs website is not only organic, it's created from repurposed wood that would otherwise go to waste. These cozy coasters are sliced from storm-fallen birch trees in Anderson's home area, New Brunswick.

Anderson shares the same love for green design as Holistic Spaces, and the Erthe Line is full of simple, warming items for desks, walls and tables in your space. 

"Our philosophy is to return to nature to make our homes sustainable, functional and naturally appealing, thereby consuming less and connecting with our surroundings." 

Available at: Refreshed Designs

Brass Frame Round Tabletop Mirror

for the elegant entrepreneur

Most of my readers know about the importance of locating your desk in the commanding position. If that's not possible, a lovely tabletop mirror such as this one is perfect to place you back in command. 

I love the warm earthy color of the brass with the coolness of the clear mirror. The Michele Varian shop is one of my favorite stores in Soho.

Available at: Michele Varian Shop

Mandala gift certificate

for the yogi or yogini

Mandalas are sacred geometric art forms from the Vedic and Buddhist traditions. They are tools for centering and focus during meditation. As sacred art and as meditation objects, our mandalas graphically and energetically embody the intention you wish to manifest in your life and spaces. Each Holistic Spaces mandala is an original Vedic square design pattern, using traditional yantra symbology, and created while reciting mantra.

The recipient can use the Mandala Matchmaker to select the perfect mandala for them based on their numerology, intention or intuition.

With these gift cards your loved ones can choose for the mandala that they love. 

Receive 10% off a Mandala Gift Card through December 31, 2015 with the code GIFTMANDALA

Available at: Holistic Spaces

le soleil & La lune candles

for the romantic

I interviewed Barbara Jacques from Jacq's Organics earlier this year (read it here!), and I just love some of the products from her all-natural, organic beauty and home line. 

These candles, La Lune and Le Soleil are made with fewer than 5 ingredients each, 100% soy wax and come in recyclable glass jars. The candles represent balance in the form of the sun and the moon ("Le Soleil" and "La Luna" in French, respectively) and go hand in hand with the feng shui principles of yin and yang energy.

Le Soleil includes notes of citrus, making it the perfect scent to provide an energetic boost or to start off your day, and La Luna was created to help you wind down, relax and welcome the yin energy of the moon.

Available at: Jacq's Organics

DIY Soft Cotton Knit TOWELS

for the gracious hostess

Last year I knit dozens of these vintage looking dishtowels from a pattern available from Purl Soho. Whether you're on a budget or love to craft, these lovely handmade items are wonderful gifts. 

The stitching is easy enough for beginners, and giving never feels better than when it's made with love, so give it a try! 

Patterns Available at: Purl Soho

 DIY CRAFT KITS

for the crafty creative

Purl Soho also has dozens of beautiful pre-assembled craft kits that come with everything you need to craft your own projects such as friendship bracelets (remember those?!) or a Cashmere Ombré Wrap Kit

I organize "crafternoons" with my girlfriends every few months. One of my friends thanked me for helping her be creative. A kit to do-it-yourself is not only fun, but empowering :)

Kits Available at: Purl Soho

2016 chinese New year Kit

for the star gazer

Just one more thing from my store! The Lunar New Year is fast approaching, and Holistic Spaces now has customized kits to embrace the new year in style. 

The upcoming year is the Year of the Monkey, so each kit includes a snake charm for good luck and prosperity. The snake is the best friend of the monkey, so keeping one nearby is good feng shui! Each kit also includes a Nine Star Ki aromastick for support based on your personal astrology and Holistic Spaces very own Happy Room Mist, perfect for space clearing for the new year! 

Available at: Holistic Spaces

journey through the seven seas, Handmade cards

for the enchanting explorer

My good friend Amy T. Won, of Treespace Studio paints wonder filled scenes. One of my favorites is the "Journey Through the Seven Seas" series. This series conjures up thoughts of a magical wonderland under and above the ocean. Images of water inspire peace, calm and fascination for me.

Lucky for us, Amy has made her artwork available as beautiful cards that we can share or gift to others.

Available at: Treespace Studio

Choose Non-Pollutant Wall Paint

featured this month in Archi Expo

Collectively associated with outdoor air, pollution is present indoors as well. Toxic chemicals, such as formaldehyde, are more prevalent inside than out. This is because traditional indoor wall paints emit VOCs (volatile organic compounds), a variety of gases including formaldehyde that are harmful over short and long-term. To address this issue, some indoor paint brands are constantly innovating VOC-free, non-toxic paints to also meet color and durability standards.

Anna Sova Luxury Organics, a small Texas-based company that produces Greenguard certified paint, advertises that 90% of their paint ingredients are food-based. The company believes that breathing good air is as important as eating healthy. Anna Sova’s milk-based paints are a preferred product of professional designer Anjie Cho, a New York feng shui specialist and architect.

Californian company Dunn Edwards produces more affordable lines of eco-paint, some of which are Greenguard approved. Dunn Edwards is a go-to paint for California based interior designer Sarah Barnard who specializes in sustainability and historic preservation.

...read full article

Non-Toxic Cleaning Products

No doubt the reasons for purchasing highly advertised and recommended cleaning products are almost all, if not entirely, based on the goal of keeping your home clean so that your family can live a long, healthy life. Unfortunately, purchasing these chemical agents most often accomplishes exactly the opposite effect, filling households with tainted air supply and ultimately resulting in a plethora of health issues including, but certainly not limited to, asthma, allergies, eye irritation and nausea.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has noted that indoor air quality (IAQ) can be anywhere from two to five times as polluted as the air we breathe outside. This is due to a range of factors including chemicals in decorating materials (like paint) and highly toxic cleaning agents. Store-bought cleaning products come with a laundry list of hard-to-pronounce chemicals, all of which you repeatedly release into your family’s internal atmosphere every time you use them to provide a “clean” environment. Fortunately, it’s perfectly possible to do away with these cleaning materials once and for all and still rest easy in a clean, non-toxic home. 

Switching to homemade, non-toxic cleaning supplies is as easy as looking up time-tested recipes online or in books and committing to using these substances in place of toxic agents. The best part? A healthier family isn’t the only positive outcome to making this change. Eliminating toxic cleaning supplies from your home is also a great way to ensure that children don’t accidentally come into contact with these harmful materials, whether snooping around in cabinets or lovingly offering “help” during cleaning times.

Aside from creating an all-around healthier living environment for you and your family, going green and non-toxic in the area of cleaning can save money by a long shot. Rather than paying per bottle for toxic concoctions, there are numerous ways to combine safe, cheap, regular household chemicals to create non-toxic cleaning supplies for your home, and many of these substances can be purchased for pennies on the dollar, especially in bulk. Not to mention many of these products also have other uses in the home, from laundry detergent to cooking to more.

On a global scale, reducing the use of toxic chemicals in your home also increases the quality of the outdoor environment as well as the amount of safe drinking water available to our population. When you use toxic cleaners, chemicals are released into the air, and though they most immediately pollute indoor air, they eventually make their way outdoors and, ultimately, into the ozone. Pouring chemicals into drains and washing them away results directly in pollution of the water supply we use for safe use and consumption, thereby reducing the already tiny 1% we have for use.

by Anjie Cho