Growing up, I was ashamed of my home. We were on welfare, living in bad neighborhoods in South Sacramento. Our first home in America was in a trailer park, all 10 of us crammed into one small space. My homes — and the meaning of what “home” truly means — have evolved over time.

A home should rise to meet you, no matter your budget, and it should tell your story: your culture, interests, where you’ve traveled. I’ve shed the shame and learned a lot about how to design a home that is functional, healthy and full of charm. I believe a home should be a sanctuary, where you rest, retreat and just be.

I was honored to have one of my fave design websites, Apartment Therapy, do a tour of my storied San Francisco apartment and share my story, one that I long felt was not one worth telling.

I created this video to show you what my home means to me. As I walk you through each room, I talk about some of my favorite things, the stories behind them and of course, a design tip.

Welcome and enjoy.

If you learned something new or have a question about my home, please hit me up in the comments below. Sharing is caring, so hit that follow button and share this with your peeps.

Love,
Toan

Follow me: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram.

P.S. Special thanks to Larry Wong and Francisco Raposo for shooting and editing the fabulous video!

The post Toan’s Home Tour — A Storied Space appeared first on Go Inspire Go.

Friends have long been urging me to share my style and penchant for interior design with the world. I was terrified with the idea of opening up my sanctuary that I call home to others. Growing up in a trailer park in South Sacramento, I carried a lot of shame around the idea of “home” and what it meant, both physically and spiritually. So I got all emotional when the Apartment Therapy tour of my home hit the interwebs.

Here’s my deeply personal video diary, right after seeing Apartment Therapy’s story go live:

As I reflected on the journey that’s brought me to where I am now, a number of significant memories stood out:

1. I miss my grandmothers, who inspired the style and spiritual sides of me.

2. I was ashamed of the homes I grew up in. We were poor.

3. I never felt “seen” as a kid. I hid my style because I worried about what other people would say.

Then it hit me — YOU, me, we all are in this adventure called life together. We want to make our loved ones proud of us. We want to feel like we matter. It’s all about being seen, heard and felt. That is what we all want in life.

Yesterday, I shared a story about why style, spirit and your story matters. I talked about how I serendipitously was guided by my grandmothers’ whispers and how I’m inspiring you through these simple design tips that elevate and shift your spirit.  I never realized I would discover a deep soul connection through this “Style Your Spirit” series. WOW.

I know I’m here to illuminate people, to see the beauty around them and to feel it inside them. That is my legacy. After I launched “Style Your Spirit,” so many synchronicities fell into place. I can’t talk about some exciting stuff around the bend yet, but I can talk about today’s “coming out” of sorts or the “unveiling of my whole home and heart” to the world.

So what is your style? How do you show yourself and your spirit to the world? It’s your legacy. You are beautiful and you are enough.

The post My Style and Spirit Inspirations appeared first on Go Inspire Go.

If your home makes you sad, mad, confused or frustrated, it’s time to adjust, or break up, with it. I know it’s not easy getting up and moving out — that’s not what I’m suggesting, especially in dense, big cities where the rental markets are as hard to catch as that soulmate. But if the chemistry and energy aren’t working, it’s time to mix things up.

Ask any good interior designer — this is the truth — the relationship you have with the place you call home is like dating. You gotta keep trying new things until it feels right.

OK, I’m going to share a secret most people won’t tell you. Recently, Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, the creator of Apartment Therapy, a.k.a. “Apartment Therapist” and I talked about how emotionally connected we are to our homes. Yes, YOUR emotions are deeply tied to your place. It makes sense, the ups and downs of your partner or housemate and memories — all that energy is confined within these walls.

So are you ready to take action so that you have a healthier relationship with your pad? I’ll walk you through this tough decision:

Take Action

To start, here are three questions to help you decide if your relationship with your home is healthy:

1. Does it serve your needs?

Just like any good partner, he/she should tend to your needs. I’m not talking about the overbearing, high-maintenance boo. I mean, does your house function in a way that it’s productive to what you need to do on a daily basis?

If you need to work at home, do you have a designated space to be productive? If the answer is no, take action. Clear out space to put a desk. If you already have a desk, declutter it. If you like to entertain and you don’t have enough seating, get some poufs or folding chairs.

2. Does it inspire you and make you want to nest?

I once heard Oprah’s design darling Nate Berkus say, “Your home should rise to meet you.” I will add, “It should rise to meet your best self.” Your home is your sanctuary, so you should feel comfortable and able to relax at home. If not, why? If it’s dusty and cluttered, chances are there is stuck energy in your place and in your life. You know when you’re feeling weighed down with too much stuff or if there are too many dust bunnies kissing your feet. So, take action. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, start small, clear out the clutter, give one thing away a day. If you need to clean, start with one room a day.

3. Does it make your heart happy?

Only you know if you’re comfortable in your place or if you’d rather be out and about and hate coming home. If you are the latter, then sit in the room for 10-15 minutes and pay attention to what you’re feeling. If you’re feeling swallowed by stuff, consider breaking up and giving away things you don’t use or that don’t spark joy. The key here is to be aware and present to what you’re feeling — then take action! I know we are creatures of habit, so it’s easy to be stuck in the doldrums of what we are used to. But start with baby steps and before you know it, you’ll have a happy, productive, beautiful relationship with your place.

I bet if you paid attention to how you’re feeling and address it — remember, baby steps — you and your place will live in harmony and love.

If you learned something new or if you want help with a design issue, hit me up in the comments below. Sharing is caring, so hit that follow button and share this with your peeps.

Onward,
Toan

Follow me: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram.

The post Breaking Up With Your Place appeared first on Go Inspire Go.

Many of us have been taught to listen to your body. But are you listening to your home?

If you’re paying attention, and hear me out, you’ll learn that like your physical body, your home embodies a body, too. This is one of the interior design and life lessons I learned from one of my favorite design books, “Apartment Therapy,” by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan. Yes, this is the same Apartment Therapy media company/website many of us design geeks adore. I was deeply impacted both physically and spiritually after reading it.

Today’s “Style Your Spirit” takes a page out of the book.

Maxwell explains your home is like a living organism that grows stronger with proper care and weaker with neglect. So how do you rate your home’s body?

Are you listening to your body, heart and hearth? If not, why? Now you don’t have any excuses.

Take Action

The home is like your body, “Apartment Therapy” explains:

Bones — Wall, floor ceilings, windows and fixtures are your home’s skeletal bones.
Action: Fix leaky sinks, cracks on walls, loose kitchen tiles, burnt out light bulbs.

Breath — The way you arrange your home. Healthy flow is blocked by poor placement of furniture.
Action: Declutter bookshelves, get rid of junk mail, clear out and use stagnant areas/rooms.

Heart — Expressed emotionally through the style, texture, shapes and themes.
Action: If you have too many different styles, colors, shapes and textures, pare them down and your home will feel much more in the flow.

Head — Home’s function, purpose, why you use it, what you do there. It should support your activities and needs.
Action: Reorganize kitchen drawers, get better reading lights. If there’s not enough seating for guests, get poufs, chairs or floor cushions.

Now that you know more about your home’s body, what will you do to take care of its creaks and crevices?

Think about how you’re taking care of your bones, breath, heart and head. If you’re feeling weak, ill or not in the flow, what actions will you take to become stronger in your body and your home? Oprah says once you know, you can’t pretend you don’t. So take action, boo. Your home + body needs it.

Extra Extra

I was so inspired by Maxwell’s book, “Apartment Therapy,” I decluttered my apartment and got rid of a carful of stuff. Talk about physical and spiritual healing.

True story: As Oprah says, “Listen to the whispers.” A whisper literally told me to reach out to Maxwell while I was in New York. By default, I searched my LinkedIn to see if any of my connections were tied to an employee at Apartment Therapy. As I searched, a voice told me to email him directly. So glad I did!

In my email, I told him I was inspired by his book to clear space in my home and make room to birth this “Style Your Spirit” series. He replied back to tell me he was inspired by my inspiration and graciously gave me a tour of the Apartment Therapy headquarters in SoHo, New York.

The conversation flowed and so many “ahas!” surfaced. I mentioned I read “Creating Sacred Space with Feng Shui” by Karen Kingston before I read his book. He told me that same book inspired him to pen “Apartment Therapy”! Our conversation included our emotional attachment to our homes, feng shui and spirituality.

YES, it’s because of him and his book that I had the courage to launch this series, put aside my perfectionism and create. Hope this inspires you, too. If this series has inspired you, tell me in the comments below or hit me up on social. I wanna know. If you haven’t heard of Apartment Therapy the book or website, check them out. Warning: get a pencil and paper ready. You’ll have so many ideas that will delight you. Keep creating, my friends.

Onward,
Toan

Follow me: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram.

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