At the recent ‘Future of Home’ conference there was a common thread woven throughout: that of wellness. Not only did it seem to work its way through the residential interiors on display at the show, but it also found itself embedded on a deeply personal level in the work of design professionals.
Recognizing how the last couple years have put insanely intense pressures on practitioners, The Business of Home (BOH) team created a program that was intentionally and intelligently uplifting to design community.
Several exhibitors, too, zeroed in on health, the most notable of which being The Wellness Lounge. Curated by Well-Designed, a trade organization that aims to facilitate wellness-centric learning experiences through industry-supported events and workshops, the space was designed to be at once serene and stunning, leveraging partnerships with Benjamin Moore, Crypton, Kravet and Kohler to help in the design.
A Re-Cap of Events at This Year’s ‘Future of Home’ Conference
While at the show, BOH editors Kaitlin Petersen, Fred Nicholas and Dennis Scully moderated conversations with business coaches, entrepreneurs, authors and others that addressed the various forces that impact designers’ emotional fitness.
From coping with financial and staffing challenges to responsibly using technology in a human-centric way, the programming offered designers implementable strategies for managing stress in ways that could benefit themselves, their businesses and their clients.
Well-Designed co-founders DeAndre DeVane and Caleb Anderson also debuted their organization, servicing attendees with workshops and sessions set amongst the relaxing visuals of the Wellness Lounge.
“We’re offering tools and resources that are specifically tailored to the architecture and design community,” said Anderson. “When we prioritize our mental health, it creates a domino effect that elevates the industry as a whole.”

The Wellness Lounge came together as a joint effort between Well-Designed and several of its manufacturer partners.
Polished also announced that it will be launching Polished.com in the next few months. As the parent company of Appliances Connection, Polished had broad exposure to the residential renovation boom of the pandemic years, and is now looking to aggregate that experience on its platform.
That platform aims to streamline the selection process for purchasing kitchen appliances and provide concierge-level support to the design trade, from product selection to white-glove, scheduled delivery, install and haul-away services. A “Love-It-or-Return-It’ 30-day policy and trade discounts will also be offered. Brands currently on board include Forté, GE Café and Viking.
Another version of this article originally appeared on KBB Online September 19, 2020. It has since been updated for DesignWell’s audience.