Blog Post #1: Creating a comfortable Home Office starts with the air we breathe

When the window cills of my new place started turning black with silt, dust, and dirt, for the third time in less than a week, I knew it was okay to keep the sunshine, but time to say goodbye to that crisp Fall breeze. The oppressive humid Summer was quickly becoming a memory, and I was loath to give up my crisp Autumn reprieve. Harlem in the season of apple cider and light sweaters can be a haunting and soulful experience. The crunch of toast colored leaves underfoot. Hundred-year-old townhouses, hinting at their secret histories. A scattering of brief, but surprisingly dense woods, in its many overgrown parks. Sadly, all that Sugar Hill music had to end at my window. I finally had my clean window cills, and unfortunately, also now had stale air.

I imagine most people living in cities like The Big Apple spend a lot of time indoors, more than we even realize. At home, at work, at school, shopping. Of course, that was until 2020 came around. Now everyone everywhere is spending more time than we care to, with clean window sills and even staler air.

Before the global pandemic, I was already working remotely, and mostly at home. However, for all of Harlem’s gifts, air quality is not one of them. Harlem has the nation’s highest childhood asthma in the country. I guess if you spent your childhood elsewhere, your lung capacity and function shouldn’t be as compromised by all the pollution? After all, this is a ‘concrete jungle’, and there are more bus depots than hospitals in Harlem, right? But remember, we spend most of our time indoors. These children suffering from asthma are at home, or in school, for most of the day. It turns out that indoor air quality can be five times worse than outdoor air quality, even in the most polluted of locales.

So here I was, trapped indoors working from home, with my clean window sills and stale air. As the winter months moved in, the air became dryer, along with my eyes. I noticed increased dried nasal mucus (aka: boogers!!) and restless nights. The trouble sleeping was my wake up call that I had to figure out a way to make my home environment healthy. I would be home for 10-12 hours longer than my counterparts (and for the sake of my future children and their lung capacity) there had to be a solution.

My first step was to get some plants. Create a little symbiotic relationship with a wild green thing. By the way, how many house plant deaths equal to one tree death? Asking for a friend. The next step was to eliminate toxic cleaning products, switch to green surface, laundry, and dish cleaners. While keeping those window cills clean, the toxic chemicals and aerosols were contaminating my indoor air far more dangerous than what had been floating in through my window alone. Just do some research on the effects of many household clean supplies on our hormones, respiratory systems, and overall health. Laundry was an easy switch, but I had to wean myself off of the more common toxic cleaners. I choose a brand that had a history of non-toxic ingredients (not just as a popular marketing tool).

The third and most important step, the one that finally made the most significant difference, was investing in a good quality in-room HEPA air purifier. Finally, no more stale air! Clean window cills, AND clean air, I’m in Heaven! Having a HEPA, High-Efficiency Particulate Air, purifier was a highly effective method for trapping contaminants at the micron level, not just the silt, dust, and dirt. Most air purifiers on the market are just capturing these larger particles, not the bacteria, viruses, and airborne contaminants that can be 30,000 times smaller than a human hair. I also chose a model that included a carbon filter, a natural odor absorber, rather than masking odors with perfumed aerosols that add to airborne contaminants. My sleep has improved, my seasonal allergy symptoms have decreased each year, and it just feels more comfortable. I started with one in my bedroom and slowly added one to every room in my small, yet cozy home. Finally, my home office is filled with sunlight and fresh air. I named my blog Air of Caeli (Latin for heaven-sent or made) because my quest was to have a heavenly space to live and work. That my peace of mind would extend out from all my senses, even to the air that I breathe.

Now more than ever our schools, offices, and homes need a heavenly breath of fresh, clean, uncontaminated peace-filled air. With the state of airborne pandemics, smoke, and soot from forest fires, flu season, and just daily living we need to invest in healthy tools to keep our environment as close to the Air of Caeli as possible. I'm here to help inspire you to create your own heavenly space to Live, Work, and Balance.