Here, You Own Your Ripple Effect

My life has brought me from slow and simple to hustle and bustle and back again. Nature was the most memorable constant in my childhood, the savior that a sensitive and quiet child could depend on.

Influences grew louder as I grew older and I found myself lured to give the ‘big & bold life’ a go. I soon moved to Chicago, and attained my BFA in Interior Architecture – keeping me connected to a lifelong love of ‘Home.’ Then I moved to the PNW, worked for large architecture firms in the city, soon finding my niche with small design/builds on a nearby island.

With that also came the returning call of nature at my core. I finally heard the simmering desire that had never actually left. So, I returned to what was raw and it felt like I was coming home again. My life now is authentic and right for me.

I’ve put down my roots in a small one room cabin on offgrid acreage of fish-laden creeks, woodlands, meadows and views of the foothills and nearby bay, all right down the road from the Olympic National Forest & Park.

And, most importantly, I sought out to combine my chosen design career with my undeniable compassion for wild animals and their homes – finally crafting the experience of Wildlifeel at Home, out of necessity.

I cannot ignore any longer our impact to the environment, my industry of design and construction being one of the worst. I live in a place of dense biodiversity. My neighborhood is of endless trees, neighbors are far and few between.

I am immersed, yet quite equally, I cannot help but be witness to the vast contrast between a well working eco-system and micro-climate to then the destruction of it altogether. I witness clear cut acreage without replanting, I see seemingly endless trucks hauling trees of all sizes from one town to the next. I see bear land, the forest floor permanently destroyed, critters without homes, nests and hatchlings abandoned. I see quaries taking from the earth, again without a regenerative approach, making far worse consequences in surrounding areas than simply at the site of explosions.

I know that much of the reasoning of why we ‘need’ to do this is for quite careless conveniences. Much of it is due to those needing to make a home for themselves, yes – rightly so! But it is most certainly a very conventional definition of ‘Home’ as well. Think of all standard framing, cabinetry, furniture, finishes like stone and tile, metals, etc.

And because there isn’t much of an alternative for folks to turn to, I offer my expertise in this industry and my first hand account of the impacts this separated way of thinking creates, all in order to give you another option. Its a way to do things differently – and better.

At Wildlifeel at Home, I seek to continuously evolve and apply only more and more helpful ways to design/build homes. I offer this to help ensure wildlife can keep theirs too.