cozy home series: krista pischner-coon
Courtney Jones
Over the past year, we all have been somewhat forced to realize how much our homes influence our lives. Home has become a space not only to sleep and eat, but a place of rest, recovery, safety, and sanctuary. We have been pushed to actually spend time in our homes, to actually LIVE in our homes in a way we never have been before.
Because of this, candles have become a large part in building these personal sanctuaries. Olfactory senses play a massive role in how your brain perceives space- smell can trigger both positive and negative emotions, which is why fragrance plays such a vital role in making your home.
With so much time spent at home in the past year, we wanted to take a closer look at our customers homes and how our candles have impacted their lives! Our first interview was with Krista Pischner-Coon:
How has your idea of “home” changed over the past year?
“Home has always been a place I look forward to going to after work. But over the last year, with so much more time at home, I never really want to leave my home. All of my extra time spent at home has inspired and motivated me to work on home improvement projects, cleaning and organizing, etc. as well as making my home art studio feel a little bit more like a studio instead of just a place to store my art projects. And over the last year, my home and my art studio have offered me a safe and comforting space to reflect and recover through the really tough year we had.”
“My favorite sable scent is fern + rain. It reminds me of my childhood, growing up up north at my parents’ country home, frolicking with my siblings through fields of wildflowers and building forts in the woods surrounded by big beautiful green ferns.”
What is your favorite room in your home? Why?
“My favorite room in my home is my living room. My living room is quite large and has a lot of different sitting options, coffee table books and my favorite novels, art on the walls and lots and lots of candles! It’s my favorite room to curl up on the couch with a good book, cup of coffee and a candle lit next to me. It’s also my favorite room in the house when we host friends and family. We can pretty much all find a place to sit and when the room is filled with our favorite people, it feels really intimate and cozy.”
How do you make that room your “sanctuary”?
“My living room is filled with all of my favorite things- photos of my husband and I from our wedding day, photos with my sisters and my family, art by local artists and ourselves on the walls, dried lavender and eucalyptus, snake plants, our favorite coffee table books and novels, puzzles, our record player, cat toys (it is also our cat’s favorite room haha!) cozy handmade blankets and of course a variety of candles, depending on our mood or the time of year.”
“I have a lot of candle fragrances in my home that make me feel calm, or that coordinate with the seasons, or that remind me of someone or an experience.”
How does fragrance play a role in your home? Do you have certain candle scents that you light in certain rooms? Why?
“Fragrance is a huge part of my home. When I come back to my home after being away for a long weekend or a week, I immediately smell my “home fragrance” and am happy to be home. My home smells like a mixture of all the scented candles we have about but also “old country farmhouse”. Aside from my parents home fragrance, my house is the only place I have ever lived in that actually smells like home to me. I have a lot of candle fragrances in my home that make me feel calm, or that coordinate with the seasons, or that remind me of someone or an experience. I do like certain candle scents in certain rooms- I love green tea + lemongrass in the kitchen because it’s fresh and makes me think of gardening. I love lavender + chamomile in the bathroom because it’s so calming. I like tobacco + vanilla, pine + scotch or fern + rain in the living room or dining room, because this is the largest space in my house and these scents fill large rooms well plus they’re super cozy and make me feel refreshed.”
What is your favorite sable scent? Why?
“My favorite sable scent is fern + rain. It reminds me of my childhood, growing up up north at my parents' country home, frolicking with my siblings through fields of wildflowers and building forts in the woods surrounded by big beautiful green ferns. But I love all of the sable scents, depending on the season, on my mood, etc. Lavender + chamomile is perfect when I am overwhelmed and I need a simple reminder to calm down, tobacco + vanilla is great when my husband and I are enjoying a cozy night in, and green tea + lemongrass is my favorite kitchen candle, especially in the summer- it’s so fresh!”
“I have so many memories that tie back into smell or certain scents. What really sticks out to me in the last year are memories associated with the lavender + chamomile candle.”
Do you have any memories that tie back into smell, or certain scents?
“I have so many memories that tie back into smell or certain scents. What really sticks out to me in the last year are memories associated with the lavender + chamomile candle. Whenever I burn that candle in my home, I think of 2 things in the last year. I think of when I was gifted the candle when my grandmother passed away. It was in the beginning of the pandemic, and we couldn’t get together as a family to grieve. My dear friend (Courtney!) gifted me the lavender + chamomile candle and I burned it all in one day, while reading, relaxing on the couch with a face mask on and looking through my favorite photos with my grandmother. I also think of when I visited a beautiful northern Michigan lavender farm with my sisters last summer. I was laid off from my job and spent many weeks up north with my family. My sisters and I decided to spend the morning at a lavender farm we had never been to before, and I will never forget the rolling hills of soft purple, white and gray lavender plants, all of the bumble bees busy pollinating and drinking a cold lavender lemonade.”