Home

Questions

1. What’s your favourite thing about your home?
2. What is your dream home?
3. What home improvements would you like to make to your home?
4. Would you rather live in a house or an apartment?
5. Do you agree that ‘home is where the heart is’?
6. Do you like being at home alone?
7. Would you like to work at home?
8. Are you a stay-at-home person or a going-out person?

Videos

Everything in Elizabeth Sweetheart’s life is green. From her bright green hair, to her self-dyed green overalls, the New York City artist has earned her moniker, “the Green Lady.” Elizabeth was inspired to wear green after an

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emotional trip to Florida with her father. Today, she continues to uphold the tradition because of the joy it brings those around her.

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Category:  Art
Keywords: Colors | Home | New York
Vox
IKEA has mastered the “Gruen effect.”
Researchers estimate that 50 percent of purchases are unplanned. These purchases, especially impulse

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buys, present an opportunity for retailers who can entice consumers to deviate from their shopping lists.

One of the most effective ways to influence this is through a store’s architecture. In the 20th century, the architect Victor Gruen, who pioneered the first American shopping malls, used light and space to dramatically stage goods in storefront windows. His designs were meant to capture the attention of passersby — and convert them into customers. This conversion became known as the “Gruen effect.”

Watch the video above to learn how Ikea has mastered the Gruen effect with a carefully designed store layout that gets customers to travel further distances… and buy more.

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Category:  Business & Marketing
Keywords: Home | Shopping

Writer and designer Graham Hill asks: Can having less stuff, in less room, lead to more happiness? He makes the case for taking up less space, and lays out three rules for editing your life.

Category:  Psychology
Keywords: Happiness | Home | Shopping

Vocabulary:
cove
secluded
float
shore
anchor
lighthouse
greenhouse
handsaw
hammer
power tool
nail
board (noun)
ton
land sick
biomass
canoe
paddle
real estate
prosper
fulfilled

Expressions:
subsistence living
hon

Vocabulary:
word
word
word
word
word
word
word
word
word

Expressions:
expression
expression
expression
expression

Vocabulary:
prestigious
involuntary
swindler
fraudulence
unwarranted
concern
unfounded
impostor
syndrome
faculty
pervasive
prevalent
disproportionately
underrepresented
downplay
abnormality
self-esteem
spiral
accolade
threshold
susceptible
voice (verb)
peer
dismiss
excel
ease
mentor
competence
banish
frank

Expressions:
nagging doubt
shake a feeling
put something to rest
surefire way

Vocabulary:
filmmaker
principle
handcuff
clown
distill
underdog
aspect
familiar
unfamiliar
chopsticks
keyboard
organic
grounded
clarity
stuntman
steady
gag
perfectionist
rhythm
distinct
continuity
elbow
bunch
flail around
unlike
invincible
impressive
humanize
asset
payoff
relentlessness
finale

Expressions:
kick ass
going above and beyond
get smacked in the face
sell a joke

Vocabulary:
explosion
smoke (noun)
engine
unique
pilot
route
unemotional
terror
instant
reach out (to someone)
postpone
urgency
purpose
regret
humanity
ego
reflect
eliminate
frame (verb)
artistic
talent
bawl
miracle

Expressions:
bucket list
brace for impact
mend fences
make sense
connecting dots