ALISA & LYSANDRA: 5 tips to make your isolation space more liveable (and lush.)

You’ll no doubt remember Alisa and Lysandra from their stint on The Block Sky High, which they won back in 2013. Nowadays, the Melbourne-based twins run an interior design business, The Design Duo, and recently launched hand and body care line al.ive body. 

Since they’re experts in making spaces look and feel amazing, we asked them for their best tips on how to make the most of any indoor isolation situation. Here’s what they shared.

Stuck at home or safe at home? Here are our five ways to make your space feel more like a private oasis than four walls of doom and gloom.

Side Note: If My Dad Was A Home Smart Speaker. Post continues below.

1. Bring the outdoors in

We don’t all have the privilege of a sprawling backyard to access during these times of social isolation, so we need to get creative and bring nature to us. Indoor plants purify the air we breathe and bring vibrancy and colour into the home.

Not only do they produce oxygen, but they actively absorb toxins from the air. Some of the most effective indoor plants include:

• Snake Plant (Mother In-Law’s Tongue)
• Spider Plant
• Dragon Tree
• Peace Lily

You will find that many garden centres will deliver to your home at the moment (and contactless). There has never been a better time to do some gardening or create an “indoor garden”, because it’s not an oasis without plants, is it?

2. Hygiene is paramount

To feel safe in your home you need to get on top of the germs, and that means blitzing them before they even enter the house. A beautifully scented hand sanitiser pump or spray by the front door should become part of the family routine (to minimise any chance of germs being left on the front door handle or beyond).

Make sure to sanitise before fetching the keys out of your bag or pocket or it’s all for naught.

3. Increase disinfecting without the headaches

While you need to increase the cleaning, you don’t want to fill your home with harmful chemicals and fumes from toxic cleaning products. There are highly effective cleaning products available that use active ingredients like eucalyptus and tea tree oil.

They are proven to kill germs and leave your home feeling and smelling fresh (with no chemically induced headaches). We love Australian brands like Euca and Bosistos, or you can even try mixing up your own. There are many great recipes for a DIY cleaning product in a spray bottle.

A clean home with a beautiful fresh fragrance will make staying inside that much more enjoyable!

4. Wash your dang hands (but do it in style)

If you haven’t increased your hand washing tenfold in recent weeks then you clearly haven’t been watching the news. If you’re doing it right and using warm soapy water for 20 seconds (on repeat) you can guarantee two things; you’ll be spending a lot of time in the bathroom, and your hands are going to start feeling a little dry.

The al.ive body duo includes a hand and body wash, and hand and body lotion, which are gentle and nourishing on the skin while leaving your hands clean. The neat interlocking bottles mean that following up your thorough hand washing routine with a dollop of moisturiser is effortless (it’s literally there at your fingertips).

To make sure your hand washing is as frequent and effective as it should be, we recommend having a duo at every basin in the house (kitchen, laundry and bathroom).

5. Declutter

If you truly want to embrace the calm during these difficult times, you need to pull on your big girl (or big boy) pants and tidy up your mess.

There truly is nothing more satisfying than pulling out the label gun and re-organising the pantry or wardrobe. Go one step further and combine your newly concocted cleaning spray with a cupboard clean out.

A calm and organised space will set the tone for your mood and make everything else going on in your life seem that much more manageable.

Now that your home is germ free, smells like eucalyptus, has ample hand washing stations, looks like a jungle, and is clutter free – you can sit down and have a well-earned cuppa. Enjoy your sanctuary and feel safe in the knowledge that “this too shall pass”.

Follow Alisa and Lysandra on Instagram here.

Feature Image: Supplied/Getty.