Interior Design for Cancer Season
THE SUMMER SOLSTICE REPORT ♋️🌞😎
With Jupiter now in Cancer since June 9th, co-present with Mercury, this Cancer season is E X T R A. While Jupiter is a benefic planet, we can also simply experience more of something. Cancer protects the homeland and has built in boundaries (borders) so we could see a rise in nationalism, for example. My hope is that with such empasis on watery, emotional cancer we will reach for connection through emotional intelligence, presence, and creativity // art // beauty. Cancer seeks emotional safety and a deep sense of belonging.
DESIGN FOR CANCER SEASON
Ruled by the moon, Cancer more than any other sign seeks safety at H O M E. Cancer is about family, memory, our roots, and being in touch with our ancestors. Bring in family photos, mementos from your family of origin, objects and relics of the land, culture, and heritage of your bloodline or chosen family. Travel to the place of your ancestors, or cultures you’re drawn to, and bring home treasures that help you feel connected- artwork, sculpture, textiles. Layer the old with the new. Give offerings to the land spirits.
Cancer has an obvious boundary protecting their tender insides. Vunerability is their gift when places of safety are nurtured. They don’t fuck with gaslighting or passive agressive bullshit (but when disempowered- talk about deflection, dismissing, and projecting… yikes). What kind of environment helps you feel emotionally present, willing to feel your feelings, and respond from a place of soft openness? What helps you feel fully embodied?
Creativity is a innate Cancer quality. Cooking for friends and family, making art, dancing, and playing music are forms of creative expression that create connection with ourselves and with others. Nurture your creative impulses; Heed your intuitive nudges.
Spruce up your outdoor areas for dining, conversation, enjoying the long days of summer, and being outside more. Stay up late and find the moon. I’m available for a limited number of outdoor projects this summer. Be in touch to get started! Get thee in your garden!
If you’re a Cancer Sun, Moon, or Rising you might enjoy the Coastal/Nautical style.
Work with me on your next project!
As a former LMT (licensed massage therapist) I know that there is not always the budget to invest in professional services, especially when just starting out. As a dear friend, fellow LMT, former employee and mentee told me honestly- massage therapists are scrapy. They’re not going to spend money on design when they can use amazon or their leftover furniture. I get it. My clients in healthcare and healing arts have typically been studio owners, not individual practitioners.
My online course, Treatment Room Design, is the perfect bridge for practitioners who are DIY oriented, but want to make sure their efforts are successful, informed, and effective. It gives you a process, frameworks like biophilic design and neuroasthetics which demonstrate the healing effects of intentionally planned spaces that use nature as a guide, and a really sweet mood board meditation and exercise to help you visualize your ideal space. Sign up here for only $75 | 3 CEU
Check out a short talk I gave to Badass Bodyworkers below! It’s a sneek peek into some of the content within my course, with the addition of a section on styling for marketing.
If you’re a BABS member on FB, please consider submitting your photo for a quick consultation. Just fill out this form. Rebecca and I will be collaborating on some treatment room design suggestions!
If you’d like to hear the talk live with the opportunity for Q & A, please join me with Massage Magazine on July 29th at 9:30 PST/12:30 EST. REGISTER
AROUND THE WAY
My friend Robin Clark is one of the clearest voices I know who teaches from a feminist framework to help empower women around anger, boundaries, and communication. She’s not just a dating coach, she’s fighting the patriachy and the ways we’ve all internalized inequality. I encourage you to check out her work if you’re looking for greater emotional intelligence, assertiveness, or clarity.
Fellow designer, astrologer and stylist
offers astrolgy readings to guide your style expression. So cool!LMTs/RMTs: Check out this online course from my friend Rebecca Brumfied, founder of Badass Bodyworkers, on Spa Synergy: Integrative Techniques for Ultimate Relaxation. What a fab way to uplevel your services! Not Clinical. Not Medical. Very Therapeutic. All Magic.
Enjoy Summer!
xo Jamie
For more Cancer season reflections, keep reading. I’ve got a couple announcements here and a few more thoughts to share below.💜
🦀 Cancer Season Reflections: Boundaries, Emotional Safety & the Spaces We Create
As we move into Cancer season,the astrological time associated with home, emotional safety, and nurturance, I’ve been thinking about how we create spaces that hold us, both physically and emotionally.
In terms of design, Cancer influences us to prioritize softness, comfort, and connection: cozy corners, layered textures, the safety of something well-considered and warm. But these same principles apply to our emotional environments, too, especially in how we set and honor boundaries.
Lately, I’ve noticed what a friend brilliantly named “the boundary-setting and dismissing era.” There’s a lot of talk about boundaries (which is great!), but not all of it comes from emotional intelligence or care. Sometimes, “I’m setting a boundary” is used more like a wall than a bridge, a way to avoid discomfort, shut someone down, or sidestep relational repair.
But healthy boundaries, like good design, support connection. They’re not about control or avoidance; they’re about making space for everyone to breathe and feel safe. That kind of boundary doesn’t dismiss - it tends.
If this resonates, here are a couple of resources for exploring boundaries through a more emotionally intelligent lens:
Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab
A practical guide to clear, compassionate boundary work that supports your wellbeing and your relationships.
The Language of Emotions by Karla McLaren
This deeper dive helps you understand your emotional signals and how they can guide authentic, grounded communication.
Cancer season invites us to soften, tend, and protect what matters without shutting the world out. The goal isn’t perfect harmony, but safe enough spaces for real connection to take root.