Does the home or space you live in support your passion? Or do you always have to leave your house to enjoy what you do?
Kristina Browning has a superpower. By day, she sells homes to the residents of Portland, Oregon, but then… Bam, Swish, Boom! Her spatial superpower takes over.
You see, Kristina has melded her background in Art with her passion and profession. Ironically enough, her high school career tests all showed her affinity for systems and space. She has always loved homes, and after visiting a Street of Dreams (a local neighborhood of high-end homes decorated and ready to sell) in the area, she was smitten. She started doing home tours, devoured HGTV, and could no longer deny her love of “all things home.” She left her job as a news photographer, which had ironically provided her with a solid base and background for her new direction as a podcaster.
Once the personal assistant to Grammy Award Winning rapper Sir Mix A Lot during his “Baby Got Back” days, Kristina spent many hours with him in the studio while he was recording and editing his soundtracks. Translation: She was not afraid of the “techy stuff.” She even contributed to the “Return of the Bumpasaurus” by recording sound effects in the pond behind her house!
Kristina states: “Fast forward 40 years to when I considered jumping into the podcasting world: the wave form didn’t intimidate me as much as it might have if I had not spent so much time in a recording scenario. I think it gave me comfort that, despite a steep learning curve in the beginning, I’ve got this.”
Enter Kristina’s weekly podcast, Home Space and Reason. Let me tell you, it’s not your typical home podcast. It takes a very deep dive into a subject, and Kristina brings in the functionality, aesthetics, and automation of the topic with a little history and psychology thrown in to boot.
“I geek out on every subject imaginable regarding your home and yard. I challenge you to think about your space differently—to get the most out of every square foot.” Kristina says. “My podcast is all positive. I give virtual fist pumps, and I celebrate your wins.”
In addition to being a realtor and podcast host, Kristina is a Home Functionality Coach working with clients nationwide to get the best out of their homes.
Kristina coined the term “functionality coach” when she discovered she was spending house-hunting time, prior to a purchase, talking with her buyers about the various ways space can be used in the home. “It’s important to deep dive into what the longer, bigger goals are for the space. It’s lovely if future function can be considered before a house purchase. Accommodating for a growing family, or children moving from youth to teenage years, or even caring for aging parents can be planned for,” says Kristina.
Because people rarely know what a “functionality coach” does, Kristina birthed her podcast to help explain. A functionality coach works with how the home functions as a whole—because it’s not just pretty curtains and paint colors.
Kristina originally started by staging her own listed properties (doing things like working with curtains and paint colors) and space planning with the sellers, many of whom were delighted with the staging.
In fact, Kristina heard the refrain, “Gosh if it was like this the entire time, I might not have sold” quite often from her clients.
The Home Space and Reason podcast breaks down individual compliments of the home—interior or exterior—and talks about the history of them. She covers why we have some of the things we do in our home and why we may use them the way we do. Kristina remarks, “It’s about geeking out on the houses and homes, and about how the home functions as a whole—how it’s all wrapped up and packaged in a big bow.”
Kristina does it all on her podcast. Oftentimes, she begins working on the episodes months in advance. When she has an idea for a show, she creates a template for that episode, gathering information, history, trends, etc. about the topic. She prewrites her episodes with the goal of using the scripts for inclusion in a future book. Following the podcast recording, she edits and prepares all her own episodes, allowing her to be as “finicky and picky” as she wants to be. 
The episodes of the podcast run from buying a home—a more traditional type of topic—to talking about the tradition and rich history of the doormat. Yes… the doormat. Kristina talks about how to use it to showcase your home’s personality.
One of Kristina’s favorite episodes is about backyard fire pits. She interviews Mike Bertelsen, founder of the Cowboy Cauldron, a company that makes fire cauldrons that will be passed down from generation to generation. Part of Mike’s background includes living for a time on the Mt. Vernon estate, home to George Washington. The history lessons in this episode alone educate and fascinate the listener, bringing in behind-the-scenes history of our first President.
In the future, Kristina plans on bringing in more guests and depth to the topics she explores. She also wants to add more episodes on home buying and selling. Her goal is to interview one listener in each country of the world to talk about their homes. “I’d like to find out what their homes are like and how similar we are to each other,” says Kristina.
Kristina not only loves to sell homes and work with home space, but also doing things around her home. She brews her own Kumbucha, does a little bit of jogging, and enjoys leisure time hanging by her firepit, in her hammock, with a good book. Every year, she bakes a huuuuggggeeee batch of lemon sugar cookies and brings some out for the various holidays. She spends hours decorating them with royal icing. It’s her unique way of celebrating her creativity, art, and the holidays.
Take a listen to the Home Space and Reason podcast. Walk around your home with different eyes, and examine each space. Take a look at how you are enjoying your home and what you do in it.
In other words, get a glimpse of your home through a different lens.
December 2020 Issue
