Founder : Michelle Bexelius
My Path to Wellness Design
I am a wellness designer and practitioner who helps my clients connect the dots between health and home creating a place that is restorative and calming so they can heal and thrive.
Michelle Bexelius bridges health and environment through a holistic, intuitive, and practical blend of environmental testing, consulting, and interior design—translating complex exposure and building factors into clear, supportive design decisions. She is the owner and founder of DesignWell Studios, helping residential clients and wellness-led clinics create spaces that feel calmer, function better, and support wellbeing in real life. For more than 15 years, Michelle has inspected and tested hundreds of homes and seen firsthand how buildings can either support health—or quietly undermine it through mold and moisture issues, VOCs and off-gassing finishes, poor ventilation, EMFs, and toxic materials that often go unnoticed until the body is under stress.
Her understanding of the body–environment connection is both professional and personal. Michelle originally planned to become a physician, drawn to the intricacies of human biology. But during her first college cadaver lab, she had a severe reaction to formaldehyde—a toxic exposure that revealed a lifelong sensitivity and reshaped her path. She turned toward design, studying art and visual communication in Europe and later building a career in San Francisco as a usability engineer and experience designer. She led digital learning initiatives, conducted ethnographic research, and learned how to observe real-life patterns and translate complex systems into clear, human-centered solutions. Over time, her focus widened—from screens to spaces, and from digital interfaces to the materials, light, and air we live with every day.
Motherhood deepened that shift. In 2000, while searching for non-toxic products for her baby’s nursery and finding almost nothing available, Michelle launched Green This Life—one of the early eco-wellness platforms created to fill that gap. She later trained with the Institute for Building Biology and Ecology, earning certifications in Healthy Building Practices, Indoor Air Quality, EMFs, and Environmental Testing. The work became even more personal after her own toxic mold exposure and health challenges. Wanting to understand healing more fully, Michelle became certified as an Integrative Health Practitioner and studied nervous system regulation and brain retraining—experiences that reinforced a central truth in her work: when we feel safe in our homes, we can begin to feel safe in our bodies.
Nature has always been her foundation. Raised by a landscape architect mother and a builder-sculptor father, Michelle grew up on job sites, in gardens, and immersed in forests and coastlines. That early imprint continues to inform everything she creates. At the heart of her work is biophilic design—the art and science of weaving nature’s intelligence into the built world. Michelle uses natural materials, healthy light, clean air and water, and visual connections to the outdoors to support nervous system settling and long-term resilience. For her, design is not just about aesthetics—it’s about biology.
Today, Michelle leads DesignWell Studios, consulting on wellness-focused residential and clinic projects and teaching designers, builders, real estate professionals, and homeowners how to create restorative environments. Her approach is known for clarity and sequencing: meet clients where they are, examine what matters most, and deliver a phased plan that reduces overwhelm, avoids costly missteps, and helps create an environment that feels safe enough to relax—so the body can settle and recover over time.
Because designing for wellness is no longer optional. It’s essential. Michelle’s mission is simple: to create spaces that feel as good as they look—spaces that heal.