Styled Spaces and Giving Back: Home and Away

Published in Dote Magazine’s Issue #9.

Text version of article below // 📸 by Shannon Yau.

Article text

Living a vibrant life full of colour and chromatic luminosity goes beyond simply living amongst an array of brightly coloured objects. It’s about firmly doing the things that set you on fire, provide you with an unshakable confidence and drive you to follow the yellow brick road led by a precarious, unwavering passion. To live a life filled with colour, one must do whatever it takes to surround themselves with the things that spark joy, ignite happiness and add colour both literally and metaphorically to the spaces around them.

For some, like Christina Fast, this notion of living life in a bold array of ROYGBIV includes running a non-profit organization that she founded to improve hospital decontamination and sterilization practices in low- and middle-income countries, and then coming home to her modern, European inspired character home located right here in Calgary, Alberta.

After finishing college in Kelowna, Christina set out on a yearlong backpacking trip around the world and eventually landed in Australia. Here, she picked up a job at a hospital in Melbourne, working behind the scenes to sterilize surgical equipment and medical devices. She wanted to continue travelling, but to also found more fulfilment, to be able to see the world while giving back and to do more than simply be a tourist. Here is where she stumbled across Mercy Ships, the world’s largest non-profit hospital ship that offers free surgeries off the coast of Africa to those in need who can’t afford them. Volunteering with the organization as an OR Sterilizer opened her eyes to certain realities she simply couldn’t ignore.

“I was invited to visit a local women’s and children’s hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone, but wasn’t sure what to expect or how different the services would be from what I was familiar with.”

Little did she know how big of an impact this visit would have.

“What I saw had me speechless. Instruments were left to soak in a bucket of water and chlorine which hadn’t been replenished in days. There were no brushes to clean the instruments and no method to sterilize them between patients. When I had a conversation with one of the hospital's doctors, I was told that an estimated 90% of his patients returned to the hospital with a postoperative infection. This was a huge contrast compared to the estimated 0.3% at the hospital I had been working at in Canada.”

Returning to Calgary, Christina set out on a mission. She spent countless hours researching international organizations that offered context-specific sterile processing training. Finding none, she decided to start her own. That’s when Sterile Processing Education Charitable Trust (SPECT) was born.

It was around the same time, at the young age of 24, that circumstances in her life lead her to purchase her dream home. The home had been on the market for many months without a buyer, which would be a red flag to most, yet the minute she laid her eyes on the clawfoot tub, original wooden slat flooring and updated kitchen, she fell in love, threw caution to the wind and put an offer down.

“When I entered my house for the first time, I felt a strange instant connection. Like it had always been my home and was waiting for me to walk through its doors (as cliché as that sounds). It originally looked quite different from the way it does now, but I was drawn in by its unexposed potential and historic charm. It was far from cookie cutter or modern-day which was very appealing to me. I’ve loved redecorating spaces ever since I was a child, so seeing the possibility in what could be done with this new space was a very exciting thought. Growing up, when I was asked to clean the house, I would begin the chore with good intentions but it didn’t take long before I was daydreaming of how the space could look better and then without evening thinking I’d start moving furniture around to bring my vision to fruition. Needless to say, the cleaning didn’t always get done, but the living room never looked better.”

Within three weeks the deal was made and the excitement began! She laughs as she recalls the first few months of homeownership.

“4 days before I took possession of the house there was a really windy day, which resulted in a neighbour's 100-year-old pine tree falling on the house, right through the roof. The only positive thing that came of that unfortunate event is that I now have a lifetime supply of firewood!”

“Through each challenge, I’ve discovered more and more about this house. There are a lot of quirks and nothing is as easy as it should be, but on the other side of the hard times and frustrations, I feel more empowered and competent in caring for the house. It’s also easier to appreciate the beautiful space you have when you know how much hard work has gone into it.”

“Shortly before purchasing the house I had travelled through Turkey. During this trip I collected many plush floor cushions and textiles that I envisioned would fill the space.”

It didn’t take her long to realize that this mix of styles didn’t suit the house at all, as all these colours and patterns in the small space made it feel dark and cluttered. The first step she took to brighten the space was to replace the 1960s river stone on the main floor fireplace with English-style brick, later on painting the brick white.

Realizing that the space looked better with a ‘less is more' concept, she began removing things that no longer fit the house or had a story to tell, taking a more minimalistic approach to her design.

“This process was tough at first because it included saying goodbye to things from my past that used to hold a special place yet over time had lost their sentimental value. I ended up giving way almost half my possessions, which created more open space to fill purposefully.”

She has more recently begun introducing a mix of contemporary accents. “I’m currently swooning over black onyx utensils, woodblock paper prints and brass fixtures. To me, each of these items enhances the natural character of the house.”

Growing up, Christina’s family lived in Pakistan, Canada and New Zealand. Travel became a large source of education and inspiration for Christina, which continued into her adult life. You can see this influence in how she has chosen to decorate her home and bring it to life.

“When I travel, I search for unique pieces, such as authentic artifacts that have a rich history behind them,” she mentioned. “Essentially the items that major corporations knock-off, I strive to find the originals!”

Her home is also filled with familiar art pieces by local artists, such as a ceramic llama made by Anna Lisa Schmidt as well as unique cultural items, accented with brass light fixtures and Turkish textiles. Some of her most cherished pieces are two wooden Zebu’s from the south of Madagascar that still has moss growing on them, and a symbolic bronze warrior sculpture from Benin.

Together, each element is its own conversation piece balancing between new and old-world designs, giving the house a touch of rustic sophistication, while still maintaining its cozy and welcoming ambiance.

“While I love almost every corner of the house, one of my favourite aspects is the high vaulted ceiling in the upstairs bedroom. Not long after purchasing the house, I was driving past Canadian Tire when I noticed a wooden ladder sticking out of the parking lot dumpster. It became the inspiration for my bedroom bookshelf. I also tore out the carpet in the two top floor rooms after noticing planks boards hiding underneath which I sanded down and painted white.”

While slowly curating meaningful pieces of décor in the house of her dreams, Christina has been fruitful in building SPECT to be a successful non-profit charitable organization, registered in both Canada and the United States. After 7 years of securing funding, contracts and various grants, she has taught more than 427 workers in 8 African nations. “It’s the only organization in the world currently providing support to this area of healthcare,” she mentioned. “I am so proud of how far we’ve come and where we’re heading.”

As a result of her unbelievable hard work and strong-willed efforts in the humanitarian field, she was a recent recipient of Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40 award in 2017, which was an affirmation that she was going about her work in the way she was meant to. This same effort has gone into moulding her home into a space that both inspires and allows her to feel truly herself and relaxed, away from the hustle!

“Now that I travel so often for work, home has a new meaning,” says Christina. “It's a space where I have a good mattress with clean sheets, a soft towel and safe drinking water. A fridge with twinkle lights inside. A place to store my treasures from around the world. Where bed bugs don't live and the internet is fast and the water is hot. Where I don't have to wear pants. It's also somewhere I can spend time with the people I love in a space I love and there are no rules, except, 'no whining, no complaining, absolutely no frowning, only hugs, smiles and warm fuzzy feelings allowed.”

Through her keen eye for design and a penchant love of a clean, versatile, and welcoming space Christina’s vision with her home is always evolving. Her many pursuits and ongoing efforts to carry out her passion in the healthcare field abroad allows her to be open to the possibility that every day will be a different colour. As a result, she’s surrounded by a beautiful space she can call home while also fully embracing this technicolour way of life.

“For me, living a colourful life is to have experienced life’s ups and downs,” says Christina. “To have learned from failures and grown from them, to be curious, open and expressive, to embrace diversity and appreciate all the blessings and realities in life. Basically, to feel all the feels, do all the things and live life to the fullest!”