By: Maria Williams

In 2017, slow consumption stylist and artist Yun-A Johnson embarked on a mission to help others start fresh with the items they already had. Marked by Your Aesthetic Style (YAS) founding, her pursuit is one of creativity, individuality, and consciousness. Her dream? To empower women worldwide to honor what they find beautiful, all without the financial and environmental burden of replacing the old with the new. 

To help others refresh homes and outfits without shopping, Yun-A curated the YAS Method and her signature YAS Stylists program, where she offers consulting services, access to a community of like-minded individuals, and a treasure trove of inspiration. Through illuminating everyone’s unique combination of design elements (color, texture, line, etc.) and principles (balance, rhythm, contrast, etc.), YAS provides participants with all the tools they need to style interiors and outfits intentionally and sustainably. 

Yun-A’s approach is rooted in personalized homes and closets that emanate every person’s unique essence while evoking positive emotions. Without dos, don’ts, and other unnecessary rules, YAS helps people define what they truly love, allowing them to apply this knowledge to all aspects of life. With that understanding, participants may create brand-new combinations they had never thought of before, later sharing before & after photos in a custom lookbook. 

It’s possible to bring a fresh perspective to your surroundings through three straightforward steps. Yun-A describes this shift as akin to a lightbulb moment, illuminating what once felt uninspiring. “When you’re tired of your space, the initial reaction is often to replace,” she explains. “I used to be that person—always drawn to buying something new to spark joy. However, a more sustainable approach is to appreciate and reimagine what you already have. After all, these items were chosen for a reason—they resonated with you at some point.”

Realizing how overwhelming and restrictive transformations on a budget (or without any spending) can feel, Yun-A created an interactive quiz that promptly and precisely identifies individuals’ aesthetic styles. The method blossomed from the founder’s personal experiences, starting in childhood when Yun-A moved around into fully furnished houses every two to three years. In addition to enriching her life with cultural vibrancy, these adventures taught her the importance of personalizing a space, no matter how beautiful it was in the first place.

After switching from Studio Art Central at UMD College Park, three gap years of volunteering, and majoring in International Studies from American University, Yun-A founded Your Aesthetic Style in Oslo, Norway. More than a passion project, this decision was driven by positive reactions from everyone who visited Yun-A’s home. “After hearing that everything goes together so well and flows so naturally, I realized that I could empower others to enjoy the same balance and harmony within their spaces,” she shares. 

Working in person with her first clients, Yun-A identified their unique aesthetic styles by looking around their homes and scrolling through their Pinterest boards, redesigning 24 interiors with the YAS Method from April 2018 to December 2019. To bridge gaps between people and dream spaces on a larger scale, Yun-A launched the YAS Stylists program in 2020, teaching others how to curate, style, and design independently. 

Central to the YAS Method is a meticulously crafted quiz that – through a selection of diverse images – helps participants tap into their visual subconscious. With every photo representing one of the seven design elements and one of the six design principles, the quiz analyzes personal preferences to match individuals with their unique aesthetic style – one of the 114 possible combinations. 

But even within these styles, there are nuances that, for instance, guide couples toward an aesthetic they are both happy with. “Many partners I work with are opposites, always struggling to decorate without arguing,” muses Yun-A. “The quiz helps them identify what they have in common, whether that’s the design element of space surrounded by different principles or a love for color that just needs the right recipe.”

Photo Courtesy: Your Aesthetic Style

Designed for busy mothers, full-time employees, and everyday people who want to enjoy a refreshed look without much effort and resources, the YAS Stylists program consists of informative and attainable videos that may be accessed whenever, wherever. It’s enhanced with a proprietary online workbook for tracking quiz results, writing thoughts and ideas, and planning transformations. Spending just an hour a day, those who sign up can absorb Yun-A’s professional knowledge in 10 days, gradually learning how to design intuitively. 

Anyone who joins the program will also receive lifetime access to YAS Creators Collaborative. In this encouraging online space, participants can bond, seek advice, and share exciting projects with a community that cares, supports, and inspires. Once a month, Yun-A hosts live ‘Jam Sessions’ through Zoom, inviting all YAS Stylists to work on individual artistic projects and share progress with others. Before joining the program, those ready to embrace sustainable transformation can gain invaluable insights through The ‘VIBE’ Class – a free introduction to the YAS Method – and learn more about their spending habits through the Spending Style Quiz.

A fusion of design science, passion, and creativity, YAS Stylists and the YAS Method are more than a guide toward inspiring interiors and joyful closets; they shatter the stereotypical confines of conscious transformations, making them all about fun, not limits. “It’s all about sparking a wave of sustainability in a genuinely empowering way,” adds Yun-A. “The goal isn’t to deprive yourself of beautiful interiors; it’s about embracing what you have with a new perspective and curating homes and outfits you truly love – without compromises.”

Published by Tom W.