There’s a reason certain spaces stay with you.
You walk in, and something stirs.
Maybe it’s a scent. A shadow. The way the light falls at 4pm.
It catches you quietly, like a memory you didn’t know you were carrying.
That’s not just nostalgia. That’s design doing its deepest work.
Because some of the most powerful elements in a space can’t be seen on a checklist. They live in the body. They live in memory.
Memory Is a Design Tool, We Just Don’t Talk About It
When most people think about interior design, they think of colours, furniture, layouts.
But what about the emotional imprint of a place?
What about the way a certain type of flooring reminds you of your grandparents’ house?
Or the way a warm, woody scent makes you feel safe even if you can’t place where you’ve smelt it before?
Memory is the invisible layer that gives a space soul.
And when we design with that in mind, we’re not just decorating. We’re remembering who you are.
Why This Matters in the Spaces You Live In
You don’t need a show home. You need a sanctuary. A space that meets you exactly where you are, and reflects something true back to you.
When we ignore memory, we risk creating spaces that feel hollow—ones that look good in photos but leave us cold.
When we honour memory, we anchor you in something deeper. Something only you can define.
This is especially powerful when you’re building a home from scratch, renovating after a big life shift, or designing a holiday let that’s meant to feel like a story not just a stay.
What Does Designing with Memory Actually Look Like?
It’s not just about recreating the past. It’s about noticing what holds meaning and using it intentionally.
Here’s how it often shows up in my work:
A textured plaster wall because a client remembered the soft, earthy feel of their childhood home in Spain
A particular tone of green that mirrored the hedgerows outside their grandmother’s cottage
A bench by the front door—because that’s where their dad used to sit and take his boots off every evening
The scent of cedarwood and lavender piped into a guest cabin, because it matched the feeling of the forests they’d always walked in
These aren’t trends. They’re truths. Personal, quiet, and powerful.
You Don’t Always Need to Know Why Something Feels Right
Often, a client will say to me, “I don’t know why I love this, I just do.” And that’s enough. Your body remembers what your brain hasn’t named yet.
Designing with memory doesn’t mean everything has to be sentimental or stuck in the past. It means we design with feeling at the centre—not fashion.
It’s about reclaiming your history, your pace, your comfort and letting it shape the environment around you.
This Is What Makes a Home Yours
When you walk into a room and feel calm, held, recognised that’s not accidental. That’s design rooted in memory and intention.
And it’s what makes the difference between “nice enough” and “I never want to leave this space.” That’s what I’m always aiming for. Not perfection. Not performance. But resonance.
A space that remembers who you are. Even when you’ve forgotten, especially then.
Want to Build a Home That Feels Like It’s Always Known You?
If you’re renovating, reimagining, or simply wanting to feel more at home in your own home I’d love to work with you.
Whether it’s a full-scale project or a 1:1 consultation, my process always begins with you:
How you live. What you carry. What comforts you. What brings you back to yourself.
Because good design isn’t just seen.
It’s felt. Remembered. And impossible to fake.
