Don’t forget Sensory Richness!

Way, way too often when we’re pulling a space together we think only about what it will look like when we’re done—as if we don’t have ears, nose, and skin that will be in the place we’re developing along with our eyes.

Most of us are more visually oriented than attuned to what we hear, smell, or feel, but we do (at least most of us do) still hear, smell, and feel in whatever sort of place we find ourselves so to ignore how it will sound, etc., in a space we’re developing is a big no-no.

The key concept here is not to add a design element that comes along with unwanted baggage. A marble floor can look great but sound terrible if it leads to an echo that makes us feel mad (until we find enough thick padded paper to create walkways on that marble that we eliminate the echo and make a terrible eyesore). The natural fiber hanging that adds a beautifully undulating and relaxing curvilinear element to the sitting room will drive us from the area for the next six months if that’s how long it takes for it to finish off-gassing and settle into a neutral (and maybe even actually good) smell.

Moving beyond the unexpected repercussions of sensory choices, it’s best to actively run through the five (or more, depends how and what you count) senses in your head as you plan a space—always making sure that whatever you decide to incorporate has a consistent effect on how humans think and behave and aligns with whatever plans you have for a place. So all scents, sounds, and sights are all relaxing or likely to boost cognitive performance, for example. Articles such as this one LINK and this one LINK and others we’ve written give you an idea how different sorts of sensory experiences affect us.

If the sensory experiences you work into a space aren’t consistent, you’ll be tense there (your confused minds won’t be able to sort out how to feel) and that’s almost never a good idea so come up with objectives for how you want to be in a space and don’t deviate—no matter how cool a potential addition seems or who told you it is something that you must, must add to your dining room.

When you’re creating a space, always ponder all of the different sensory experiences that you’ll have in it. Failing to consciously consider one doesn’t make pulling an area together any easier and instead makes it much more likely that your efforts to create a place where you can relax, have great times hanging out with your family, do excellent work for your employer or yourself if you are self-employed, throw wonderful dinner parties, etc., won’t bear the fruit you’ve intended.