Designing for the Soul

A Citizen Artist Essay
from The Art of Emotion in Space

By Joshua Rose, a Citizen Artist

In a time when every space is curated for the algorithm, there's something radical about a home that feels unmistakably human. Not just beautiful. Not merely comfortable.

But soulful - in a way that stirs something unspoken.

Soul makes a space feel like it has always been there, even when the paint is fresh and the house hasn't even had time to settle. It gives a room presence without pretense, and lingers long after you've stepped away.

This is what we're after. We don't follow trends. We chase feeling.

Los Angeles, CA
Design: Citizen Artist
Photography: Douglas Friedman

Castro Marim, Portugal
Design: Ressano Garcia
Photography: Francisco Nogueira

What Soul Looks Like

Soul isn't a style to emulate. It's not a finish, a palette, or a curated look you can pin to a mood board or package for a reel.

It's something you feel - and often, it comes from the beautiful tension of opposites: refined and rugged, serene and unexpected, rooted in memory yet alive with imagination.

These spaces don't perform.

They reveal.

Soulful design honors imperfection. It lets memory seep into the walls and leaves room for silence, for contradiction, for breath. It's the hand-thrown pot sitting next to the polished marble, the sun-faded chair that still holds its warmth, the slightly crooked tile that makes you smile instead of complain.

What details in your home speak to feeling — not just to form?

Zeller See, Austria
Design: Rem Koolhaas, OMA
Photography: Pernille & Thomas Roof

How We Design for Soul

We begin with listening - to the land, to the light, to the bones of a structure, and most of all, to the people who will call it home.

We ask questions that matter. What holds you steady? What stories have shaped you? What does comfort feel like in your body, your eyes, your memories? From there, we shape a language of space built from truth, not templates.

We layer history. Not everything must be new. Old wood, worn textiles, objects that carry the weight of time - these bring gravity, texture, emotion to a room. They whisper stories that new things simply cannot tell.

Cambridge, UK
Design: Mansfield Forbes
Photography: Sophie Davidson

We make room for imperfection. What humanizes a space is often what matters most - the slightly uneven edge, the patina that can't be faked, the beautiful accident that becomes the room's most cherished detail.

Turin, Italy
Design: Carlo Mollino
Photography: Marina Denisova

We trust the emotional logic of instinct. Not everything needs to be explained. Soul often lives in the choices that make no sense - except they feel right. The antique mirror in the stark kitchen. The rough stone wall in the refined sitting room. These are the decisions that transform houses into homes.

St. Moritz, Switzerland
Architecture: Powerhouse Company
Design: Christian Liaigre

Throughout the process, we return again and again to a single, grounding question: does this feel good?

The answer guides our next move.

When a Room Knows You

The most soulful spaces do more than express good taste. They reflect the person within - your rhythms, your contradictions, the needs you haven't yet named.

This isn't about perfection. It's about resonance—that quiet recognition when a space knows how to hold all of you: who you've been, who you are, and who you're becoming.

We've seen how deeply people respond to spaces that are emotionally aligned — not impressive for the sake of it, but meaningful in a way that feels personal, rooted, and real. These are the rooms that hold you through loss, that welcome you home after the hardest days, that make ordinary Tuesday mornings feel like small celebrations.

When the design recedes, soul remains. It makes a space unmistakably yours.

If your home could speak, what would it say about you?

Hiroshima, Japan
Architecture: Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP
Photography: Nacasa & Partners Inc

A Final Thought

If you're yearning for a space that does more than look good—a space that reflects your values, your story, your life - that instinct is worth listening to. It's telling you something.