Bucks &amp; Oxon


<p>Our homes have never had to work harder. They&#8217;re offices, sanctuaries, family hubs and somewhere to escape the endless WhatsApp notifications. They&#8217;re also one of the few places we have any real control over — which makes how they make us feel more important than ever. So it&#8217;s no surprise that &#8216;designing for wellbeing&#8217; has become one of the biggest conversations in interiors. It&#8217;s also one that&#8217;s easy to get wrong. A few houseplants and a lick of sage green paint don&#8217;t automatically create a calmer home.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/07/elle-4.jpg" alt="KINDLY" class="wp-image-206347" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/07/elle-4.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/07/elle-4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/07/elle-4-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/07/elle-4-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>So rather than disappearing down another Instagram rabbit hole, we went straight to Cotswolds-based interior design studio <strong><a href="https://www.interiorsbykindly.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">KINDLY</a></strong>. Think ridiculously beautiful homes, layered natural materials and the kind of interiors that make you exhale the moment you walk through the door. The secret isn&#8217;t just impeccable taste, though. Every project starts with understanding how people really live, drawing on everything from biophilic design and colour psychology to ergonomics and even Feng Shui. Not entirely sure what all that means? Us neither.So we sit down with the stylish bunch at KINDLY to break it all down and explain the design principles they return to time and again – and there are more than a few ideas worth borrowing.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-design-around-your-life-not-your-layout">Design around your life, not your layout</h3>



<p>It’s easy to get swept up in the practicalities of a renovation. Should you knock through? Add an island? Squeeze in a utility room? But before you reach for the floorplan, take a step back. The homes that feel the best aren’t necessarily the biggest or the most expensive – they’re the ones designed around the people living in them.</p>



<p>That means looking beyond square footage and asking the questions that rarely make it onto a renovation checklist. Where do you instinctively head with your first coffee of the day? Which chair does everyone fight over? Is there a corner of the house you naturally retreat to when you need five minutes’ peace? And just as importantly, where does family life start to unravel? The hallway that’s forever piled with shoes? The kitchen where everyone ends up under each other’s feet? The beautiful room that’s somehow never used?</p>



<p>These everyday rituals and frustrations reveal far more about how your home should work than any Pinterest board or floorplan ever could. In fact, understanding how you want to live in a space is often the difference between creating a house that simply looks good and one that genuinely supports your wellbeing. One of the simplest places to start? Pay attention to the tiny things that quietly annoy you every day. Whether it’s constantly squeezing past a dining chair, having nowhere to put your morning coffee or trekking to the garage every time you want the blender, those little frustrations often point to the biggest opportunities for change. Spend a week simply noticing your habits before making any big decisions. The answers are often hiding in plain sight.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-biophilic-design-without-turning-your-home-into-a-jungle">Biophilic design (without turning your home into a jungle)</h3>



<p>Let&#8217;s tackle the jargon first. Biophilic design might sound like something dreamed up on an interiors course, but the principle is beautifully simple: creating a stronger connection between your home and the natural world. And no, it doesn&#8217;t mean filling every available surface with monsteras.</p>



<p>Instead, it&#8217;s about surrounding yourself with materials and textures we&#8217;re instinctively drawn to. Think warm timber, tactile linen, natural stone and woven fibres that add depth, softness and a sense of calm. There&#8217;s a reason a wooden table feels warmer and more inviting than a cold metal one – we&#8217;re naturally drawn to materials that echo the world outside.</p>



<p>Natural light plays an equally important role, as does creating a stronger connection to the outdoors through carefully framed views and thoughtful layouts. In fact, one of the easiest wellbeing wins costs nothing at all: clean your windows. Maximising natural light instantly changes how a room feels, while also helping blur the boundary between inside and out.</p>



<p>Ultimately, biophilic design isn&#8217;t about recreating nature inside your home; it&#8217;s about celebrating it. By choosing materials that feel authentic and age beautifully, you create spaces that are not only timeless but also help you feel more grounded, relaxed and connected to your surroundings.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-go-with-the-flow-yes-we-re-talking-feng-shui">Go with the flow (yes, we&#8217;re talking Feng Shui)</h3>



<p>Feng Shui has had something of a PR problem over the years. Once an interiors buzzword, it gradually became shorthand for anything a little too &#8216;woo woo&#8217;. The funny thing? Many of its core principles never actually went away.</p>



<p>At its heart, Feng Shui is all about flow – the way you move through your home, how your eye travels through a space and whether a room feels calm or chaotic. Think about what greets you when you walk through the front door. Is there a clear path through the house? Can natural light travel freely? Are there awkward pinch points where furniture disrupts the flow?</p>



<p>A simple way to test it is to take a slow walk through your home. If you&#8217;re constantly squeezing past furniture, sidestepping clutter or stopping short at dead ends, your layout could be working against you.</p>



<p>Even something as simple as what you see when you open the front door can make a difference. If your eye immediately hits a blank wall or an obstacle, the space can feel surprisingly abrupt. Creating a softer journey through the home, whether that&#8217;s by repositioning furniture, introducing rounded shapes or simply improving sightlines, can subtly change the way a room feels to move through. Sometimes, moving a sofa, swapping a sharp-edged coffee table for a round one or simply creating a clearer route through a room can make it feel instantly calmer.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-colour-is-never-just-colour">Why colour is never just colour</h3>



<p>It&#8217;s easy to choose colours because they&#8217;re on trend, or because you&#8217;ve always loved a particular shade. But before you reach for the paint chart, ask yourself one simple question: how do you want the room to make you feel?</p>



<p>That&#8217;s where colour psychology comes in. Rich, earthy tones can make a bedroom feel cocooning and restful, while softer blues bring clarity and focus to a home office. Children&#8217;s bedrooms are another good example. Bright, primary colours might seem the obvious choice, but gentler palettes often create spaces that are much better suited to winding down than winding up.</p>



<p>The same thinking applies to the views outside your window. Looking onto a glorious garden? Resist the urge to paint the walls green. Warm neutrals will make the landscape sing. Coastal home? Step away from the nautical blues. Rather than matching what’s outside, create contrast. The result is that your eye is naturally drawn to the changing colours of the landscape beyond the window, making nature itself part of the design scheme. It&#8217;s an approach that turns the view into the artwork, allowing the landscape to change with the seasons while your interiors quietly frame it rather than compete with it. Sometimes the best design decision is knowing when to let nature steal the show.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-good-design-should-solve-problems-not-create-them">Good design should solve problems, not create them</h3>



<p>One of the biggest misconceptions in interior design? That a happier home always means a bigger one. Sometimes the answer isn&#8217;t more space at all. One recent project began with plans for a substantial extension. Instead, by rethinking the layout, improving storage and giving every room a clearer purpose, the family only needed to extend by a fraction of what they&#8217;d originally planned. Often, the smartest design solutions aren&#8217;t about adding square footage, but making every inch work harder.</p>



<p>The ice cream maker that’s exiled to the garage because there’s nowhere to store it. The utility room that’s miles from where the washing actually piles up. The dining table everyone squeezes past twenty times a day.</p>



<p>Could a better layout solve the problem? Would clever storage make everyday life easier? Sometimes moving a doorway, rethinking a room or simply rearranging furniture can transform how a home works without adding a single square foot. The best design solutions aren’t always the most obvious. Often, they’re the ones you don’t even notice because life suddenly becomes that little bit easier.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-curate-don-t-clutter">Curate, don&#8217;t clutter</h3>



<p>We often mistake wellbeing for minimalism, but the two aren&#8217;t the same thing. A calm home isn&#8217;t about owning less – it&#8217;s about being more intentional with what you choose to live alongside. That means editing rather than endlessly adding. Choosing to display the family photos that make you smile instead of leaving them buried on your phone. Giving Grandma&#8217;s favourite chair pride of place because it tells part of your story. Rotating your children&#8217;s artwork rather than covering every surface with it. And finding a proper home for the things you use every day, instead of letting them become visual clutter.</p>



<p>It&#8217;s not about stripping away personality; quite the opposite. The most successful interiors are the ones that celebrate the people who live there. Every object should either have a purpose, evoke a memory or bring you joy. If it doesn&#8217;t, perhaps it&#8217;s time to question why it&#8217;s there at all.</p>



<p>One final trick? Find your room&#8217;s &#8216;sweet spot&#8217;. Every living space has one – the chair everyone gravitates towards, the corner with the best light, the place that simply feels good to sit. Work out why it&#8217;s your favourite spot, then let the rest of the room support that feeling rather than compete with it.</p>



<p>The result isn’t a minimalist show home; it’s a home with soul. One that’s layered with memories, rooted in its surroundings and intentionally designed around the people who call it home. Ultimately, designing for wellbeing isn&#8217;t about chasing perfection. It&#8217;s about creating a home that quietly supports your everyday life – reducing little moments of friction, making space for the things and people you love, and giving you somewhere that feels restorative the moment you walk through the door.</p>



<ul>
<li><em>Feeling inspired? Whether you&#8217;re looking for a fresh perspective on a single room, planning a full renovation or simply can&#8217;t work out why your home doesn&#8217;t quite feel right, <a href="https://www.interiorsbykindly.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">KINDLY</a> offers everything from one-off design consultations to whole-house interior design.&nbsp;</em></li>
</ul>


Designing for wellbeing: how to create a calmer, happier home

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