Room to Think

In this episode, Lyssia sits down with architect, educator, and author Juhani Pallasmaa to talk about the sensory experience of architecture and why we experience buildings with our entire body, not just our eyes. The conversation explores how modern architecture became overly focused on vision and aesthetics, and what we lose when we ignore touch, sound, shadow, memory, and imagination in the spaces we create and live in.

They discuss why old buildings often feel more comfortable than new ones, how childhood memories shape our idea of home, why materials should age and carry time, and how...

In this episode, Lyssia sits down with Dr. Kati Peditto, a researcher focused on the intersection of human behavior, neuroscience, and the built environment, to talk about neuroinclusive design and why designing for the brain should be a standard part of every project. The conversation goes far beyond sensory rooms and explores how environments affect cognitive load, behavior, stress, productivity, and overall human experience.

They discuss why many spaces are designed with good intentions but still fail the people using them, the importance of autonomy and choice in environments, and how designers, clients, and communities can start...

Your home is doing more to your mood than you think, and a lot of it has nothing to do with “good taste.” I’m joined by Amber Dunford, a mental health therapist and design psychology educator, to unpack why certain rooms feel instantly calming while others quietly put your body on edge. We trace it back to attachment theory, early childhood environments, and the way memory builds an emotional blueprint for what “safe” looks like in adulthood.

We get practical about the nervous system and the built environment. Amber explains how clutter can keep your brain scanning l...

Here’s the quiet truth about good design: the best rooms are edited, not stuffed. We sit down with designer Molly Torres Portnoff of Date Interiors to unpack how restraint, space planning, and material choices shape the way a home actually feels day to day. Molly’s path from fashion merchandising to interiors sharpened her editor’s eye, and she brings that focus to every project—prioritizing proportion, texture, and longevity over trends.

We dig into the subtle levers that calm the nervous system: fewer heroes, more visual rest, and a clear hierarchy so the eye knows where to...

What if your room could lower your stress, sharpen your thinking, and help you sleep—without you doing anything extra? That’s the promise Dr. Esther Sternberg brings to life as we explore how design choices become signals to the brain and immune system. From the science of stress and inflammation to the subtle ways air, light, sound, and nature steer your biology, this conversation reframes “interior design” as everyday preventive medicine.

We trace Dr. Sternberg’s research journey—from early evidence that the brain and immune system talk, to a personal health crisis that healed in a small Cret...

Ever wonder why a room that photographs beautifully feels stressful to sit in? We dig into the science with Dr. Anja Jamrozik, an environmental psychologist turned product leader, to reveal how light, noise, temperature, faces in view, and even app layouts quietly steer your focus, memory, and stress. The big shift: your brain treats physical and digital spaces as environments, and environments train behavior.

We trace Dr. Anja’s path from cognitive neuroscience to running living lab experiments that tweaked lighting, temperature, and noise—then uncovered a wild effect: when those were off, people swore air quality was...

Renovation success isn’t about swinging hammers faster—it’s about slowing down where it counts. We sit with Danny Wang, Head of Growth Initiatives at Block Renovation, to unpack the real engine of a smooth project: planning, trust, and aligned expectations. From the first Pinterest save to the final walkthrough, we map the steps that keep your timeline, budget, and sanity intact.

Danny shares the upstream moves that prevent downstream chaos: define scope with precision, price against a real plan, order materials early, and lock permits before demo. We get specific on contractor selection—how to read det...

Ever walked into a beautiful room and felt strangely tense? We dig into why spaces that photograph well can still exhaust your brain—and how small, science-backed changes can flip a room from draining to restorative. With Dr. Sally Augustin, environmental psychologist and author of Designology, we unpack how design cues shape stress, focus, creativity and the way we treat each other.

We start with clutter and minimalism, revealing how both visual overload and visual scarcity strain attention. From there, we map out biophilic design in practical terms: one plant per sightline, real materials like wood with vi...

Hosted by Lyssia, Head of Brand at LiLi Tile, Room to Think explores the intersection of interior design and psychology. Each episode features conversations with architects, designers, artists, neuroscientists, psychologists, and makers who understand both the beauty and the science behind the spaces we live in.

Together, we unpack how your home quietly shapes your mood, habits, energy, and relationships, and translate those insights into practical takeaways you can apply to your own space immediately.

The goal is simple: to help you build a better life by design.

Welcome to Room to Think.<...

Some rooms nudge you to relax, connect, and smile before you’ve said a word. Others feel loud, flat, or awkward. We wanted to know why, so we brought on designer–builder John Sofio to break down the psychology of space—from high-energy nightclubs to quiet, restorative homes—and the small, invisible choices that change how people feel.

John shares how a simple shift to figure-eight circulation transformed his club projects by giving guests agency and relief in crowded rooms. We dig into spatial hierarchy, VIP psychology, and why bar corners and “blockers” create intimacy without walls. Then we tran...

Your surroundings are shaping your mood before you take a single step. We sit down with Professor Justin Hollander to unpack the hidden psychology of places—why our brains hunt for faces in facades, how ornament and craft earn long-term care, and what happens when cities are designed for cars instead of people. From the figural primitive to the power of light materials and human-scale detail, this conversation connects neuroscience with everyday design choices you can make at home and across a neighborhood.

We dig into the realities of shrinking cities and the courage it takes to “plan...

What if the most beautiful parts of your home are the ones that survived the most stress? We sit down with sculptor and designer Miriam Carpenter to explore how wood records its life in burl, spalting, mineral streaks, and movement—and why those marks of strain feel so human. Miriam shares how she begins with concept before choosing a material, letting the season of her life dictate whether she turns to wood, bronze, or clay. From a floating table that honors a fallen tree’s resilience to side tables that reveal hidden complexity only when you kneel and look clos...

What if your home could hold your favorite memories in plain sight? We sit down with artist and designer Adam Trest to explore how Southern roots, a tiny museum, and an unexpected detour through architecture shaped a language of pattern, color, and story you can actually live with. From the joyful foxes that became a family mantra to the blue-and-white collection sparked by a week inside Portuguese ceramic studios, Adam shows how meaning sneaks into our work—and why the story often reveals itself only after the paint dries.

We dig into the craft behind whimsy: why ra...