Room to Think

In this episode, Lyssia sits down with Kobi Karp, a legendary Miami-based architect whose firm has designed over $36 billion in buildings across the world, from luxury resorts and residential towers to affordable housing and historic restorations. With more than 30 years of shaping the Miami skyline and beyond, Kobi brings a perspective on architecture that goes far deeper than what any building looks like on the outside.

The conversation breaks down why the way a building sits on its land, orients itself to light, and moves you through its spaces matters more than any finish, material, or aesthetic...

In this episode, Lyssia sits down with Gregg Sulkin, an actor known for his work on screen who has quietly spent the last decade building a real estate portfolio rooted in long-term thinking, renovation, and understanding what actually makes a home work. Coming from an industry defined by uncertainty, Gregg shares how real estate became a way to create stability, structure, and something tangible to build on beyond the spotlight.

The conversation breaks down the difference between designing a home for how it looks versus how it functions over time, and why so many people underestimate the...

In this episode, Lyssia sits down with Emily Campbell, founder and principal designer of Emily Jane Interior Design, to explore why the most meaningful homes are not just designed to look beautiful, but to feel deeply personal and restorative. Drawing inspiration from nature, memory, and emotional connection, Emily shares how her background in fashion, entrepreneurship, and design led her to create spaces that help people feel more grounded, calm, and connected to themselves. 

The conversation breaks down the difference between designing for aesthetics versus designing for feeling, and why so many people unknowingly create homes based on t...

In this episode, Lyssia sits down with Tami Sharp, co-founder of Law Enforcement Coaching and a specialist in mental, emotional, and energetic well-being, to explore the invisible forces inside our spaces and how they shape the way we think, feel, and move through life. Working at the intersection of high-stress environments and personal healing, Tami shares how her experience with law enforcement professionals led her to a deeper understanding of energy, intuition, and the unseen impact of our surroundings.

The conversation breaks down what “energy in a space” really means beyond the abstract, and why your environment may...

In this episode, Lyssia sits down with Alana Nielsen and Kelly Breiter, the duo behind Alana + Kelly Design Co., a residential architecture and interior design studio, to explore why the idea of the “perfect home” often fails in real life. Working across both structure and interiors, they share how designing holistically allows them to bridge the gap between how a home looks and how it actually functions day to day.

The conversation breaks down the difference between spaces that are designed for aesthetics and spaces that are designed for real life, and why so many homes fall shor...

In this episode, Lyssia sits down with Dustin Ence, architect, builder, and founder of Dustin Brent Design Build and Sagewood Homes, to explore what actually makes a home feel good—and why so many homes fall short. Dustin shares how working across both design and construction gives him a unique perspective on what gets lost between the blueprint and the finished space, and why being involved in the entire process allows him to protect the original vision of a home.

The conversation breaks down the difference between homes that look good and homes that feel right, and wh...

In this episode, Lyssia sits down with Danijela Saponjic, founder of Unfolding Space and a feng shui master, to explore the invisible forces inside our homes and how they shape the way we think, feel, and move through life. Danijela shares how she discovered feng shui during a transitional moment in her life, when she came across the idea of clutter clearing and became curious about how changes in her space could influence her reality, ultimately leading her to completely shift her path and career.

The conversation breaks down what feng shui really is beyond the stereotypes...

In this episode, Lyssia sits down with Harley Gusman, creator of Harley Renovating, to talk about the psychology behind DIY, confidence, and what really stops people from starting. Harley shares how she went from documenting small personal projects to building a platform where she renovates spaces publicly, embracing mistakes, criticism, and the learning process in real time.

The conversation explores why so many people feel intimidated to begin, how fear and outside opinions can hold us back, and why confidence matters more than skill when it comes to creating something with your hands. They also discuss the...

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...

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In this first episode of Room to Think, Lyssia sits down with artist and designer Adam Trest, whose work lives at the intersection of storytelling, pattern, and emotion. From growing up in the South surrounded by handcrafted objects to studying architecture and fine art, Adam shares how his environment shaped not just his style—but the way he thinks about the role of art inside a home. 

The conversation explores how memory, childhood, and lived experience quietly show up in the spaces we create—from foxes that symbolize a “go...