I sat down with Jude Kamal, Registered Interior Designer and Founder of Sansa Interiors, a full-scope interior design firm located in Toronto to discuss the concept of Holistic Interior Design. Jude has had a keen interest in holistic design for some time now and is passionate about human-centric design and creating spaces with people in mind.

So, what exactly is Holistic Interior Design? Jude describes holistic design as an approach that considers the “whole umbrella” of wellbeing within a space, which includes the emotional, spiritual, psychological and physical effects on the space’s occupants. Sansa Interiors draws on a variety of philosophies such as biophilic design, colour psychology, and ergonomic design when designing a space from a holistic approach. Her firm combines these theories of design to create spaces that promote harmony and balance.

We discussed how there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to interior design, and designing a residential space specifically for the people who live there, requires a number of considerations. Jude shares that she has a number of questions that she asks her clients before coming up with a design that will best suit them. This includes questions surrounding their lifestyle, their family and their day-to-day activities. Details surrounding whether or not they have pets, work from home, and things like whether they like to read or exercise in the home, are all important considerations. Knowing as much as possible about the family and how they use their home helps her firm to really tailor the space to her client’s specific needs. 

Floorplans and layouts are an important aspect of interior design, and their suitability and functionality will really depend on the particular occupants that live there. While she still sees open floor plans as a popular choice among her clients, sometimes she advises them to have separation in the layout depending on their needs. She has seen an increase in demand for dedicated, separate spaces that include home offices and yoga and exercise rooms. She mentions that in the past, people would often just stick a yoga mat in the corner of their house, but now people are really wanting a specific place for those kinds of activities.

Natural light is another important consideration when designing a space. Jude likes to focus on natural light for activities like exercising and working. While we often see home offices and gyms in a home’s basement, Jude prefers to avoid doing what she refers to as “active activities” in a dark space. She prefers to keep basements for things like home theatres, or specific applications that would really benefit from that separation from the rest of the house. This can be challenging as homes are often limited in both size as well as how many windows that they have. This requires some critical thinking, creativity and problem solving to come up with designs that make the most of what there is to work with. While things can’t always be perfect given the circumstances, Jude strives to make spaces the best versions of themselves that they possibly can be.

Obviously, it is easier to create a feeling of wellness in a home that is surrounded by greenery and nature and has large windows. But what about urban condos surrounded by concrete, other buildings and highways? To improve wellness in spaces that don’t naturally lend themselves to such, Jude recommends bringing in plants and focusing on incorporating natural materials such as stone and wood in the design. When it comes wood, Jude describes it as one of her favourite materials to use in her holistic designs. She says that she gravitates towards lighter wood tones as they can help a space to feel more open and spacious. She also loves incorporating natural stone into her designs, but is careful to only use natural stone for vertical applications, and not surfaces that will be used to eat or drink on, as they have the tendency to stain. Jude gives thoughtfulness in terms of materials and finishes, not only in how they can make you feel in a space but also their functionality.

Does colour have a place in holistic design? Jude says yes, and that most of her projects incorporate colour. She likes to incorporate a mix of cool and warm tones in her projects. However, she does usually avoid what she calls “alert colours” such as bright reds or greens. Instead, she’ll gravitate towards colours that have more depth, and are easier on the eye, such as sage, mint or light blue tones. She finds that often people are afraid of colour, and she tries to push them a little out of their comfort zone.  In an effort to move away from the from the all-white kitchens that have dominated in the past couple of years, she encourages her clients to be open to using colour in their kitchen as it acts as a nice focal point and presents the opportunity to create something very beautiful.

If you’re curious about designing or redesigning your space with you in mind, I highly recommend you check out Jude’s amazing firm. I think you’ll be instantly impressed.

View Sansa Interior’s work and learn more about holistic design:

Website: www.sansainteriors.com

Instagram: @sansa.interiors