It’s finally happened; as house prices fall, home ownership is no longer about making money. As people stay put out of necessity, this could be a silver lining to the economic downturn. It will make for a greater sense of belonging, with closer emotional connection to one’s house and neighbourhood. For domestic designers like ourselves, this is both valuable and appreciated. So how can designers get in tune with this new mood? If you are going to make home improvements during an economic downturn, the money needs to be wisely spent. Quality, craftsmanship and good value become important. Heritage, thoughtfulness and authenticity are a few of the abstract nouns that describe the upcoming mood.

Here at JG studios, we will continue to provide holistic service, using our spread of skills across architecture, kitchen and interior design. We also apply emotionally intelligent thinking to create living spaces that establish connection with nature, views, light and the needs of the brain. Some of the techniques we use include encouraging eye contact whilst cooking, establishing feelings of calm and security with our neuroscience analysis, and using more creativity to have fun and respond to individual tastes through colour and eclectic furnishings. We make this happen by carefully choosing individual artisans, craftspeople and artists – all of whom have unique talents to offer. We will be working out ways that clients can get this less expensively and provide choices as to which of our services are right for them.

In the last few weeks, we have had requests for a lot of smaller but exciting design projects. These range from redesigning children’s bedrooms with heirloom pieces to making modest extensions that will bring space and light into a kitchen so you can eat within the arc of sun. And as winter fast approaches, we’ve also been asked to design a pair of fire seats so that more people can huddle up close to the fire at the same time.

Why does a room look relaxing and yet feel awkward to sit in?  Which makes us happier - a minimalist sleek space or a small room with the cosy clutter and signs of homeliness?  Annalisa Barbieri wrote a thoughtful analysis, “Windows of the Mind,” in the Guardian Weekend about one of my core interests, the psychology of the home.  She talked to John Zeisel and I when she was writing it and about our personal research into how neuroscience can take us beyond Fung Shui.

John is on the board of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture which was set up to get architects and designers to work together on exploring what the links are between the brain and home design.  Our design studios in UK and USA apply neuroscience analysis to kitchens and interior design for all our clients. It’s well described by Annalisa in the article.

At one point Annalisa says I work with local authorities on social housing. I wish I did. What I think she meant was that I would like to, especially as I ran a conference last year entitled, Housing from Heaven. It was an attempt to bring together the different strands of the housing world – architects, interior designers, thinkers and housebuilders crossing their respective boundaries to think creatively about making housing mean home, rather than accommodation (with money, regulations, dull thinking and minimalist space). I spoke at the conference about how our studios multiple approach of combined psychology, brain research and study of humane ergonomics could be applied to social housing, particularly for the interior. Small houses are often in more need of good design than their larger cousins because space is at a premium and the feeling of being cramped makes people less able to be relaxed or ‘literally at home’. Although our studios work for well off  individuals we like the idea of contributing to the lives of ordinary people. Design thinking should filter down to the real economy.