Intentional Design: Creating Spaces That Guide Behavior

Interior Design & Styling: Rachel Cannon Limited | Photo: Haylei Smith

As an interior designer, I often say my design choices are made intuitively. It’s not that design happens hastily or without any consideration for our clients, but my gut does a better job of guiding things than my head does. 

When I get too in my head about a project and start to overthink it, I face what the client is usually facing when they reach out to us: analysis paralysis. That’s because the best-designed spaces guide your behavior, and behavior is an intuitive process. 

Interior Design & Styling: Rachel Cannon Limited | Photo: Haylei Smith

Consider this: You walk into a familiar room and, without thinking about it, you sit in a specific chair, you set your coffee in the exact same spot, and you go on autopilot. Comfortable spaces that work with our natural behaviors make us feel safe, secure. We aren’t really engaging our brains to find a sense of peace. 

Conversely, escape rooms are a form of entertainment for a reason! They are completely counterintuitive and require us to use our heads to get out. 

Designing with intention is one of the skills professional interior designers refine over years of practice, but it’s often left unmentioned when a project is complete, photographed, and published. 

Interior Design & Styling: Rachel Cannon Limited | Photo: Haylei Smith

Think about it. You know how some living rooms feel like museums? They might be gorgeous to look at, but somehow you end up spending all your time in the kitchen? 

That’s because the kitchen is designed for gathering. The counter height invites leaning, the open layout creates easy conversation flow.  Meanwhile, the formal living room might be decorated within an inch of its life, but if the furniture appears to be too precious or stiff, your body just doesn’t want to settle there.

Intentional design means arranging your space so it supports what you actually want to happen in it. Reading nook? You need good light, a comfortable chair positioned away from high-traffic areas, and a surface for your coffee within arm’s reach. 

Interior Design & Styling: Rachel Cannon Limited | Photo: Haylei Smith

Want your dining room to host long, lingering dinners? The lighting needs to be dimmable, the chairs need to be comfortable for hours, and the table should feel intimate no matter how many people are there.

Of course, we want to create spaces that are aesthetically pleasing. However, if your real life isn’t taken into consideration, you can end up with rooms that look amazing but feel unsupportive. 

It does nobody any good to simply copy ideas from a Pinterest board or Instagram if the inspiration photos are all the interiors of single professionals with no kids, but you’re a family of six with two dogs and a cat, all of whom require specific storage needs, rest and relaxation needs, and personal activity needs.

Interior Design & Styling: Rachel Cannon Limited | Photo: Haylei Smith

When we design with intention, our clients’ spaces do half the work of helping them live well. Routines become easier, muscle memory takes the place of chaotic mornings, and the quantity of time spent becomes more about focusing on a higher quality of time spent.

Ready for more intentionally designed spaces in your home? Book a call with our team today.