Category Archives: holistic design

Less is Perfect: When Space Becomes Silence

Sometimes the Greatest Peace Comes Not from What We Add, but from What We Let Go. An empty corner where only morning sunlight rests. A low table with a single bonsai. In the world of sōtō, things do not compete for our attention – instead, they leave space for what truly matters: silence, presence, and self.

This style is more than minimalism. Sōtō is the art of conscious omission, where home is not just a living space, but a meditative environment. Following the principle of ‘less is more than enough’, both the number and significance of objects are transformed. What happens here is not about abandoning the essence – quite the contrary: only the essence remains.

Continue reading Sōtō – Holistic Interior Design Styles 1.8 →

Beautiful because it soothes – when our brain feels truly at home

Imagine a space where every movement feels completely natural. The light glimmers where your eyes would rest, touch becomes an experience, and the view not only pleases but fills you with a deep, inexplicable sense of well-being. As if the room intuitively knows exactly what you desire. This is not magic – this is neuroaesthetics.

This approach transcends visual beauty. The goal of neuroaesthetic-based design is not merely decoration, but the conscious support of human brain and nervous system functioning. This style is not just looking good – but also affecting well. It slows down, energizes, focuses, or calms, depending on what you need. The home thus becomes not just a living space, but a nervous system ally.

Continue reading Neuroaesthetic-Based Design – Holistic Interior Design Styles 1.9 →

How is it possible that these globally widespread holistic trends originated in Scandinavia and spread to various Asian nations? What is the reason that Northern European ethnic groups are more reserved and introverted, yet still create valuable holistic trends? In contrast, from a tourism perspective, for example, it is the atmosphere of the Mediterranean region that provides Europeans with an experience that is cheerful and radiates friendliness. The list presented* did not mention "holistic Mediterranean design," for example. What could be the reason for this? Is it that the extroverted temperament of the Mediterranean spirit is able to live this spirituality, which requires a quieter inner search for those living in a more reserved cultural environment further north? Or is it simply that the dynamism of the Mediterranean environment captivates and satisfies the human mind to such an extent that no such need arises?

I used the Mediterranean and Northern European contexts merely as an example because with these, the sense of lack might be more perceptible. And somewhat contradicting all of this is the fact that Indian culture is just as intensely extroverted as a Mediterranean circle, and yet Vastu Shastra exists there. Although Indian culture only appears to be a single category from a distance, and in reality is quite multifaceted (and spanning several millennia), with numerous castes, where holistic approaches and superficial material pleasures can comfortably coexist.

What are the social and societal causes of these?

Continue reading Why Have These Holistic Designs Conquered the World? – 1.B. →

The Faces of Sunlight – When Home Invites Celebration

There are spaces where not only entering is pleasant, but staying is too. Where warm light almost caresses you, stories slumber in the plaster cracks, and the air is always lingering with the memory of freshly baked bread, a glass of wine, or the scent of the sea. The Mediterranean home is not merely aesthetic – it is more of a life experience that speaks to our soul through our senses. This world is open, vibrant, and welcoming: it offers connection, not separation.

The Mediterranean space does not calm down like Japanese Minimalism, but opens up. It invites you to dinner, to laughter, to a moment on the terrace when the world simultaneously feels timeless and intimate.

In Mediterranean regions – Italy, Greece, Spain – abundant sunlight, mild climate, and natural richness almost constantly draw people outdoors. A significant portion of life is spent and traditionally lived outside, in open community spaces, markets, and public squares. Harmony here emerges not through introspection and contemplation, but through social connections, sensory experiences, and direct engagement with nature.

Continue reading Mediterranean – Holistic Interior Design Styles 1.10 →

The Space of European Folk Soul: The Holistic Heritage of Home Cultures

Although originating in different languages and drawing from diverse religions and topographical conditions – such as Hungarian, French rural, German alpine, Polish, Romanian, and Slovak folk homes – they surprisingly answered a similar fundamental question: how can one live in harmony with nature, in community with each other, yet still feel secure within?

Central European Rural and Folk Home Cultures in Contemporary Interpretation (Inspirations)

These interiors did not emerge from design theories, but from the fabric of everyday life. The person who lives from the earth, depends on the weather, and whose home is not just a living space, but a workplace, sanctuary, and social space at the same time – arranges things instinctively in a holistic manner. Space is not separate from time: it follows the seasons, weekdays, and holidays. The house becomes a narrative: it tells the story of the family, community belonging, faith, beliefs, and adaptation to the rhythm of nature.

Continue reading Other Rural and Folk Home Cultures – Holistic Styles 1.11 →

The Soul of Provence in Space

The Provence farmhouse, the “mas provençal”, is a natural expression of South French lifestyle: houses built from earth seem to grow out of the landscape, embraced by lavender fields, olive tree-covered hillsides, and rocky paths. The spatial philosophy here celebrates life itself: thick stone walls, shutters, weathered wooden doors, and wrought-iron details create a sense of timelessness. Mediterranean light and slow living dominate spatial design – the house is open to the outside world while offering a sense of protection. Provençal holism is rooted in sensuality and community, where the kitchen, fireplace, and garden serve as spiritual centers.

Continue reading Provence: French Rural Style – Holistic Styles 1.11.1 →

Alpenstil – The German Mountain Home as a Bastion of Identity

The Alpenstil or bauernhaus, which emerged in the mountainous regions of German-speaking territories – particularly in Bavaria and Tyrol – is more than an architectural form; it is a carrier of cultural identity. The wooden structures resting on massive stone foundations, deep eaves, carved balconies, and flower-filled window boxes are spatial projections of coexistence with nature and a work-centered lifestyle.

Continue reading Alpenstil – Holistic Styles 1.11.2 →

Chata – The Wooden Framework of the Polish Folk Soul

The Polish chata (farmhouse or rural house) represents a gentle and warm living space rooted in agricultural traditions and Catholic beliefs. The wooden houses with shingled roofs draw sustenance from both the proximity of the forest and the closeness of the earth. Characteristic features include entrances adorned with Christian symbols, a home altar within the interior, and intricately carved beams – each element seeking to bridge the tension between spiritual and practical life.

Continue reading The Polish Chata – Holistic Styles 1.11.3 →

The Mountain’s Identity – National Romanticism and Spatial Perception

Imagine waking up to the golden peaks of the Tatra Mountains gleaming in the morning sunlight, with dew still sparkling on the house’s wooden beams. This is not just a romantic picture – it is the essence of Goral life.

The Goral ethnic group (in Polish: Górale) inhabits the mountains of Southern Poland – the Tatra and Podhale region, where the built environment has breathed in harmony with the landscape for centuries. Here, every house is a poem crafted from wood, every decoration a prayer etched in stone. When Stanisław Witkiewicz* first glimpsed these houses, he immediately knew: this was more than architecture. This is an entire worldview cast into material form. The Zakopane style emerged through an artistic reinterpretation of Goral heritage: archaic spatial organization + Art Nouveau motifs + artisanal material use = a unique national spatial language.

Tourism and tradition coexisting in the Zakopane region**

Here, the house is more than a shelter—it communicates a worldview. The decorations are not ostentatious, but confessions in the language of woodcarving. Every cut, every pattern tells a story – of freedom, of God, of the mountains where they live.

Continue reading Zakopane Architecture and Goral Spatial Philosophy – Holistic Styles 1.11.3.B →

Painting as a Response to Life – The Birth of a Tradition

Imagine: a gray winter morning, when the house walls are dark and sooty, and a woman dips her brush into white lime. Then suddenly – as if spring were moving in – a pink flower unfolds on the wall.

Zalipie is a small village in Southeastern Poland that lived quietly for centuries — until its walls began to speak with flowers. This story is not about decoration, but about the art of painting hope.

In the era of chimney-less ‘kurnych chata’ type houses, the interior walls were dark and sooty. Imagine waking up every day in a space where smoke has permeated the walls, where winter months are nearly devoid of color. Rural women began to brighten and warm their spaces first through whitewashing, then with painted floral patterns — a poetic response to life itself.

This was not mere decoration, but a survival strategy. Decoration evolved from practicality to symbolism, and ultimately to identity: not just beautiful, but a spiritual and transformative spatial force.

Continue reading Zalipie Flowers: From Decoration to Identity, From Painting to Spatial Philosophy – Holistic Styles 1.11.3.C →