Where do you go in the morning to cradle a coffee and escape the sounds clawing at your head, pulling you all too fast into your day? What scene distracts decision-fatigued brains, soothing and recharging them. Where is that sanctuary to sit and savour a sunup Nespresso and ease sedated eyes into the day? “We need our home interior to work harder than ever now that it is required to give us the space to work and also retreat effectively,” says Amy Heffernan, a design consultant and founder of the interior design practice StudioHeff. “It needs to reflect these new functions and accommodate new rituals.” The landscape of our homes is changing fast as we spend more time under their roofs and look to them to fulfil all life and work needs. Nurturing wellness isn’t confined to spas – you can do it at home too. Living spaces have also become classrooms and gyms, meeting rooms and libraries, bars and cinemas. Zoning of space is now the preoccupation of those with a storey to spare and alcoves aplenty – while multitasking spots are the way to make smaller homes agile and allow occupants to live without compromise. Somewhere in this reassigning of space, we need a dedicated place to sit with a coffee and brace ourselves for the day. “My morning coffee is my escape,” says Daniel Baer, a London-based creative director who recently acted on his conviction that moments spent eating and drinking, however humble or complex, should be honoured with mindful making, simple rituals, and beautiful basics. He did this by founding Monoware, a tableware brand and platform for sharing stories around food. It’s his belief that we no longer live by outdated rules about when and how and in what cup we drink our brew – we simply choose what makes us happy, or comfortable. “I take a stroll through the garden with my favourite mug and pause to appreciate the small pleasures of being in a green space – the delicate shell of a garden snail, the curled edges of a fallen leaf – precious minutes of calm before the house wakes up.” A more deliberate curating of a space for such a ritual might depend on square footage, though there are ways whatever your room count. If space allows, section off an area with a screen – one that provides acoustic control if necessary, to shield from unwanted auditory onslaught – or adopt the newest approach to zoning rooms: building walls with furniture. The design industry is fast responding to the need for flexibility in our interiors with cabinets and shelving that integrate desks and seating and screen off areas, but are also modular so that volumes of space can evolve. Build in natural light to sculpt the new environment, or introduce a lamp that creates a cosseting glow. Interior design choices have a great impact on us emotionally – whether it’s the quality of light, combination of textures or shade of paint. Today, there is no prescriptive chart of shades that relax and hues that energise; the impact of colour is understood to be quite personal, and it taps into memories of places where certain emotions were felt. For one person, walls washed with coastal blues might evoke a happy place, while for another, decor pigmented with rich russets, cactus green and sandy hues – assimilated once while swinging in a hammock on a porch in New Mexico – might bring the necessary sense of escape. Generally, though, it is understood that when we build the tones and textures of nature into our interior environments, we feel grounded and whole. “My nook would have a layered palette of neutral shades to evoke a sense of calm and provide a natural backdrop for my morning ritual. You can then introduce to the space things that bring joy, enhance memories … objects gathered from your travels that make a little ceremony of the moment,” says Heffernan. When whole new colour schemes and leather floor tiles are not feasible, it’s just such small items that will enhance the moment with transporting memories. If a view is lacking, locate your sanctuary near a painting or poster that has a similar impact. Nature can be introduced simply by way of a plant and there are other forms of sensual layering that build atmosphere while taking up next to no room: intentional sounds for one, whether comforting music, or the mediative clicks and whooshes of the coffee-making ritual; and scent. Curating spaces with scent has become all the more possible by a recognition in the fragrance industry that atmospheric perfumes should have small, personal spheres of influence and be chosen to complement a specific mood or activity. Whether it’s a tobacco leaf scented candle or an entire wall of Cuban tiling that enriches the moment you sit down with your morning coffee, curating a space for soulful sipping is something we all need.