Workspace Design for Focus, Creativity & Well-Being
What if your home office wasn’t just a desk but a support system for your energy and creativity?
We often think of productivity as something that happens inside our head. But what if it actually starts in the space around us? That’s the idea I explored in a recent workshop I co-hosted with Nina Moyano, Life Coach at Life Coach London, and Iwannabees, a brilliant collective of French-speaking women entrepreneurs in London.
Our theme? Workspace design for mental health and entrepreneurial success. Because the truth is: your space is not neutral. It shapes your focus, confidence, and ability to recharge — every single day.
If you missed the event, don’t worry, today I’m sharing my favourite takeaways from it — plus a few exercises you can try at home. Whether you work from your kitchen table, a co-working space, or a studio corner, this post is for you. Let’s dive in 👇
It’s Not Just a Desk: It’s an Interface for Your Brain
Your brain is reading your space like a language
Have you ever walked into a room and immediately felt either calm… or completely overwhelmed? That’s no coincidence.
Your brain is in constant conversation with your environment. Colours, shapes, sounds, light — your mind reads all of it like a language. And when that language is aligned with what you need to do, it can make you feel focused, grounded, creative. When it’s off? Everything feels harder.
Here’s the thing: productivity isn’t about pushing harder. It’s about creating the conditions for your brain to thrive.
Create zones based on how you want to feel
Identify Your Workday Energies
Let’s be honest: not every day and every hour looks the same. Sometimes, we need to go full tunnel vision. Other times, we need to dream big. And then there are those times when we just need to pause and breathe.
In the workshop, I introduced a concept I call “emotional zoning”: designing your workspace to support the different energies your workday requires.
Try this right now:
👉 What’s your main professional goal this week?
👉 What kind of energy does it require — focus, creativity, reflection?
You don’t need three separate rooms. You just need your space to flex with you.
What Is Emotional Zoning?
🧠 Think in zones, not just furniture
Even in a small apartment or a shared space, you can create emotional zones. These aren’t defined by walls — but by intention, cues, and sensory anchors.
Here are the three zones I shared:
Focus Zone → For deep concentration, planning, decision-making
Think: structured shapes, directed lighting, colours that ground you (nope, not necessarily beige — more on that later!)Flow Zone → For creativity, movement, ideation
Think: playful materials, freedom to sprawl or move, elements that stimulate your imagination (yes, yoga counts)Pause Zone → For regulation, rest, and nervous system resets
Think: soft textures, low lighting, a playlist that soothes you or silence that settles your thoughts
Hot tip: If you work from the same desk all day, you can still “change zones”, even without changing rooms, by changing one small element, using rituals or anchors (like lighting a candle, switching playlists, adding a tactile object).
How to Activate Your Five Senses in Your Workspace
We often approach workspace design visually — but we forget the rest of the senses. Your nervous system doesn’t.
Here’s how to activate all five in a way that supports your energy and mental well-being:
Sight 👀— Colours, shapes, lighting
Tip: Play with contrast. A sharp-edged notebook can wake you up. A rounded mirror can calm you down.
Don’t default to “blue = calm.” Think about the colours that make you feel how you want to feel. It’s personal.
Smell 👃 — Candles, essential oils, room sprays
What scent brings you into focus? For me, it’s not lavender — it’s the smell of old books and black tea.
Touch ✋ — Textures, materials, surfaces
Layer textures to guide your mood. A fluffy cushion for rest. A cool wood desk to activate alertness. A fidget stone or tactile object to ease tension.
Sound 👂— Music, ambient noise, silence
Create a sound cue for each work mode. My focus jam? The sound of a washing machine (don’t judge 😅).
And even taste 👅! — Tea, coffee, dark chocolate, whatever feels like a reward
Taste = dopamine. It’s a way to anchor focus, reward progress, or simply enjoy the moment. Don’t skip it.
Mini Workshop: Try Home Office Zoning with Feeling
How to design your workspace based on how you want to feel
This is the exercise I shared live during the workshop — and the good news is, you can absolutely try it at home.
You don’t need fancy furniture. You just need curiosity, a pen, and a bit of time to listen inward.
Here’s how to create your own emotional workspace map — a way to design from your senses, your energy, and your own lived experience.
1. Visualise your goal for the week
Ask yourself: What’s something I want to move forward this week? Maybe it’s launching an offer. Finishing a proposal. Taking care of admin.
Now: What kind of energy does this task ask from you? → Focus? Clarity? Creativity? Confidence? Calm?
No need to overthink it — just pick what feels true.
2. Recall a memory when you felt that energy
Here’s where it gets interesting.
Sometimes it’s hard to know which sense to activate for a feeling — and that’s okay.
What helps me is this: I try to picture a moment in my life when I felt that exact energy.
→ A time I felt fully focused. Or totally free. Or deeply calm.
Then, I tune into the space around that memory.
Ask yourself:
→ Where were you?
→ What did it look like?
→ Were there any smells, sounds, materials that stood out?
Don’t worry if it’s vague. Even one tiny detail (the feel of a chair, the sound of a kettle, a patch of sunlight) can be your design starting point.
3. Match that memory to your senses
Now let’s translate your memory into design clues.
Break it down by sense:
Sight: What colours, shapes, or lighting do you remember?
Smell: Was there a scent tied to that moment — even something subtle, like paper or tea?
Touch: What materials or textures were around you? (A wooden table, soft jumper, tiled floor…)
Sound: What was the background noise — silence, music, chatter, hum?
Taste: Anything comforting or motivating, like a favourite snack or drink?
This is your unique sensory fingerprint — no cliché “lavender = calm” rules here.
4. Anchor that feeling in your space
Now comes the fun part: bring one element from that memory into your workspace.
→ A soft texture. A specific object. A colour. A scent.
It can be as simple as a mug, a fabric swatch, a playlist, or a new lighting setup.
You’re not just decorating — you’re designing for your nervous system.
Example (from me!):
Goal: Plan a renovation project
Energy needed: Focus
Memory: Studying in a quiet library as a student
Senses:
Sight: Green & blue tones, clean lines, spotlight-style lighting
Smell: The scent of old books + a mug of black tea
Touch: A cool wood and metal chair
Sound: Total silence + washing machine hum in my headphones (my personal white noise!)
Now when I’m working on a big mental task, I recreate that feeling — not by copying the library, but by re-anchoring the sensation it gave me.
💡 Remember: This is your process. Not Pinterest’s. Not mine. The more personal it feels, the more powerful it becomes.
💬 Want to go deeper? Create your own moodboard for each zone. And if you want help building it, try my free Colourful Memory Palette Quiz to generate your unique colour combo based on a memory 💌
Your Space Is Your Mirror
You don’t need to redo your whole office. You just need to listen: to yourself, your rhythms, your memories, your senses.
The more of you you bring into your workspace, the more it will support you in return — in your business, your focus, your creativity, and your well-being. Because let’s face it: your workspace isn’t just where you work. It’s where your ideas are born. Where your fears show up. Where your best self can come to the surface — or not.
Make it a place that holds you. Reflects you. Supports you.
And maybe… even inspires you ✨
💫 Want to Keep Exploring?
If this way of designing — from feeling, memory, and intuition — resonated with you, there’s more where that came from!
My online course, Colour Your Home Happy, dives deeper into emotional design, colour psychology, and how to shape a space that truly supports you — creatively, mentally, and emotionally.
You’ll find videos, prompts, and exercises to help you:
Map your personal energy zones
Use colour to reflect (and boost) your mood
Reclaim your space as an extension of yourself
And the first video + workbook are totally free to try.
If you’re curious, this is your invitation ✨
👉 Try for free!