Your home has the power to channel or repel the energy that nourishes you. It can energize and recharge you. It can increase your mindfulness and help you feel at peace.

Things in your home that are working against you and are disrupting your home’s beneficial energy are like a pebble in your shoe. They must be removed. Additions that will increase the positive energy in your home I call pearls. Add these liberally.

Scale is a term that architects throw around a lot, and it has to do with getting things the right size. The right size isn’t just physical, however. It also has to do with the psychology of the space. Because we’ve been taught to think in terms of only five senses, many people have trouble articulating their sense of scale. In this way, we’re like Goldilocks wandering through the three bears’ home: We sense when a space is too big, too small, or just right.

One of the most fundamental additions to any home is people. Your home is a space designed for people to eat, sleep, create, nurture relationships, and engage in all the other activities that make up a full life. This requires creating a space that’s designed for humans—what I call peopling the space.