The Design-Stress Connection: How Your Space Shapes Your Wellbeing
An Interview with Health Coach Judy Black
On this blog, we often focus on how we design (our process, our projects, our favorite finds) but this week, we’re diving into something even more foundational: why we design.
Because let’s be honest: interior design isn’t just visual. Yes, a well-designed space looks beautiful, but if it stops there, it’s falling short of its potential. Great design should elevate your living, not just your living room. That means it should support your mind, your body, and your daily rhythms, not just your Pinterest board.
At Rowan Hall Interiors, a full-service Knoxville interior design firm, we see firsthand how beautifully curated spaces can change the way people feel in their homes. From reducing stress to improving energy flow and focus, we believe intentional design has the power to enhance everyday wellbeing.
We pride ourselves on our expert knowledge as professional designers, but this particular conversation called for a different kind of expert. To explore the deeper connection between our spaces and our health, our resident color specialist, Sylvia, sat down with certified health coach Judy Black, whose work focuses on the powerful relationship between our surroundings and our overall wellness.
Together, they unpacked what happens when our environment supports (or sabotages) our health, and how to start designing for long-term wellness.
How Stress Shows Up in the Body
Judy shared that after years of working in traditional medicine as a nurse, she started to feel like the system was missing something.
“A lot of times it felt like we’re putting a Band-Aid on the Titanic… can we maybe do something on the front end to avoid the problem in the first place?”
That question led her to train at Duke as a health coach, where she now helps clients address not just symptoms but what’s causing them. She says many people come to her thinking they need to lose weight or start exercising; valid goals, but often, those goals mask something deeper.
“Something that is really at the core of their not feeling well is stress.”
Stress: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Judy explained that stress is not inherently bad; it’s built into us for survival. But it comes in different forms, and not all of them are helpful.
“I think of stress as the good, the bad, and the ugly. The good is like, okay, I’m doing something new. I’m meeting someone I’ve never met. There’s a little stress involved… but it’s good. It stimulates our brain.
The bad is when something is definitely happening that we do not want to happen. Maybe…we go outside, we have a flat tire. Okay, that’s going to change my day. I’m a little bit stressed about it.
The ugly is when that stress is just constant. It never goes away… That’s the kind of stress that leads to disease.”
She described how that constant state of activation, often driven by modern life and our emotional environment, leads to a state known as sympathetic overload, where the nervous system stays in a perpetual “on” mode.
“Usually in our modern-day world, it’s not from a physical threat. It’s from an emotional threat or something in our environment.”
Clutter, Cortisol & Brainwaves
Sylvia brought up research from UCLA and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute showing that clutter raises cortisol levels, especially in women. Judy agreed and explained why.
“When we are surrounded by clutter… it kind of makes us feel that our internal environment is in disarray.”
She explained that the brain interprets clutter and sensory overload through changes in brainwave activity. These physiological shifts are measurable through electroencephalography (EEG), which monitors the brain’s electrical activity, or waves:
“The beta brainwaves are low, middle, and high. Low is when we’re almost like, oh, we’re just chilling. You know, maybe we’re sitting on the beach and it’s all peaceful and calm. That would be low beta.
Mid beta is when we are interacting with the world around us.
High beta is when… we are stressed. Maybe we are anxious, maybe we’re angry, maybe we’re grieving, we’re upset. That’s in a certain kind of pattern of brainwaves.
Auditory and visual stimulation definitely affects the brainwaves. You know, we can measure it. And it’s the ultimate mind-body connection.”
When Design “Whispers”
Sylvia, an artist by background, shared a metaphor that resonated with Judy:
“I sometimes think of visual art as something that yells, and design as something that whispers.”
Judy agreed that well-designed environments quietly shape how we feel, moment by moment, without us even realizing it. She referenced a biography of Steve Jobs, who believed visual harmony could affect human behavior at a subconscious level.
“He talked about…if you go into a room that isn’t designed in a cohesive way, it affects you in a certain way. And you might not even be able to put your finger on it.”
Haunted by Bad Design?
Sylvia shared one of her favorite examples of emotional design dissonance: Victorian architecture. She recalled a design class she took that explored the concept of the uncanny:
“They designed [Victorian homes] to show off wealth, rather than to be cohesive, and so they combined many, many elements of design throughout history and kind of Mod Podged them all together in a way that’s very dissonant… and that leads people to feel that there is some otherworldly presence in the house.”
Rather than ghosts, it may be bad proportions, awkward transitions, and visual overload that create that haunted feeling.
Judy responded that this sense of (dis)connection isn’t just limited to buildings. It’s also what makes natural environments feel so restorative:
“Maybe that’s why people sometimes feel so connected and so at home in nature. Usually there’s a flow in nature… sitting on the beach, there’s something about that … that isn’t dissonance. It’s more that sense of cohesiveness.”
Sylvia took the thought a step further, unpacking why our minds register nature as peaceful, even when we don’t consciously understand why:
“I think that [sense of cohesiveness and flow] is often because nature operates by law[s]… and everything is contained within those laws, like how many petals are on a flower, which way a tree arcs .., and all kinds of like small things that are visual and auditory. They feel harmonious because they are you’ve got that biome that’s self regulating… There’s evidence of that all around you, even if you’re not completely aware of what you’re looking at. You don’t have a David Attenborough voice in your head to tell you, ‘Oh, look at this food cycle. And it completely goes all around down to the decay of the mushrooms’, but it’s there, and you can feel it.”
It’s that quiet, law-abiding rhythm (the visual, sensory, and structural harmony of nature) that makes a forest trail or beach walk feel peaceful. And when a home is designed with that same intention and flow, it doesn’t just look beautiful. It feels safe.
Small Shifts, Big Change
When asked how someone can begin reducing stress in their home, Judy encouraged starting small:
“Start with one small space… just start small and take a few hours and make a little dent in it, and then just notice: ‘how do I feel?’”
She also recommends consistent, low-effort mindfulness, like two-minute meditations, to help regulate the nervous system day by day.
When someone is ready to go deeper, she emphasized the value of professional help:
“Sometimes I don’t see the things that someone else… with a natural ability, affinity for that and training… might see.”
And once that transformation happens?
“You really notice: ‘I feel so different.’”
Creating Space for Rest, Reconnection & Relief
As the conversation wrapped up, Judy reminded us that thoughtful design has a deeper impact than most people realize:
“The home becomes your oasis… a place of feeling at ease.”
She also offered a beautiful phrase that captures the heart of both health coaching and interior design:
“Intentional attention in all things helps us ground and helps our nervous system be balanced.”
And finally, she left us with her favorite quote from Marcus Aurelius:
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
It’s a philosophy we live by at Rowan Hall Interiors because every design challenge is an opportunity. Every frustration is a doorway to a better solution.
And every space you live in can be redesigned to support your wellness; mind, body, and home.
Ready to Feel Better at Home?
If you’re craving a space that truly supports your health and happiness, our Knoxville interior design team is here to help. From calming layouts to intentional materials and sensory-friendly details, we create homes that are both beautiful and healing. Start with a discovery call or book an initial consultation to get started. We can’t wait to help you design your oasis. And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram for inspiration, expert tips, and more wellness-centered living.