How I Found My Way to Sensory Design
My origin story — and why I design calm, sensory-aware homes.
There are people who arrive in interior design through a love of furniture, beautiful objects, and the thrill of a “before and after.”
And then there are people who arrive here because something deeper keeps tapping them on the shoulder.
I’m the second kind.
For a long time, I didn’t have language for what I was looking for. I just knew I was always chasing the same feeling — a kind of calm that didn’t require effort. The sort of calm where you can unclench your jaw without even noticing you were holding it.
The truth is: I didn’t come to design because I wanted to make spaces look impressive. I came to design because I wanted home to feel safe.
Where This Really Began
My path into sensory design didn’t start with trends or a love of “pretty rooms.” It started at home — with my children.
I’m a mother of three neurodiverse children, and for a long time I was trying to understand something that felt both obvious and strangely invisible: why daily life could become so overwhelming, so quickly. Why some days felt manageable, and others felt like the smallest things tipped the whole system into stress.
Like many parents, I went searching for support. That search led me into nutritional therapy — not as a “quick fix,” but as a way of thinking: a holistic lens. In nutrition, you learn to look for patterns, to ask better questions, and to understand that regulation isn’t just willpower. It’s biology, environment, inputs — the whole system.
That process was also deeply frustrating. Not just because support can be difficult to find and hard to navigate — but because it made me realise how sensitive I was too.
I started noticing that I would get overwhelmed in certain environments: when the lighting was harsh or too cold, when there was constant visual clutter, when there was no place for the eye to rest. Some spaces felt like my brain couldn’t “finish a sentence.”
And then I’d come home — or to a room that felt right — and I’d feel it immediately: shoulders dropping, breathing slowing, the quiet relief of being able to rest.
That’s when I understood that home isn’t just background. It can regulate you, or it can constantly activate you.
Colour played a huge part in that realisation. Some colours create belonging — they make you feel held and rooted in a space. Others, even when they’re stylish, can leave you feeling jittery, unsettled, slightly out of place. And once you’ve felt the difference, you can’t unknow it.
Over time, something became very clear: home was one of the biggest inputs of all.
Home as a Nervous System Haven
When you live with sensory sensitivity — whether it’s yours, your child’s, or the whole household’s — home can’t be a showroom. It has to be a haven.
I began noticing the difference between walking into a space that looks good… and walking into a space where your shoulders drop without you even thinking about it. A home you can’t wait to return to. A home that holds you.
That feeling is not accidental. It’s designed — sometimes deliberately, and sometimes by luck.
And I wanted it deliberately.
The Moment It Clicked
At some point, it became obvious that what I cared about wasn’t trend-led design at all — it was regulation-led design.
Design that supports the whole human being inside the room.
I started noticing patterns: certain colours soothed, certain lighting exhausted, certain layouts made daily life flow, certain textures grounded the body. And when those things were wrong — even slightly wrong — it didn’t matter how expensive the sofa was.
That’s when sensory design stopped being an “interest” and became the lens through which I see everything.
Because once you understand that a home can either calm the nervous system or constantly activate it… you can’t unsee it.
Why Sensory Design, Specifically?
Sensory-aware design is often talked about in relation to neurodiversity — and rightly so. But honestly? Most people are more sensory-sensitive than they realise.
We’re all navigating a world that’s loud, bright, busy, demanding. Many of us are dealing with stress, poor sleep, hormonal shifts, burnout, grief, divorce, relocation, downsizing — the kinds of life changes that make you crave “home” on a deeper level.
And when life is a lot, the home has to do more than look good.
It has to hold you.
That doesn’t mean minimal. It doesn’t mean beige. It doesn’t mean sterile calm.
It means considered calm — personal, warm, and supportive.
It means: fewer decisions, fewer visual interruptions, better flow, better light, and colour that makes your whole body say “yes.”
The Problem With Copying
There’s another layer to my work too — and it’s something I see everywhere online.
So many people build a home by copying. They replicate a look, a palette, a vibe… and then wonder why it still doesn’t feel like them.
Because belonging can’t be downloaded.
A home should reflect your story, your nervous system, your habits, your rhythms, your stage of life — not just a trend cycle.
That’s why I’m not interested in helping people “choose a style.”
I’m interested in helping people build belonging — through design choices that actually support the way they live.
Why Colour Became My Starting Point
If sensory design is the lens, colour is often the fastest lever.
Colour doesn’t just decorate a space. It changes perception:
how big a room feels,
how bright it feels,
how warm it feels,
how peaceful it feels,
how safe it feels.
And yet, colour is also where most people freeze.
You can see the panic in real time: “I want calm… but I also want personality… but I don’t want to get it wrong.”
That’s exactly why I created Colour Clarity Call — to take people from uncertainty to confidence, without overwhelm.
It’s not about forcing everyone into the same palette.
It’s about helping you find the colours that work for you — emotionally, visually, and practically — so you can move forward with calm certainty.
What Planalto Design Means
“Planalto” is about steadiness. The plateau. The exhale.
My work sits at the intersection of beauty and wellbeing — not as a slogan, but as a method.
I design homes for people who want their space to support their life. Especially when life is changing.
If you’re starting over, starting fresh, downsizing, redefining family life, or simply craving calm, you’re in the right place.
This journal is where I’ll share what I’m learning — about sensory design, nervous-system-friendly interiors, colour, and the small choices that quietly change everything.
Because home isn’t just where you live.
It’s how you recover.
A gentle next step
If colour is the part that currently stops you — I made something for that.
Colour Clarity Call is my step-by-step way to get clear, confident, and calm about your palette, without spiralling into 400 paint samples.