Objects of Emotion
Design is often spoken of in terms of appearance: lines, palettes, materials, the visual coherence of a room. But what if an object is not only something to be seen, but something to be felt? At The Lakehouse, this question has become central to our work. We begin not with the notion of decoration, but with the possibility of emotion.
An object can be beautiful and still feel empty. Too often, interiors are curated as sets, chairs in the right proportion, rugs in the correct scale, cushions that match the walls. Everything is in place, yet something resists intimacy. The room remains cold, untouched. What is missing is not design skill but sensorial connection: the capacity for objects to evoke memory, to carry mood, to hold atmosphere in their very form.
Consider a rug. At its simplest, it softens a floor, defines a space. But a rug is also where people gather, where children sprawl, where footsteps are absorbed over years. Its weave holds memory as much as pattern. A duvet, too, is never only fabric. It is the weight that steadies us into sleep, the folds that record afternoons of reading, the surface against which tears or laughter have rested. These objects are not neutral. They are companions of our emotional lives.
To design with this in mind is to accept that objects must do more than look correct. They must feel resonant. The texture of linen is not only visual, but tactile, a reminder of honesty and imperfection. The sheen of velvet does not only shine; it deepens a room’s mood, cocooning the body within its weight. Even a small tray, used daily, becomes more than surface: it frames the rituals of arrival and departure, the gestures of placing and removing that mark our days.
We call this approach sensorial design. It privileges atmosphere over arrangement, intimacy over display. It does not ask: does this object match the sofa? It asks: what does this object allow us to feel? Does it make us linger, soften, pause? Does it remind us of something beyond itself?
This is why, at The Lakehouse, our collections are titled not descriptively but poetically, The Feeling Isn’t Gone, Between Days, Said Without Saying. The names extend the philosophy into language, reminding us that design is not a matter of surfaces but of states. To live with objects of emotion is to live with reminders that interiors are not static, but alive with memory, ritual, and presence.
Decoration can please the eye. Emotion steadies the home.
