Room to Think

Room to Think explores how the spaces we live and work in shape how we think, feel, and function. Hosted by Lyssia Katan, Head of Brand at LiLi Tile, the podcast features conversations with world-class architects, designers, neuroscientists, psychologists, and cultural thinkers. Together, they unpack how light, layout, materials, sound, and spatial decisions influence stress, focus, creativity, and wellbeing, and share practical insights you can apply in your own home or workspace. New episodes drop on Tuesdays. Follow Room to Think on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Room to Think is a arts podcast hosted by Lyssia Katan, with 33 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Lyssia Katan hosts Room to Think, a arts show with 33 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #32

  Season 1 Rewind, Part 2: Home and Memory

  Aug 17, 202626 minS1

  In this special Season One Rewind episode, Lyssia revisits some of the most memorable conversations from Room to Think to explore the connection between home, memory, and identity. Featuring Juhani Pallasmaa, Shavonda Gardner, Amber Dunford, Adam Trest, Miriam Carpenter, Maggie Wilkerson, Emily Campbell, and Dr. Esther Sternberg, this episode looks at why certain places, objects, materials, and rituals stay with us long after childhood—and how they continue shaping the homes we create as adults. Juhani Pallasmaa reflects on the childhood experiences that shaped his philosophy of architecture and why home exists not only physically, but through memory, imagination, and feeling. He shares the powerful memory of seeing the light of his childhood home through a dark forest and feeling safe before he had even reached the door. Shavonda Gardner remembers her grandmother’s small Louisiana home, a place that felt enormous because of the love, family, and life that filled it. That experience continues to influence how she designs today, beginning with how a space should feel rather than simply how it should look. Amber Dunford takes that idea further, explaining how childhood spaces can become emotional anchors and how listeners can begin noticing the environments that make them feel calm, comfortable, energized, or unsettled. Adam Trest shares how seeing foxes behind his childhood home became a family symbol that he now carries into his own home through art and wallpaper. Miriam Carpenter traces her connection to wood back to the enormous oak tree outside her childhood window and early memories of her grandfather’s workshop. Maggie Wilkerson explores why hand-me-down furniture, vintage pieces, and objects with a past can make a home feel deeply personal. She shares the story of finding a wrought-iron bench in Mexico and learning its history directly from the family who had owned it, showing how an object can carry one family’s story into another. Emily Campbell explains why she asks clients to think about their favorite place on earth and the feeling they associate with it, rather than beginning with an aesthetic. For her, that place is a family cabin in northern Michigan that represents connection, joy, ease, and a slower pace of life. Dr. Esther Sternberg closes the episode by reflecting on why a village in Crete felt instantly familiar to her. The food, accents, community, nature, and rhythms of daily life reminded her of the way she had been raised, revealing how a place can feel like home because it echoes something already stored in our memory. Across these conversations, one idea keeps returning: home is rarely just about design. It is about safety, belonging, familiarity, connection, and the experiences we carry with us. Our homes do not simply hold our memories. Our memories help build our homes. More Room to Think: Juhani Pallasmaa — Architecture Beyond the Eyes https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/episodes/architecture-beyond-the-eyes Shavonda Gardner — Space Beyond Square Footage https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/episodes/space-beyond-square-footage Amber Dunford — How Childhood Designs Your Home https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/episodes/how-childhood-designs-your-home Adam Trest — Foxes, Folk Art, and the Feel of Home https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/episodes/foxes-folk-art-and-the-feel-of-home Miriam Carpenter — The Emotional Life of Wood https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/episodes/the-emotional-life-of-wood Maggie Wilkerson — The Art of a Collected Home https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/episodes/the-art-of-a-collected-home Emily Campbell — A Home That Feels Like You https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/episodes/a-home-that-feels-like-you Dr. Esther Sternberg — The Spaces That Heal Us https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/episodes/the-spaces-that-heal-us Loved this episode? Let us know! Subscribe to Room to Think If you enjoyed this episode, leave a review and share it with someone who would appreciate a more thoughtful approach to their space. New episodes every week. Build a better life by design. Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Instagram

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #31

  Season 1 Rewind: The Science of Feeling

  Aug 10, 202626 minS1

  In this special Season One Rewind episode, Lyssia revisits some of the most compelling conversations from Room to Think to explore the science behind why spaces make us feel the way they do. Bringing together insights from Dr. Sally Augustin, Dr. Esther Sternberg, Dr. Anja Jamrozik, Dr. Kati Peditto, and Professor Justin Hollander, this episode looks beyond aesthetics to understand how our surroundings affect attention, stress, comfort, health, and the way the brain processes the world around us. The conversation breaks down what is actually happening when a room feels calming, distracting, overwhelming, or strangely uncomfortable. Dr. Sally Augustin explains why clutter can quietly consume our mental processing power and make it harder to focus, while also revealing why spaces that are too empty can create their own kind of stress. She explores how principles of biophilic design, including natural light, natural materials, greenery, views, and gentle sensory stimulation, can help create environments that feel more supportive to the human brain. Dr. Esther Sternberg takes the conversation deeper into the connection between environment, stress, and physical health. Drawing from decades of research into the relationship between the brain and immune system, she explains how chronic stress can influence the body and why the places we spend time in can either contribute to that stress or help us recover from it. She also shares the personal experience that transformed her own understanding of healing spaces, when a period spent living more slowly in Crete, surrounded by nature, movement, healthy food, community, fresh air, and sensory richness, coincided with a dramatic improvement in her health. The episode also explores the elements of a space that are easy to overlook because we cannot always see them. Dr. Anja Jamrozik explains why a room can look beautiful and still be difficult to inhabit when acoustics, temperature, air quality, smell, privacy, or the presence of other people have not been considered. She describes the mismatch that can occur when spaces are designed primarily through renderings and visual models rather than through the full physical experience of actually being there. Dr. Kati Peditto offers practical ways to make everyday spaces feel more comfortable without undertaking a major renovation. From adding rugs, canvas, and other acoustic materials to reducing glare, adjusting task lighting, improving temperature control, and replacing fluorescent lighting, she explains how relatively small changes can reduce sensory strain and create a greater sense of personal control. These interventions can be particularly important for neurodivergent people, but many of them can improve comfort and cognitive function for anyone. The conversation also looks at the surprising ways human perception may influence what feels familiar or reassuring in the built environment. Professor Justin Hollander explains how the brain is constantly searching for recognizable visual patterns, including face-like forms that may be deeply rooted in early human development. He explores how these unconscious preferences can appear in architecture, design, and even decorative details, influencing how we respond to a place before we can explain why. Across these conversations, one idea keeps returning: we do not experience space only through what we see. We experience it through attention, emotion, sound, temperature, movement, memory, biology, and the nervous system. A room is never simply sitting around us. It is constantly interacting with the body and brain. By the end of this episode, you may start to notice your surroundings differently, not simply asking whether a space looks good, but whether it helps you focus, relax, recover, connect, and feel like yourself. Because when you understand the science of feeling, you begin to realize that the spaces around you are shaping you all the time. More Room to Think: Dr. Sally Augustin — Our Prehistoric Brains at Home https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/episodes/our-prehistoric-brains-at-home Dr. Esther Sternberg — The Spaces That Heal Us https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/episodes/the-spaces-that-heal-us Dr. Anja Jamrozik — When Design Becomes the Problem https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/episodes/when-design-becomes-the-problem Dr. Kati Peditto — Designing for Neurodivergent Minds https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/episodes/designing-for-neurodivergent-minds Professor Justin Hollander — Designing Places That Feel Human https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/episodes/designing-places-that-feel-human Room to Think https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/ Loved this episode? Let us know! Subscribe to Room to Think If you enjoyed this episode, leave a review and share it with someone who would appreciate a more thoughtful approach to their space. New episodes every week. Build a better life by design. Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Instagram

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #28

  The Art of a Collected Home

  Jul 20, 20261h 7mS1

  In this episode, Lyssia sits down with Maggie Wilkerson, interior consultant and founder of Collected Home, to explore why a house can be filled with things you love and still not feel quite right. Known for helping people create thoughtful, layered interiors that feel cohesive without becoming overly designed, Maggie approaches decorating as both a creative practice and a form of problem-solving: understanding what you are drawn to, identifying what actually works in your space, and creating a framework that allows those choices to come together with intention. The conversation breaks down why “just buy what you love” is not always the helpful advice it appears to be. Maggie explains that loving each individual piece does not guarantee that those pieces will create a unified home. They explore the difference between having good taste and knowing how to edit it, why eclectic spaces still require structure, and how deciding what does not belong can be just as important as deciding what does. Maggie also explains why decorating can feel so emotionally overwhelming. A home is not only a collection of furniture and objects; it shapes how people feel, live, rest, work, and connect. At the same time, social media has created new pressure for homes to appear finished, impressive, and ready to be photographed. They discuss how constant exposure to influencers, trends, and marketing can make people question their own instincts, confuse inspiration with personal taste, and rush into choices simply because they want their spaces to feel complete. The conversation also makes the case for slow design. Maggie shares why placeholder furniture can be one of the most practical tools for creating a better home, allowing people to meet their immediate needs without committing to expensive pieces they do not truly love. Rather than panic-buying a sofa, dining table, or lamp simply because a room feels empty, she encourages using what you already have or choosing an affordable temporary piece while waiting for the right one. It is an approach that creates time, reduces pressure, and makes room for a home to evolve naturally. They also explore why shopping should often be the last step rather than the first. Maggie explains how mood boards, design muses, and a clearly defined style mix can act as guardrails before any purchase is made. She shares the idea of a “design detox,” temporarily stepping away from a store or platform that has become a creative crutch, whether that is Target, HomeGoods, or Amazon. By widening the places you look for furniture and decor, from local makers and Etsy sellers to antique stores and Facebook Marketplace, you begin to develop a more personal eye and create a home that does not feel sourced from a single aisle. Maggie also opens up about having aphantasia, the inability to create clear mental images in the mind’s eye, and how it has shaped the way she designs. Because she cannot simply imagine how a chair, wallpaper, or piece of art will look in a room, she relies on visual mock-ups and mood boards as a testing ground. She explains how tools like Canva, Spoak, and Freeform can help anyone make more confident decisions, especially when a room is being completed slowly and the final elements are not yet in place. The conversation also examines the warmth and meaning that vintage and antique pieces can bring into a home. Maggie shares why age, patina, craftsmanship, and history cannot be convincingly manufactured, and why even one older piece can give a room more character. From inherited furniture and vintage rugs to a wrought-iron bench made with a family’s initials, she explains how objects become more meaningful when they carry evidence of the lives that came before us. Throughout the episode, Maggie returns to the idea that a home should be designed inward rather than outward. The goal is not to create a space that looks like everyone else’s, impresses strangers online, or perfectly follows the latest trend. It is to create an environment that reflects the people who live there, supports the way they want to feel, and becomes more personal with time. By the end of this episode, you may realize that creating a home that feels like you is not about buying more, finishing faster, or having better taste. It is about learning how to edit, plan, collect, and trust the process long enough for every piece to earn its place. More Room to Think: Maggie Wilkerson Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maggiecwilkerson Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collected__home Room to Think https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/ Loved this episode? Let us know! Subscribe to Room to Think If you enjoyed this episode, leave a review and share it with someone who would appreciate a more thoughtful approach to their space. New episodes every week. Build a better life by design. Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Instagram

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #27

  The Rooms People Remember

  Jul 14, 20261h 6mS1

  In this episode, Lyssia sits down with Emilie Munroe, founder and creative director of Studio Munroe, to explore what makes a beautifully designed room become a home people actually remember. Known for creating colorful, sophisticated, and deeply personal interiors, Emilie approaches design less as the creation of a signature look and more as an act of translation: understanding how someone lives, what they value, and what they may not yet recognize about themselves, then turning those clues into a space that feels unmistakably theirs. The conversation breaks down why designing one beautiful room is not enough, and why the real skill lies in connecting one room to the next. Emilie explains how shifts in color, pattern, material, and intensity can create a sense of rhythm throughout a home, allowing one space to feel bold and expressive while the next gives the eye somewhere to rest. They explore how contrast between hard and soft, curved and angular, playful and sophisticated can make a home feel layered and alive without becoming chaotic. Emilie also shares why a designer should do more than confirm the choices a client would have made on their own. From painting window frames black to covering powder rooms in unexpected wallpaper, she explains why the most rewarding design decisions often require a little trust and a willingness to move beyond what feels immediately comfortable. They discuss why people are often afraid to take risks at home, how a designer can push those boundaries with care, and why there is rarely anything interesting on the other side of playing it completely safe. The conversation also gets into how design shapes the way people interact. Emilie explains how hanging chairs, fire pits, conversation areas, music, and thoughtful layouts can encourage families and friends to spend more time together. She shares how designers can plan for changing families and future stages of life, why larger homes sometimes need more intentional places for intimacy, and how a home can become the backdrop for everything from quiet nights and family photographs to dinner parties, new relationships, and unexpected moments of connection. Emilie also makes the case for homes that feel polished without becoming precious. They explore why beautiful spaces should never feel like showrooms, how meaningful objects and evidence of real life give a room authenticity, and why a home does not need to be perfectly styled before people are invited inside. In a culture of curated tablescapes, endless inspiration images, and increasingly complicated technology, Emilie argues for something simpler: opening the door, putting on music, using paper towels as napkins, and letting the home support the life happening inside it. By the end of this episode, you may realize that the rooms people remember are not necessarily the most perfect or expensive. They are the ones with contrast, personality, surprise, and enough warmth to make people want to stay. More Room to Think: Emilie Munroe Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/studiomunroe/ Website: https://www.studiomunroe.com/ Room to Think https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/ Loved this episode? Let us know! Subscribe to Room to Think If you enjoyed this episode, leave a review and share it with someone who would appreciate a more thoughtful approach to their space. New episodes every week. Build a better life by design. Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Instagram

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #26

  Space Beyond Square Footage

  Jul 6, 20261 hourS1

  In this episode, Lyssia sits down with Shavonda Gardner, an interior designer, writer, and small-space expert rethinking what it really means to live well at home. Known for her bold, moody, and deeply personal interiors, Shavonda has built her work around a belief most people forget: just because a home is small does not mean your life, style, or sense of possibility has to be. The conversation breaks down why so many people assume they need more square footage, when what they may actually need is a home that works better. Shavonda shares how downsizing into her family’s cottage bungalow changed the way she thinks about space, connection, and what a home is actually supposed to do. They explore why bigger homes can sometimes create more emotional distance, how small spaces can teach consideration and closeness, and why rooms designed for real life do not always look perfect on camera. Shavonda also shares why so many people decorate for resale value instead of the life they are living right now, how social media can make us question our own taste, and why designing for some imaginary future buyer can keep us from creating a home that actually feels like ours. From dark paint colors and layered materials to aging brass, scratched soapstone, imperfect tile, and rooms that hold memory, she explains why the most meaningful homes are often the ones that show evidence of life. The conversation also gets into why perfection can make a home feel less human, why entertaining before your house is “done” can create deeper connection, and how small design choices can completely change the way a space feels. Shavonda makes the case for homes that are personal, functional, emotional, and bold — not because they are impressive to other people, but because they support the people living inside them every day. By the end of this episode, you may realize that your home does not need to be bigger, brighter, or more universally appealing to be better. It may just need to work harder, feel more personal, and give you permission to live the way you actually want to live. More Room to Think: Shavonda Gardner Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sgardnerstyle/ Website: https://sgstyleblog.com/ Room to Think https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/ Loved this episode? Let us know! Subscribe to Room to Think If you enjoyed this episode, leave a review and share it with someone who would appreciate a more thoughtful approach to their space. New episodes every week. Build a better life by design. Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Instagram

  ListenShow Notes

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.