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If you’ve ever rearranged your living room and suddenly felt like your whole life was headed in a better direction, you’re not imagining it. In her new book Spatial Alchemy, interior designer and stylist Olga Naiman makes the case that your home isn’t just a reflection of who you are—it’s a blueprint for who you’re becoming. Her method? A soulful step-by-step process that helps you channel the energy of your Future Self (capital F, capital S) into your space, sparking a ripple effect of change far beyond your four walls. Think of it as a home edit with purpose—and maybe even a little magic. Here’s an introduction to her five-step approach.
The Process
Throughout this book, you’ll be taken through the steps that I use with my clients to transform their lives by strategically shifting their homes. It is written and designed as a linear progression that builds on itself as you undertake each step. The effects will compound once you begin recognizing how upgrades in your home kick-start a domino effect in other aspects of your life.
This process unfolds in several stages and begins with a set of questions to help you clarify your intentions for your life. The point is to conjure your Future Self—a term you’ll see used frequently in this book. You’ll then take this Future Self energy and learn to plug it into your home. Here’s how it’s done:
1. Articulate Your Desires
Tapping into the Future Self starts with articulating your desires. To create clear and concise intentions for yourself, first identify where your home is supporting that Future Self energy and where it is sapping it.
2. Disrupt Your Old Patterns
The next step is to disrupt your old patterns. Take note of any outdated identities and mindset patterns that reinforce your personal status quo, then dissolve them by removing items from your home that represent those identities. This often takes more than one round; keep in mind that it’s a progression, not a onetime upgrade.
3. Seed Your New Patterns
Once you’ve cleared your home of things that are no longer serving you, it’s time to seed your new patterns. To consciously design your spaces for the emerging Future Self identity you want to bring into being, introduce a few new items that will help embed those new patterns and start to generate momentum.
4. Meet Your Emotional Needs
Next, you’ll address how to meet your emotional needs by putting together a home that responds to what you long to experience more of in your life. The goal is to build an emotionally secure base from which to grow and expand.
5. Claim Your Pleasure
Finally, after going through all the steps of dissolving old patterns and solidifying new ones (known as solve et coagula), you can claim your pleasure by way of the home. Pulling it all together in a way that turns you on and brings you the most delightful, feel-good energy is a key to accelerating your transformation.
Excerpted from Spatial Alchemy by Olga Naiman (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2025
