Our Most Functional Interior Design Project Didn’t Start With a Floorplan

Aanchal Yogesh
Jul 25
4 min read

Most people assume interior design starts with a layout or a mood board. For us, it almost never does. We’ve learned to begin in the everyday moments that make a space feel like home.

The Sunday cooking marathons. The window where she always ends up with her morning chai. The spot where the schoolbags get dropped. Every. Single. Day.

Some might call these routines. I think of them as rituals. They quietly tell us how a space is actually used. And that’s where functional interior design really begins.

A Functional Kitchen That Works for Both Cooking and Baking

She’s a home baker. Baking isn’t a hobby for her, it’s her joy, her way to unwind, her creative outlet. But everyday cooking? That’s done by her house help. They needed a kitchen that worked for both of them, without getting in each other’s way.

So we split the space. One side is for daily cooking, at a regular counter height. The other side is where she bakes, and we raised the counter slightly to suit her height and workflow. It’s not something you’ll find in a catalog. But it fits her. The way she works. The way she likes things arranged. The quiet focus she brings when she’s baking a batch of cookies for her kids.

Multifunctional Kitchen designed by inner space

Designing that kitchen didn’t start with tiles or handles. It started with a conversation. About how she moves, what she reaches for first, and when she feels most at home.

By the way, if you enjoy stories like this, the real ones behind how homes come together, I share one every month in our newsletter, Inner Stories. You can sign up here if you’d like to receive it. Not sure yet? You can read a sample edition of Inner Stories here.

That’s what functional interior design looks like. It doesn’t just solve a problem. It supports a person’s rhythm.

Functional Interior Design for a Large, Undefined Living Room

This one was a typical builder layout. A massive living room that looked great on paper, but didn’t actually do much. The family had just bought the house and didn’t quite know how to make the space work. There was no real entryway. No place to sit and read. No zone that felt like a dining space. Just one big hall.

massive living room with stories at inner space — A massive living room

We started by asking how their day flows. They’re a warm, grounded family. The mother is a nutritionist who loves cooking from scratch, not just meals, but little snacks, special Sunday dishes, and sometimes even lunchbox experiments. And while she’s cooking, she also helps the kids with their homework. That’s real life, right?

So we added a study table right near the kitchen. From there, she could stir a pot of dal and still keep an eye on spelling words or math worksheets.

The hall itself was reshaped completely. We added a foyer area with shoe storage, carved out a small pooja space that also works as a room divider, and added a TV lounge with a relaxed seating setup. We even tucked in a small reading and study zone without breaking the openness of the room.

(If you want to see how we approach smaller homes with the same mindset, check out this blog on designing for small spaces.)

Now, the space supports the way they actually live. There’s rhythm to it. Places for quiet, places for gathering, places that feel held together instead of floating. This is functional interior design in its truest sense. It’s not about adding more. It’s about giving shape to how a family actually lives.

Designing Kid-Friendly Zones That Support Different Personalities

We’ve seen it over and over again. No two kids are the same.

Some want to be right where the action is. They’ll set up homework on the dining table, hang out in the kitchen while someone’s cooking, or curl up on the sofa with a book while the house buzzes around them. Others? Total opposite. They want quiet. Their own room. A little corner where they can be by themselves.

So when we design homes for families with children, we always ask: how do your kids like to be?

In one home, we created both kinds of spaces. A reading nook under the stairs, just enough for one child to curl up and read quietly. A bedroom corner with a window seat and built-in drawers. And in the common areas, we planned soft, open spots where kids could be around the family without needing a “formal” place to sit.

Reading nook under the staircase — A reading nook under the stairs

None of these spaces were big or dramatic. But they mattered. Because sometimes the difference between a kid using a space or ignoring it completely comes down to something as small as where the sunlight falls at 4pm or whether they can hear their parent in the next room.

That’s the heart of functional interior design. It’s quiet. It’s thoughtful. And it makes space for every kind of person to feel like they belong.

(If you're curious about what led us to work this way, you can read more in Our Story.)

What we’ve learned, over and over again

The homes that truly work aren't the ones that follow the best trends or look good in photos. They’re the ones that listen to you.

To your routines, your quirks, your family’s rhythm. That’s why, at Inner Space, we don’t just design homes. We shape them around you. Here’s how we work with clients to design homes that speak to their hearts. If that approach speaks to you, you might enjoy our monthly newsletter too. It’s called Inner Stories — a little letter from me, where I share behind-the-scenes stories, home design ideas that come from real life, and lessons we’ve learned from the families we work with.

You can sign up here if you’d like to join us. We’d love to have you in our little circle.