Vastu, the ancient Indian design philo-sophy, uses the human body to guide the creation of harmonious interiors Some rooms refresh and reward everyone who enters them with a sense of comfort, calm, and wonder. Other interiors—no matter how lavishly appointed—simply don’t work. But why? To puzzle out this riddle, design consultant Kathleen Cox studied vastu, the ancient Indian philosophy of space that centers on the human form as the guiding force in interior design. (A sister science to yoga, vastu was the precursor of feng-shui.) InSpace Matters, Cox—working with 11 other designers, all of them adept in the green architecture and home as sanctuary” movements—presents her utterly modern adaptation of vastu’s age-old wisdom. The starting point is the awareness that space, and all the matters” that occupy it, are fundamentally important to human well-being. The goal—accomplished through the manipulation of color, light, and texture and the discerning selection of objects and sensitive placement of furniture—is to create environments that holistically appeal to body, mind, and soul. Space Mattersisn’t just another catalog of great design work.

As practical-minded as it is beautifully illustrated, the book provides questions and answers, before and after photos, and a wealth of advice explaining how to apply vastu’s insightful, life-sustaining principles to your own home.