Interior design can have an enormous impact on the people who spend time in that space, and the intersection of design and well being is an important crossroads. When designing commercial spaces, such as the medical office we recently helped renovate, we have different considerations than when designing a private home. For example, in a medical office the design has to suit the clinicians and staff, and it has to accommodate technology and equipment. It should serve the functional needs of the patients, and it should also have an effect on their mood – and their well-being if possible. But it’s tricky. If a space feels “sterile”, that’s a bad thing in interior design…except when a space should feel sterile, like a doctor’s office or hospital. In this Modern Medical Office, we used texture, pattern and local touches to create movement, subtle energy and a cozy sense of place – the perfect balance of design and well being.

We laid this beautiful floor in a square pattern instead of just running wall to wall. It’s a high-end touch that adds motion to the space.

In staff work areas, we kept things clean and streamlined and used a unified color palette to maintain visual calm. The striated cabinet lines and frosted windows with a bamboo motif add movement without stealing the show.

Local art and art with local subject matter is an important element in lending subtle, and comforting, personality to a space. This sweet oil painting was just what this seating vignette needed.

This design was all about bringing nature inside. You won’t see many straight lines in nature, so we put extra effort into curved surfaces and creating a cottage-like meandering path through the waiting room.

Ivory and off white feel crisp and clean, and the barely-there leaf pattern running horizontal on the wall gives the eye a place to travel. The “coat tree”  in the corner was everyone’s favorite touch. Of course the furnishings in a medical office take a beating from kids and high-traffic, so we used durable fabrics with a slight texture to hide wear.