There's a good reason that resolutions make a lot of sense right now — the last few months have been non-stop with shopping, socializing, and generally over-doing it. It’s the type of rhythm that eventually demands a reset. The design world is certainly picking up again, but there’s still an undercurrent of quiet, a conscious return to routine and ritual.
I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m certainly turning a bit inward, more drawn to subtle moments, really gravitating toward design that radiates warmth and calm. And so I’m devoting this month to design and experiences on my radar that lean cozier, quieter. Maybe that’s as simple as picking up a new home fragrance to create a bit of atmosphere at home. Or getting out of the home entirely for a reflective moment at a museum. Or just the conscious effort to refocus on wellness in whatever form suits.
The quiet won't last forever, obviously. So here are a few ways to find it while it lasts.
DESIGN DROP: FRAGRANCE AS SCULPTURE
I don’t buy candles for myself. I’ve gifted them, regifted them, enjoyed them in other people’s homes — but they’ve never felt like a solid investment to me. One home fragrance caught my attention this month for exactly that reason. DEMETER, a new release from New York designer and artist Matthew Fisher, isn’t something you burn through; it’s something you hold onto. Best known for his bespoke stone objects, Fisher collaborated with New York perfumer Cristóbal Valencia on a scent rooted in Greek myth, designed to live permanently in your space.
What makes the launch feel genuinely fresh is its medium. The fragrance (a moody mix with notes like kiln-fired pine and pomegranate) is applied to a sculptural diffuser that Fisher carved from silver sandstone. The smooth arched form reads like a modern relic, and the stone absorbs oil and releases the scent slowly, no matches required. The everyday candle isn’t going anywhere. But this weighty debut is longer-lasting: a miniature sculpture that earns its place on the table even when the scent fades.
SCENE STEALER: LADIES & GENTLEMEN STUDIO
Lighting is one of the unsung heroes in the interiors industry. It’s an element that’s difficult to appreciate in house tours, where professional photographs tend to favor natural light. This means that nuanced, layered lighting schemes can sometimes go unseen — particularly the ‘atmospheric’ designs shaping the mood of contemporary homes.
One debut that captures that mood arrives by way of New York's Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, whose new Altostratus Chandelier launched exclusively with Lumens. The design takes inspiration from sunlight filtered through drifting cloud formations, translating real atmospheric conditions into a sculptural form. Working with Kvadrat and Sahco, the fixture features billowing shades that diffuse light with an almost weightless quality — soft, ethereal, and quietly brilliant. I’ll be keeping my eye out to see this one specified in some cleverly lit projects wrapping up in the new year.
EXHIBIT A — NOGUCHI'S NEW YORK
On the topic of soft, sculptural lighting: an upcoming exhibition on my radar should lure you to Queens next month. Marking the tail end of The Noguchi Museum’s 40th anniversary, the institution will reintroduce Noguchi’s New York next month, a meditation on the sculptor’s lifelong relationship with the city. New York was a formative and constant presence in Noguchi’s work beginning in the 1920s when he arrived as a premed student at Columbia University, took evening sculpture classes on the Lower East Side, and ultimately abandoned medicine altogether.
Anyone who’s ever pined over one of Noguchi’s iconic table lamps (myself included) or timeless furniture can trace that influence through sculptures, archival photos, models, and projects linked to the city’s landscape. The exhibition also offers a behind-the-scenes look at some of Noguchi’s dreams for reshaping communal space in New York—some real, and some unrealized. Consider this your nudge to finally visit the garden museum, even if it doubles as an excuse to visit the museum shop—one of the best in the city—to take home a light sculpture of your own. The exhibition runs from February 4 through September 13, 2026.
STYLE NOTE —
The popularity of matcha is nothing new in NYC. But its sustained popularity — and the global interest in the green tea powder — is hard to ignore, even leading to several shortages. Matcha bars, much like coffee shops, aren’t just about the beverage; they are often immersive, sensory environments with striking design. And while the drink’s vivid hue has inspired plenty of colorful, Instagram-coded concepts, I still have a soft spot for the matcha bars that embrace minimalist, meditative design that encourages a bit of pause in our hectic schedules.
In Brooklyn, a new private tasting room, Kettl Matcha Sen Mon Ten, does exactly that: an experiential space by the local Kettl label. A U-shaped bar sits beneath a sculptural ceiling— a tiered canopy complete with nested planes of warm wood, an almost pagoda-like shape. Soft lighting highlights the layers, creating a cocooning atmosphere. Across the river in Manhattan, Sōrate opened just around the corner from me in the Flatiron District.
Leaning more into the language of traditional Japanese teahouses, it features dark textured walls and warm timber elements like lantern-like Hans-Agne Jakobsson pendants and a wickerwork woven from thin strips of wood. Both spaces take different approaches to craftsmanship — and both offer their own version of a quiet, ritualistic escape.
OPENING NIGHT — MOSS MEMBER'S CLUB
The best design is sometimes out of reach, even for design editors. That’s the case with the opening of Moss, a Midtown members’ club comprising five stories — on Fifth Avenue, no less. It joins a raft of recent private club openings throughout New York City, but takes the concept a step further: beyond the requisite spaces to lounge, eat, and drink, it also folds in wellness amenities like thermal pools, spa rooms, and even a pickleball court.
Leveling up the look, the owners tapped Vicky Charles of Charles & Co, whose pedigree as former Soho House design director brings warmth and material intelligence to the interiors. In contrast to Midtown’s steel-and-glass landscape, the lounge areas soften the district’s edges—velvet upholstery in earthy greens and browns catches light from soaring arched windows, while wood-paneled walls lend a library-like sensibility. Subtle details, like glassware by Livingetc-fave Sophie Lou Jacobsen in the library bar, channel something of a dream-home mood.
The wellness areas embrace a touch more drama, with geometric tiled floors and generous expanses of creamy marble. Surveying the scene, one might wonder: is there anywhere else in New York with a pickleball court finished in wainscoting?
