When your house sees YOU

By JACOB KIRST

One day after another, our lives evolve and grow. Yesterday’s toddlers become today’s teenagers. Friends come and go, moments become memories, trends fade, history unfolds.

Home is the backdrop to each of our days, a witness to our lifetime. It should embrace us, protect us, even shape us. It should align with who we are. It should be timeless. It should know who we are.

At Lagois we believe in emotional architecture, where we design and build for experience, comfort and lifestyle: for living. For you.

Traditional architecture asks if it all works, and of course that’s essential.

But the Lagois process goes several steps beyond this. We ask how you feel when you come home at the end of the day, how you wake up each morning, how you gather with loved ones, how you spend time alone. It’s the starting point of every Lagois design.

Your home might start out one way in early days, perhaps with young children, busy mornings, and hectic schedules. At that stage it needs practicality and efficiency sometimes even more than comfort, perhaps with great storage and easy cleanup (mudroom, pet washing area, toy closets, sports equipment space, outdoor play area, homework nook, open kitchen, for example).

When life changes and new styles emerge, you might want home to be a quieter place with more focus on comfort and entertaining (spa bathroom, exercise or yoga room, guest suite, elegant entrance, screened-in porch, soft lighting, for example) ‒ but still with great storage and functionality in mind.

Emotional architecture with Lagois takes all this into account. It looks into the future, knowing that the story of your life will probably change, because that’s what life does.

A home shouldn’t be static. It should live and breathe with you. It should have a place for everything. It should flow. It should be a celebration of natural light, free of frustration and clutter.

At Lagois, we think of design as a form of storytelling. We think design should capture your values, your aspirations, and your lifestyle in spaces that will grow and develop ‒ your life story ‒ for decades.

Our design process is like editing that story so it reflects you year after year. It’s a kind of living narrative.

Many elements in design affect how you feel: ceiling height, acoustics, traffic flow, natural light, indoor-outdoor integration, beautiful materials.

A kitchen can invite conversation. A hallway can welcome everyone. Good storage creates visual peace. Windows catch the prettiest patches of light. A quiet corner provides a moment of refuge. Wood exudes warmth. Stone feels grounded. Finishes comfort. Reclaimed materials hold history.

A Lagois design makes your home feel gentle and forgiving, not cold or rigid or demanding.

Where does it start? I know I’ve said it before, but it is a truth that I think bears repeating.

Great design, emotional design, begins with great listening. It discovers who you are and who you will become.

It happens when we listen deeply to your needs and anticipate your life changes. It happens when we design flexibility into the very heart of the structure and layout of your new space.

The emotional architecture of a Lagois home is not an accident. It is art, crafted with intention.

It is Perfecting the Art of Living.

Jacob Kirst is Visionary and President of Lagois Design·Build·Renovate.

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