Materials & Touch: Incorporating nervous system design at home

Design. Science. Wellness.

Most people think “calm home” is about color or clutter. Those matter. But your nervous system has an even faster opinion: what your home feels like. The surfaces you touch, the textures you brush past, the air you breathe, and the temperature you experience all send constant “safe / not safe” signals. I have heard from clients, from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City and Park City that their homes feel off. This is your nervous system reacting to these signals.

At Curated Style Collective Wellness Interior Design Studio, we believe Design is self care. And sometimes self-care is as unglamorous (and powerful) as choosing the right rug pile, paint, and sofa fabric.

What you’ll learn in this blog post

• Why touch and texture can shift stress physiology faster than décor styling alone.

• How “cold, hard, echo-y” materials quietly create low-grade friction in daily life.

• A practical room-by-room material checklist for calm, durable, elevated spaces.

• How to choose lower-emission finishes to help contribute to a healthy home.

The science: your body is always “reading” materials

Your skin is not just a protective wrapper. It’s a sensory organ wired into emotion and regulation systems. There’s a special class of nerve fibers (often discussed as C-tactile afferents) that respond best to gentle, slow, warm touch; these signals are commonly associated with comfort and affiliation. This “affective touch” pathway to emotional and autonomic regulation, think heart rate and blood pressure for example, that is regulated by your Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). 

Outside of social contexts, sensory comfort supports helps support regulation. When your home is full of surfaces that feel harsh, clammy, sticky, or plasticky, your body registers these sensory moments. You might not notice them consciously, until you experience symptoms like increased irritability, loss of focused, and feelings of being on edge. A study on touch optimized for C-tactile activation found it carries a reliably positive affective valence in humans. 

Translation: your body has preferences and it keeps score.

“Warmth” isn’t just a style. It’s a sensory property

Let’s talk about the difference between a home that looks warm and a home that feels warm. Studies have demonstrated that touching wood (white oak) produced more physiological relaxation than touching materials like marble, tile, or stainless steel. This was measured through prefrontal cortex activity and ANS markers and broader literature review articles have shown there is a growing body of work on wood’s measurable physiological effects. 

No, you don’t need to turn your house into a sauna or a cabin. But it’s a reminder that materiality is not neutral. It’s a mood-setting device you touch fifty times a day.

Curated Style Collective's rule of thumb: In every “high-contact” room (living room, bedroom, kitchen), include:

• 1–2 genuinely warm-touch materials (wood, wool, linen, leather, clay depending on use)

• 1 soft surface (rug, upholstered piece, drapery, or even a textured wall treatment)

• 1 grounding “hard” surface (stone, metal, glass) for contrast, used intentionally, not everywhere

The goal isn’t preciousness. It’s sensory balance.

Materials affect health through more than aesthetics

A 2024 systematic review on construction materials highlights that materials can influence physical health (through chemical/biological emissions) and psychological responses through visual, tactile, and olfactory stimuli. 

That “olfactory” part matters more than most homeowners realize. Indoor air often contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from building products and household items, and research continues to map associations between indoor VOC exposure and a range of adverse health outcomes. 

There’s also practical performance research: in a controlled office study, cognitive function scores improved under “green” building conditions, and VOCs/CO₂ were independently associated with cognitive outcomes.  And CO₂ itself, at levels commonly seen indoors, has been shown to impair decision-making performance in controlled settings. 

This is why calm can’t be only visual. Air + materials + touch is the triad.

The Calm Materials Checklist: simple, not sanctimonious

You don’t need perfection. You need the highest-leverage swaps, the ones you feel every day.

1) Paint: low-odor, lower-emission, matte where it matters

Choose lower-VOC options when possible, and let fresh paint cure with ventilation. VOC exposure research is complex, but we have enough evidence to treat emissions as a real variable, not a marketing gimmick. 

Curated Style Collective Tip: Use matte in bedrooms and living spaces for a softer visual field; consider washable matte/eggshell in hallways and kids’ zones so calm doesn’t equal fragile. We love designing with mineral paints and lime washes at our studio! 

2) Rugs: add one “nervous-system softener” per zone

A wool rug (or high-quality washable performance rug if you’re in family mode) reduces visual harshness, echo, and underfoot fatigue.

3) Upholstery: pick “soft + cleanable,” not “cute + stressful”

If you’re constantly policing a fabric, you’ll never fully relax. Performance materials aren’t anti-luxury, they’re pro-livability.

Go-to specs Curated Style Collective uses: tight weaves, high abrasion ratings, and colors/patterns that hide life without looking like a hotel.

4) Wood (strategically): touchpoints over “all-wood everything”

Add wood where your body meets the home: dining table, nightstands, stair rail, or a bench you actually use. The “touching wood” research is a useful north star: tactile experience can shift physiological state. 

5) Bedding: texture matters more than thread count

Linen, percale, or brushed cotton-pick what makes your body exhale. Your bed is your highest ROI regulation tool.

6) Ventilation: don’t trap the stuff you just installed

Ventilation relates to productivity and cognitive outcomes across studies and meta-analytic work. 

Open windows when outdoor air is good, use kitchen/bath exhaust, change filters, and consider an air quality monitor if you like data.

Curated Style Collective Pro tip: Practice lüften, airing out of you house in the winter months (if air quality permits) to keep your house fresh. 

7) Fragrance: treat it like seasoning, not the main dish

Fragrance research suggests effects can depend on perception, context, and dose; some studies find mixed results on mood and performance. 

Design move: if you want “spa,” start with materials (wood, linen, warm light), then add natural scents lightly.

8) Bathrooms & kitchens: hard surfaces need soft counterpoints

Tile and stone are hygienic and gorgeous. They also read as cold if unbalanced. Add: textured towels, a wood stool, a linen curtain, warmer bulbs, and one piece of art to warm up the space.

How Curated Style Collective can help

If you want this done quickly (and correctly), here are the cleanest entry points:

• Start with a Curated Home Edit:  we use what you already own, fix the sensory friction, and make the space feel “done” fast.
   

• House Call: Designer Day  for remodels/new moves where you need decisive material and finish direction in one session.
   

• Full-Service Design  for clients who want the full plan: selections, sourcing, procurement, and an install that feels effortless.
   

Design is self care and you don’t have to DIY your nervous system!
 

About the author

Craig Gritzen is the Founder & Principal Designer at Curated Style Collective, a wellness-centered interior design studio serving Salt Lake City, Park City, and Los Angeles- plus nationwide clients. His approach blends design fluency with scientific training to create homes that look elevated, feel calm, and support real life.

Note: This article is educational and design-focused. It is not medical advice, and it’s not a substitute for professional healthcare guidance.

References:

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• Kidd T, Devine SL, Walker SC. Affective touch and regulation of stress responses. Health Psychol Rev. 2023;17(1):60-77. doi:10.1080/17437199.2022.2143854.

• Pawling R, Cannon PR, McGlone FP, Walker SC. C-tactile afferent stimulating touch carries a positive affective value. PLoS One. 2017;12(3):e0173457. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0173457. 

• Della Longa L, Sarlo M, Farroni T. Does affective touch buffer emotional distress? Insights from subjective and physiological indices. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2025;20(1):nsaf090. doi:10.1093/scan/nsaf090. 

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• Ikei H, Song C, Miyazaki Y. Physiological effects of wood on humans: a review. J Wood Sci. 2017;63:1-23. doi:10.1007/s10086-016-1597-9. 

• Nakanishi EY, Poulin P, Blanchet P, Dubuis M-E, Drouin M, Rhéaume C, et al. A systematic review of the implications of construction materials on occupants’ physical and psychological health. Build Environ. 2024;257:111527. doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.111527. 

• Liu N, Bu Z, Liu W, Kan H, Zhao Z, Deng F, et al. Health effects of exposure to indoor volatile organic compounds from 1980 to 2017: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Indoor Air. 2022;32(5):e13038. doi:10.1111/ina.13038. 

• Allen JG, MacNaughton P, Satish U, Santanam S, Vallarino J, Spengler JD. Associations of cognitive function scores with carbon dioxide, ventilation, and volatile organic compound exposures in office workers: a controlled exposure study of green and conventional office environments. Environ Health Perspect. 2016;124(6):805-812. doi:10.1289/ehp.1510037. 

• Satish U, Mendell MJ, Shekhar K, Hotchi T, Sullivan D, Streufert S, et al. Is CO₂ an indoor pollutant? Direct effects of low-to-moderate CO₂ concentrations on human decision-making performance. Environ Health Perspect. 2012;120(12):1671-1677. doi:10.1289/ehp.1104789. 

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