We can design our residences room by room or space by space. However, a more useful approach would be to go function by function. But before that, let us ask what do we really want from a house? Is it comfort? Is it the place we come to rest? Or, is this a show piece or your tombstone by which you want others to envy you? In Gibran's evocative scheme, which I somehow like a lot, " Your house shall be not an anchor but a mast". It is more like the ship that voyages than the ship that is moored. It should help us live and not always rest. The house is your larger body. And if you think the house is where you abide, sorry, that may not exactly work. Your proper home is this universe; in a real sense it is, because, " ...(the) boundless in you abides in the mansion of the sky, whose door is the morning mist, and whose windows are the songs and the silences of night" So, then, what is your residence? For me, this is the place where we - eat - sleep - love - pray - host - read and - dance and our cat roams around. Simply ensure you have space enough for each of these. One place without affecting the place for another. Beauty it should have. Peace it should nurture. It needs space enough for you not to bend your heads as you pass, It should be strongh enough you to breath freely without worrying about the walls cracking and and falling down. In case, you already have a house. Think again. Ensure you have spaces for each of the functions mentioned. And check again, what the house is actually for. Read Kahlil Gibran's Poem _On Houses_ from _The Prophet_ [here](https://poets.org/poem/houses-0)