Conscious Design with S. Lee Wright

30/10/2026

I’m not quite ready to talk about next year. There are still a few things I’d like to do with this one. You too?

With Halloween this weekend, followed by All Saints’ Day here in Spain, I’m thinking about the people we miss + how we spend the time we have. Remembering them has a way of putting our own unfinished business into perspective.

We still have a few months of the Fire Horse year left. A little courage could come in handy. Is there something you’ve been wanting to try, say, or finally get moving? Something that matters enough to give it a proper go?

Being a Fire Horse myself, I do need to ask where I’m heading before I start galloping. Enthusiasm is rarely the problem.

And then there’s the Yin Fire Ram, waiting for its turn. I’m curious: what do you think 2027 will bring? What are you hoping for?

I’m preparing my annual Chinese New Year Feng Shui workshop for 27 January 2027, and there’s plenty for us to talk about. The year ahead, our lives + homes, and how we might meet what’s coming.

I’ll share more soon. For now, tell me what you’d like to do with these remaining Horse months. I’d love to know.

Workshop details, if you fancy joining me stay tuned soon.

29/10/2026

Tree hugger?

Guilty. No plans to reform.

This week, a little more of the woman behind the designer + my love affair with trees. If you’ve ever become ridiculously fond of something with branches, I suspect we’ll get along.

Come have a read:

My secret love affair is no longer a secret

24/10/2026

Chai in the Big Apple?
I am heading to New York in November.

Part work, part Project 60, part returning to a city that still has a very large piece of me tucked into it somewhere.

And I had a thought.

One of the strange things about writing these newsletters and Substack essays is that I can sit here talking to you month after month without actually sitting with you.

So while I am in NYC, I may carve out a few little pockets of time for chai lattes and real-life hellos.

If you are in New York, have been reading along and would enjoy meeting me to talk about homes, design, life—or whatever has been rattling around in your head—reply to this email or DM me.

My time will be limited, so I cannot promise I can make every invitation work. But if dates collide beautifully, perhaps we can have a cup of something warm together.

Bring yourself. You can leave the floor plans at home.

No presentation. No sales pitch.

Just people meeting people.

Which feels rather nice, actually.

DM me to schedule a chai in the Big Apple

P.S. If you are wishing to hear some more of my October ponderings, check out my newsletter here:

October has properly arrived. The light has shifted, evenings are drawing in, and I have reached that time of year when a cardigan seems to follow me around the house as though it has plans of its own.

15/10/2026

One of my main design mantras has always been Function First.

If it works, it feels good and if it feels good, it will be good!

Bucky Fuller said this best "When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I only think of how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong."

Check out my new post!

26/09/2026

A kitchen can make you want to cook. A rental kitchen also has to make you want to sign the lease.

This week’s schematic design had me thinking about how differently I approach those two kitchens.

When I’m designing for the person who will live there, I want to know what they cook, how they move, and what makes them *want* to be in that space.

With a rental, the future cook is a mystery. Storage needs to make sense at a glance. There must be enough counter space, outlets where they’re useful, and materials that can take real life. And yes, a little *oh, hello* moment when someone walks in.

Both kitchens need function. Both deserve feeling. Sometimes those aims fit beautifully together. When a choice pulls them apart, though, one has to lead.

So perhaps the first design question is: Who needs to fall in love with this kitchen—and why?

23/09/2026

Measure once, curse twice.

There’s a story behind that last bit.

*The Bargain That Came Through the Window* is on my Substack: sleewright.substack.com

14/09/2026

Right then. This really is the last call for Renovation Readiness.

Registration closes today—48 hours before we meet live on Wednesday.

If your renovation, room rework or small-but-complicated home project keeps producing more questions than answers, bring it.

You do not need a tidy plan. Good grief—that is why we are meeting.

After 30+ years inside real home projects, I know how much trouble begins before anyone picks up a tool. During our 90 minutes together, you’ll use your own project as the practical lens while I teach you how to assess what is genuinely ready, what is still an assumption and which decisions deserve your attention next.

RENOVATION READINESS
Wednesday, September 16
1:30–3:00 p.m. New York
7:30–9:00 p.m. Spain

$79 includes the live workshop, replay, two practical guidebooks and the October 21 group follow-up.

Registration closes today at 1:30 p.m. New York / 7:30 p.m. Spain.

Book here:

Prepare any home project—small, medium or large—with a seasoned pro’s step-by-step plan to avoid costly mistakes, chaos and “Why did we order that?”

07/09/2026

Happy Labor Day to everyone currently spending their day off plotting a renovation.
There is a certain irony in that.
Nothing says “day off” quite like looking at the kitchen over coffee and deciding a wall should come down.
From the sofa, demolition is terribly straightforward.
Tomorrow, however, reality clocks back in. And she tends to arrive carrying a tape measure and several inconvenient questions.
Which is where Reno Ready comes in.
If you have a real home project starting to take shape, bring it with you. I’ll teach you how to assess whether it is actually ready to move forward: the scope, sequence, budget, timing, decisions still hanging about — and the rather important matter of how you plan to live while all this fabulousness is happening.
Because the actual labor is hard enough.
There is no need to accidentally create extra.
RENO READY
Wednesday, September 16
1:30 PM New York / 7:30 PM Spain
Live 90-minute Zoom workshop + replay
Two practical guidebooks
October 21 follow-up check-in
$79
So if your Labor Day leisure has accidentally produced a renovation plan, perhaps give it a proper readiness check before you hand it a hammer.
Book here:

Prepare any home project—small, medium or large—with a seasoned pro’s step-by-step plan to avoid costly mistakes, chaos and “Why did we order that?”