Other interiors—no matter how lavishly appointed—simply don’t work. Vastu, the ancient Indian design philo-sophy, uses the human body to guide the creation of harmonious interiors Some rooms refresh and reward everyone who enters them with a sense of comfort, calm, and wonder. (A sister science to yoga, vastu was the precursor of feng-shui. But why? To puzzle out this riddle, design consultant Kathleen Cox studied vastu, the ancient Indian philosophy of space that centers on the human form as the guiding force in interior design. The starting point is the awareness that space, and all the “matters” that occupy it, are fundamentally important to human well-being. ) In Space Matters, Cox—working with 11 other designers, all of them adept in the green architecture and “home as sanctuary” movements—presents her utterly modern adaptation of vastu’s age-old wisdom. Space Matters isn’t just another catalog of great design work. The goal—accomplished through the manipulation of color, light, and texture and the discerning selection of objects and sensitive placement of furniture—is to create environments that holistically appeal to body, mind, and soul. 2007. As practical-minded as it is beautifully illustrated, the book provides questions and answers, before and after photos, and a wealth of advice explaining how to apply vastu’s insightful, life-sustaining principles to your own home.