X6 CITY HOME
The Six New Rooms of the Inner-City Home
How Merchant Luxury & Humanised Design Are Re-shaping Urban Living
Inner-city living has always demanded intelligence. With every square metre carrying a premium, designers are now re-imagining the home not as a set of static rooms, but as a sequence of experiences. The old vocabulary — dining rooms, best rooms, parlours — has dissolved. In its place emerges a new lexicon born from how we actually live today: fluid, multi-layered, emotionally attuned, and consciously crafted. At The Goose, and through the ethos of Merchant Luxury and Humanised Design, we see the modern city home not as a compact compromise but as a boutique, story-rich sanctuary. These new spaces — often small, always clever, deeply personal — allow us to live with intention, comfort and meaning, even amid the pace of the city. Here are the six “new rooms” of contemporary inner-city living, and how they can be created through our design philosophy.
1. The Pocket Office — The Work-Life Balancer
Hybrid work is no longer a trend; it’s the architectural brief. Yet the city home cannot always spare a full study, so designers carve out the pocket office: a nook, a niche, a beautifully crafted moment of focus.
Merchant Luxury Approach: A pocket office is not just a desk; it is a crafted vignette. Use warm timber, vintage merchant brass details, tactile leather surfaces, and layered lighting to create an atmosphere of intention. Integrate cabinetry that hides the workday at dusk — transforming the energy back to home, not hustle.
Humanised Design Focus: Design this space around the body and mind: ergonomic height, soft edges, natural light, and sound softness. It should say, “you belong here” — not “you’re back at work.”
2. The Retreat Snug — The Emotional Anchor
In dense urban living, the greatest luxury might be stillness. The retreat snug — a reading nook, a quiet corner, a cocooned banquette — provides a small yet powerful emotional counterweight to city speed.
Merchant Luxury Approach: Think of it like curating a tiny, personal lounge in a grand merchant house: rich textiles, layered patinas, heritage colours, and collected objects. A place where your books, artefacts, and curiosities tell your story.
Humanised Design Focus: It’s a place for your nervous system to land. Softness, warm dimmable lighting, acoustic calm, and human-scaled enclosure make this space feel like a sanctuary in miniature.
3. The Eat-ertainment Kitchen — The Social Engine
The kitchen has evolved from a utilitarian zone to the heart of city hospitality. It is where daily living meets performance, ritual meets play, and food becomes theatre.
Merchant Luxury Approach: Craft the kitchen as a stage: stone counters with depth and movement, robust natural woods, purposeful metalwork, and display shelving for collected ceramics and glassware. The palette honours material honesty, global craft, and the sensuality of cooking.
Humanised Design Focus: Function flows from empathy — intuitive layout, tactile handles, warm lighting over cold, inclusive hosting that feels communal rather than formal. A kitchen that invites people to gather, not observe.
4. The Transition Zone — The Threshold Keeper
In the historic home, the entrance hall was a statement. In modern urban living, space is tighter, but the need for a threshold — a buffer between the city and your private world — is ever more essential.
Merchant Luxury Approach: Create a ritualised arrival moment: stone or timber flooring underfoot, a crafted bench, hooks or cabinetry in antique finishes, a ceramic bowl for keys, and layered lighting to soften the shift from urban bustle to home calm.
Humanised Design Focus: Think emotionally: what do you want to feel the moment you cross the threshold? Calm, groundedness, ease. Design this small space to support daily rhythms — packages, coats, shoes, bags — so the home remains peaceful beyond it.
5. The Hybrid Indoor/Outdoor Room — The Living Edge
Balconies, terraces, winter gardens and glassed enclaves are becoming deeply important as urban homes seek connection to nature and light.
Merchant Luxury Approach: Treat outdoor space with the same richness as the interior: textured pots, crafted planters, soft furnishings, lantern lighting, weather-worn woods. An outdoor room is a stage for the city skyline, layered with the poetry of greenery.
Humanised Design Focus: Human wellbeing thrives on air, sunlight and movement. Design for simple pleasures: morning coffee in natural light, herbs for cooking, a chair positioned towards a sunset. Even a small balcony becomes meaningful when designed with care.
6. The Elevated Utility — The Silent Support System
Storage, laundry, utility space — often the unsung hero. In city homes, these micro-rooms make or break the sense of calm.
Merchant Luxury Approach: Instead of hiding utility, elevate it. Beautiful joinery, brass hardware, stone or durable timber shelves, woven baskets, and thoughtful organisation bring a sense of dignity to the everyday.
Humanised Design Focus: These spaces are designed to remove friction: quiet appliances, logical flow, soft surfaces, ergonomic access. A calm home is one where the essentials work quietly and invisibly.
Together, These Rooms Tell a New Urban Story
The city home is evolving — not to mimic the large suburban dwelling, but to become more intelligent, more intimate, and more emotionally attuned. Through Merchant Luxury, we elevate every inch with crafted heritage richness. Through Humanised Design, we design for the rhythms, moods and rituals of real lives.
In the end, the true luxury of inner-city living is not space — but purpose, beauty and meaning woven into every centimetre