Olga Naiman

n this episode of Driftwood Conversations, I speak with Olga Naiman, an interior designer, author, and teacher whose work moves far beyond aesthetics into what she calls spatial alchemy. Rather than focusing on decoration, Olga explores the emotional and psychological imprints we carry into our homes. She asks questions about safety, identity, memory, and what we are ready to release. As a refugee from the former Soviet Union, her relationship to home has been shaped by instability, loss, and the ongoing search for grounding. That lived experience informs a practice centered on creating spaces that support healing and transformation. This conversation moves through trauma, the body, color, and the quiet ways we begin to reshape our inner and outer worlds. At its core is a deeper inquiry: what does it mean to live in a space that truly reflects who we are becoming?