A room for reflection: How to design prayer spaces in modern homes

As urban homes in Bangladesh are getting compact with the growing need for space, every square foot is negotiated. Guest rooms double as home offices, dining spaces merge with living rooms, and balconies become miniature gardens. Amid this constant search for functionality, one type of room has quietly disappeared from many floor plans: the prayer room.

Yet interior designer Tasnim Kabir Turji believes that spiritual spaces deserve a place in contemporary homes, even if that place is no more than a carefully designed corner.

The idea came to her while working on commercial interiors. Prayer rooms are common in offices, shopping malls, and corporate buildings, but she noticed that residential projects rarely allocate a dedicated space for worship.

"Large apartments often leave generous areas for different functions, but I rarely found a space intentionally designed for prayer or spiritual practice," Turji says. "People are used to seeing a prayer mat in a corner or a Quran kept on an ordinary shelf. I felt there was room to think about these spaces more carefully."

Her first experiments were modest. Working with office interiors, she began incorporating small prayer corners that combined practical requirements with a distinct spiritual atmosphere. Simple architectural gestures—a minaret-inspired niche, soft lighting, storage for prayer mats and religious texts—helped distinguish the space from the rest of the office.

The response surprised her.

"After doing a few projects, I noticed that people were responding positively to the idea," she says. "They appreciated having an organised spiritual corner that felt intentional rather than improvised."

Today, clients increasingly approach her after seeing these projects online, asking whether similar spaces can be incorporated into their homes.

Prayer spaces may incorporate dedicated shelves or cabinets for Qurans, prayer mats, attar, and other religious items.

Not a new idea, but a returning one

Turji does not necessarily see the concept as entirely new. In older, larger homes, dedicated prayer rooms were not uncommon. What has changed is the way modern apartments are designed—and the shrinking amount of space available.

"In many traditional houses, there would often be a room or area reserved for prayer," she says. "But interior design was not as widespread then, so those spaces were usually left simple. As apartments became smaller, those dedicated rooms disappeared."

What she sees now is not the invention of a new concept but a reinterpretation of an older one.

Several of her recent clients specifically requested prayer spaces after seeing her previous work. According to Turji, many of them had never encountered prayer rooms being treated as a design feature rather than an afterthought.

For Turji, creating a prayer space involves more than simply allocating floor area. Light, orientation, materials, and atmosphere all play important roles.

One of her preferred locations is the western side of a home.

"The western side receives beautiful light in the afternoon," she explains. "The way sunlight moves through a room after Asr creates a very different atmosphere. There is a spiritual connection between changing light and the rhythm of prayer throughout the day."

To soften the heat and brightness that often accompany west-facing rooms, she frequently uses latticework inspired by Islamic architectural motifs. These perforated screens filter sunlight while creating intricate shadow patterns across walls and floors.

"If the building itself doesn't have any treatment for western sunlight, we can introduce it through interior design," she says. "A jali screen can reduce heat while creating beautiful light effects that feel connected to mosque architecture."

A softer colour palette

Colour and material choices are equally important. Prayer spaces, Turji argues, should avoid excessive ornamentation or highly saturated colours. Instead, she favours muted palettes that encourage calm and reflection.

"Natural wood tones, white surfaces, neutral greys—these are materials and colours that create a softer environment," she says. "A prayer room should not feel overly decorative or distracting. The goal is to support contemplation."

Islamic geometric patterns, arches, and minaret-inspired forms also feature prominently in her designs, though often in restrained ways.

"We are visually familiar with these architectural forms," she says. "Bangladesh is known as a city of mosques. Even small references to those shapes can transform a corner into a space that feels spiritually meaningful."

While atmosphere is important, functionality remains essential. Turji pays close attention to practical requirements, including proximity to bathrooms for ablution. Storage is another recurring concern.

Many of her prayer spaces incorporate dedicated shelves or cabinets for Qurans, prayer mats, attar, and other religious items. For elderly users, she may also include a small counter with chair or reading surface to make Quran recitation more comfortable. "Someone might be unable to sit on the floor for health issues. The chair and desk may assist in praying", she added. 

"A prayer room should support everyday religious practice," she says. "The more convenient it is to use, the more likely people are to use it regularly."

For elderly users, a small counter with a chair or a reading surface can be added to make Quran recitation more comfortable.

When there is no space for a prayer room

Of course, most urban residents cannot afford to dedicate an entire room solely to prayer. Rather than seeing this as a limitation, Turji treats it as a design opportunity. One recent project integrated a prayer corner within a guest room. Another incorporated spiritual elements into a study.

"A guest room is often the least-used room in a home," she says. "When guests are not there, that space can serve another purpose. The same applies to a study room."

A carefully designed wall panel, subtle lighting, a Quran shelf, and a prayer mat storage unit can create a spiritual zone without preventing the room from functioning as a study, library, or guest room. "Prayer does not require a separate room," Turji says. "But having a dedicated corner creates a psychological connection. People are naturally drawn toward that space."

In one project, she designed a prayer corner within a guest room using warm lighting, carved calligraphy, and natural wood textures. Later, when she revisited the home for a magazine shoot, she noticed that the family had organically adopted the corner as their primary prayer area.

"The prayer mats were there, the Quran was there, and they were using exactly the space that had been designed for that purpose," she recalls. "That showed me how design can influence behaviour."

Beyond one faith

While most of Tasnim Kabir Turji's recent work on spiritual interiors has focused on Muslim prayer spaces, she has also designed a Hindu thakur ghar—a dedicated room for worship that occupies a central place in many Hindu households.

"What I noticed is that Hindu clients are often very clear that a prayer space must exist in the home, regardless of how large or small the apartment is," says Turji. "In many cases, the orientation, placement, and even adjacent functions are determined according to their religious principles."

According to Turji, the design process was guided by Vastu Shastra, the traditional Hindu system of architecture and spatial planning. The most auspicious location for a prayer room is typically the West or northeast corner of a house. "The orientation was very important to the clients," she says. "They had specific requirements regarding where the shrine should be located and how it should relate to the rest of the house."

Material selection also plays a significant role. Natural materials such as wood, marble, brass, and stone are commonly preferred, both for their durability and their symbolic association with purity. In the project she designed, storage for sacred texts and ritual items was integrated into the shrine structure itself, ensuring that the space remained organised and functional.

For urban apartments where space is limited, she believes a dedicated alcove or carefully designed corner can serve the same purpose. "What matters most is creating a space that feels sacred and intentional for the people who use it," she says.

In a housing culture increasingly dominated by efficiency, prayer rooms may seem like a luxury. Yet designers like Tasnim Kabir Turji suggest that they can also be understood as something else—a reminder that homes are not only places to sleep, work, and eat but also places to pause.

And sometimes, all that is required is a corner.