Skip to main content
The Rhythm of Home Series was created to honor the everyday artists, collectors, curators, and cultural stewards who shape their spaces with intention and soul. Through intimate conversations and glimpses into real homes, this series explores how art, memory, and identity come together to create spaces that feel deeply personal and profoundly lived in. Each feature invites us to slow down, listen, and find connection in the rhythms that make a house a home.
This month, we sit down with Uloma Okoro, a multidisciplinary artist based in Seattle whose work is deeply rooted in her Nigerian heritage and Pan-African traditions. In this conversation, Okora shares how she intentionally sets the tone and rhythm of her home – creating a space that invites ease, nurtures creativity, and reflects the cultural practices that ground her life and work.
Photography by Alejandro Sanchez Ochoa unless otherwise noted.
What does ‘The Rhythm of Home’ mean to you, and how does it show up in your space?
For me, bringing soul home is about designing a space that remembers who I am even on the days I forget. It means surrounding myself with objects, textures, and light that ground me while also inspiring me to dream. My space feels like a sanctuary, a creative lab, and a soft landing place all in one.
Tell us about a piece of art, object, or heirloom in your home that carries a story. Why does it matter to you?
A meaningful piece in my home is a shadow box of dried flowers from a bouquet my father gave me for my 25th birthday. I enjoyed them while they were alive, and when they died, their transformed beauty sparked my love for keeping fresh flowers and honoring every stage, the life and the death. My 25th year was a pivotal season of self-redesign, so preserving that first bouquet felt like honoring the transition I was living through. Now, the shadow box reminds me of the beauty in noticing the details, cherishing every stage, and turning moments into something intentional and lasting.
How has your cultural background, community, or lived experience shaped your sense of home?
As a Nigerian-American born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, home has always been a blend of grounding and becoming. My cultural background taught me that home is more of a feeling of belonging, abundance, and shared energy. Community is central. Hospitality is central. Storytelling is central. At the same time, my lived experiences through traveling the world, building community through creative events, and curating spaces that center reflection and joy have shaped a sense of home that is fluid and expressive.
When you think about the space you’re creating, what feelings or energy do you want it to hold?
I want my space to feel warm, grounded, expressive, and deeply intentional. I want people to walk in and feel peace in their body, curiosity in their mind, and permission to breathe deeper. The energy is playful but elevated, full of textures, color, and artifacts that hold stories. It’s a space for creativity, recovery, vision-boarding, conversations, and community. A space where my inner child and my future self are both welcome.
What advice would you give to someone building a home that reflects who they are?
Start with how you want to feel, not how you want things to look. Then choose pieces that tell the truth about you or rather you naturally gravitate towards and catches your eye. These often reflect your journey, culture, joy, quirks and curiosities.
Uloma Okoro is a multidisciplinary creative and entrepreneur who calls Seattle home. As the founder of The Playful Llama and Our Good Home, her work is shaped by her Nigerian roots, her curiosity, and her love of intentional spaces. She describes herself as a Lifestyle Engineer, crafting beauty, community, and meaning in everything she creates.
Connect with Uloma and learn more on Instagram | @llamamama_ / @ourgoodhome
Featured Rhythm art | When I Close My Eyes by Mohamed Abdulrahman
SHOP THE COLLECTION NOW