Two of my therapists used/use a house as the location for therapy. They didn't actually live there - they bought the houses for a place to meet with clients. Both of them also brought a dog or cat along with them sometimes. The therapy room was furninshed with regular chairs/couches you would find in a normal house, but more comfortable than any furniture I own though. There were bookshelves and plants and pictures on the wall. Those have been the best environments. I've considered asking if we could sit out in the backyard under the tree on nice days. These have been the best settings for me.

Another had a large painting on the wall that he did himself. I liked that, especially since my grandfather was a painter, but I kept asking him about his painting and after a few months he took it home and the office was back to bare walls. He used a room at the university because he was travelling from out of town, so it wasn't very homey. Also, there was a big conference table in the room, and we sat across the table from each other. Since I'm short, I could easily hide behind that table. One time I started digging my fingernails into my arm during a session, and I didn't notice for a while, and he didn't notice at all. Paintings good. Books on shelves good (especially if they are not all really stuffy, technical books, but I'm interested in the technical ones too and might pick them up and read them even). Bare walls bad. Conference tables and too many chairs bad. Sitting across a desk or table from client bad.

Another therapist where I didn't feel comfortable had a small office that was very cluttered, and he was sitting at his desk by his computer, although the desk was against the wall so he wasn't looking over the desk at me. There were papers piled all over the place and he fiddled with the papers. I didn't think he was paying attention to me, and he seemed so busy all the time. I felt like he didn't have time for me and there was no space for me either.