Since the beginning of building enclosures for human habitation, most forms that have come into being have been variations of the rectangle.

We live primarily in boxes.

This form has come to be the best for many reasons.

Over ninety percent of what we see are the walls, floors, and ceilings of this rectangle.

Various openings, primarily for functions and light, are put into this box.

To achieve the highest levels of aesthetics, two aspects should be addressed.

What is the optimum design of the relationship between the space and the outside world?

What is the optimum design of the box itself and the surrounding spaces?

Ideally, the expenditure of design resources should be expended somewhat equally for the walls, floors, ceilings, and furnishings of the space.

Most of us do not live in an ideal world and have to make choices accordingly.

Living in the real world, what aspects are considered for the complete aesthetic and personal expression of the spaces in which you live?

Food for thought.

Throughout history, status within groups covered a wide range of expressions. Within some groups, it is manifest as a positive activity mating ritual.

Throughout much of human civilization, it has been evaluated as an indication of one’s merit.

Much of contemporary society views it as a billboard to the world of one’s economic status, societal standing, abilities, accomplishments, and validity.

What role, and why, does such behavior play in the overall scheme of life?

Why do we need to show, or prove, ourselves to the outside world?

What do our residential environmental choices say about such?

What is the golden standard for residential interior design?

Is it a complete, functional, and aesthetically pleasing manifestation of its user’s personality and lifestyles expressing the time and place of its creation?

Or, is it designed to display how one wants to be known to the world?

What part does status play in where and how you live?

Food for thought.

Being considered successful by most standards, at that time, a person with whom I came into contact during my early years of practicing this profession, exuberantly manifested these traits.

He, in his ivory tower, always considered himself, in his lifestyle, uniquely superior to others while ignoring his limited academic education for this profession.

“There are none so blind as those who will not see.”

For many, in this and other occupations, success is measured by how well you can “sell” profitably.

The quality and level of aesthetics are not determining or completing factors.

Arrogance, ego, and snobbery, in and of themselves, in no way affect aesthetic manifestations.

They are solely chosen personality traits.

Yet, such is how many, in this and many other professions, practice their craft.

The highest level of beauty is the mark by which residential interior design is evaluated.

Have you encountered such in your lifetime?

Are you guilty?

Food for thought.

P.S. Have you ever wondered why people behave that way?

Physical has five traits, characteristics, or descriptions. Line, form, mass, color, and texture.

Light, reflecting from surface is color, is the most important one as it determines what we see.

Mass is size. The sizes of physicals, in relation to each other, determine proportions.

Proportions can most easily be described, or analyzed, as a pleasing balance for aesthetics.

All parts must be balanced equally for the highest level of aesthetic pleasure.

This principle is not adhered to in much of residential design and construction because of unawareness or other factors given a higher priority.

If you consider yourself serious about the beauty of your residential environment, inside and outside, you must adhere to the priority importance of proportions.

Look around. What do you see? How do you react? How does it make you feel?

What is the status, or role, of proportions where you live?

Food for thought.

Status has been a realistic aspect of animal behavior since the beginning and an important part of human civilizations.

Over time, as society became more equalized, that ascertainment became less resolute.

In contemporary society, finances, education, politics, and accomplishments trump ancestry in hierarchy.

Different segments of culture now express status reflective of themselves more freely than adhering to just one criterion.

Regardless of who, what, when, where, or why of status expressed, such, in and of itself, does not assure parallel levels of aesthetics.

Yet, to some people, the history of their status is, as is sometimes expressed, second only to oxygen.

People seek to express what is more important and satisfying personally.

It’s your choice as to how your life is manifested.

Food for thought.

Art is not just for museums or wealthy patrons.

Art is basically available for anyone who seeks it.

Much can be known about a personality by the art chosen, or not, for their personal living environment.

One’s understanding and appreciation of art is expressed by one’s reaction to it.

The highest level of art captures a time mind of their creation.

Financial worth of artworks is not always congruent with aesthetic appreciation.

Social-economic status does not necessarily determine aesthetic quality artworks.

Ownership is not required for the appreciation and enjoyment of aesthetics.

Artworks of merit don’t all have to be signed originals.

Artworks complete the design of residential interior living spaces.

What expressing your personality artworks have you chosen for where you live?

Food for thought.

Luxurious living is often desired as an epitome experience while inhabiting this planet.

What determines the attainment of this highest status for living?

Star architecture and designer labels, in and of themselves, do not necessarily manifest luxurious living.

Status, itself, is not a factor in pleasure of the senses.

Price, as a factor in quality, does not always determine luxury.

Comfort, function, fit, convenience, pleasurable, personal, completeness, abundance, quality, and aesthetically pleasing are characteristics of what determine a luxurious living environment.

Individual choices determine the physical and priority of each.

One size, way, or anything else does not fit all.

Luxury should be a desired quality when used.

What is your desired level of luxury for where you choose to live and how have you, or not, manifested it?

Food for thought.

Resources state that there are over 600,000 basic words in the English language with technical and cultural changes constantly adding more so that actual numbers are constantly changing.

All of these words are made from the same 26 letters.

These words came into being from the growth, advancement, and cultures of different civilizations over history.

Words functioned communication and expressed their time and place.

While variables and different situations are relevant, the same cannot always be said for the options we choose to express our personal living environments.

The designs of residences, and their interiors, do not always grow and advance reflecting their time and place.

Many times, the designs of previous cultures are replicated.

What needs are fulfilled by choosing these directions?

It is of the highest importance that words used in our current culture be of their time and place for maximum effectiveness.

Can we apply these same standards to our personal living environments?

Thousands of words were made from 26 letters over time.

What results have been made, from available options, for where we personally live?

Does where you choose to live express your time and space?

Food for thought.

Any client embarking on building, remodeling, or making changes to their residences has many choices to make in achieving the optimum results.

What is the ultimate goal for undertaking this endeavor?

Do you want to be a sheep and follow the crowd by choosing current trends, what’s new, what’s traditional, what’s cost-effective, what’s least polluting, what’s least expensive, or what is quickest?

Do you want to design a marketable result for selling to a mass market sometime in the future?

Do you want to show the world your current, or desired, social, economic, prestige, or some other status standing?

Do you just want to satisfy your personal comfort and likes regardless of the results?

Or do you want to make a brave choice, by thinking outside the box, and design a residence that elevates the results to a higher quality and more advanced level of function, intelligence, aesthetics, creativity, and complete living experience?

These choices, and many others, are available.

What choices will, or did, you make for where you live?

The results of any design are determined by the intelligent use of the laws of physics and the principles of aesthetics.

Food for thought.

Most residential interior spaces, rooms, are based on some variation of the rectangle.

This rectangular shape can be manifest in virtually unlimited variations and sizes.

This specific shape has six planes.

The wall will be four of these planes. Various openings, doors and windows, will be cut into the walls and various additions such as cabinets, moldings, and light fixtures can be added. The finishing material, color, texture, and pattern are chosen.

The floor, the fifth plane, has to be built for weight and stability, finishing material chosen, color and texture selected, and the use of rugs decided.

Much thought, and input, is extended for these five planes to manifest the ambiance and function of the room.

The ceiling, the sixth plane, is usually painted white and ignored.

Why?

The ceiling and floor are basically the same area, and yet, one is designed with great efforts and planning, and the other is not.

The ceiling is often treated as the unwanted stepchild of a room.

The principles shown here can be applied to non-rectangular situations.

Many of the international residential interior design photographs, which come across my desk, have walls and ceilings expressed similarly so that the results appear as designed furnishings in a box.

Get out of your rut. Expand and explore traditional approaches. Use your intelligence for creativity and imagination.

If you want to experience the highest levels of beauty, think of rooms as six planes manifestations with each plane being an equal part in the final complete aesthetic composition.

How would you evaluate the ceilings, of where you live, for their overall contribution to the enhancement of your house?

Food for thought.