Beauty: “a quality giving intense pleasure, or satisfaction, to the senses of the mind, attractive, excels, or is remarkable of its kind” Random House

How much of what we experience of beauty is of nature? And how much is man-made?

In our present world, who decides what is, or is not, beautiful?

Aesthetics is a major goal for the designing of residential living spaces.

To what are you drawn, what do you find attractive, or what gives you satisfaction, or pleasure, for the personal spaces in which you live?

How much of what gives you aesthetic pleasure is mental? Or emotional? Or of the physical senses?

How big of an influence are culture and environment from your formative years in what you find beautiful?

How much do your intelligence and academic background affect your current aesthetic reactions?

Your financial expenditures for beauty are decided by?

How important, in your personal lifestyle, is the experience of attractiveness?

Are aesthetics necessary for the advancement of civilizations and the history thereof?

How much do, or don’t, you care, about such?

Food for thought.

Throughout the history of human behavior, there is one aspect of residential design that is not as prominently discussed as are size, shape, function, et cetera, which are about appearance, but is a big factor in the final results.

The importance of how the house is “to be seen” by viewers.

Showing people what they’ve got.

Displaying their economic status to the world.

Exhibiting that they’ve made “it”.

Proportion, relationship to the surrounding environment, balanced composition, et cetera are trumped by showmanship.

It has been said that if you have to show such to the world, you don’t have it.

If you really want the world to see your financial status, it’s very simple. Have a CPA prepare a balance sheet, and post it on a sign in front of your house. lol

When it’s all said and done, for whatever reasons, a final appearance decision has to be made because this aspect, in and of itself, does not meet the highest aesthetic bar.

Beauty? Or self-importance?

Which one of the two is manifest for the building where you live?

Food for thought.

Presence: being, existing, there, aware Webster

When you are where you live, are you aware of being there?

Do you merely exist in your place of residence, or do you really live there?

“The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

Do you eat your food without any awareness of the flavors?

A well-designed residential interior should nourish you with pleasantness in the same way a well-planned meal does with flavors.

There should be an experience of beauty when in your residential space as there is in the flavors when eating food.

Albert Einstein advanced the knowledge of time to levels beyond what most of us can ever perceive.

How well do you perceive an awareness of time being in your daily living?

How nourished and fulfilled with aesthetics are you when at home?

Food for thought.

What comes to mind when you hear the name of a business?

Brand, reputation, status, occupation, location, old, new, designation, identity, known, et cetera?

How much does that word determine your reaction to and evaluation of said business?

How much does a word affect your choices about using a business?

What images and thoughts come into your mind when you hear the word residence?

What images and thoughts come into your mind when you hear the words interior design?

Who, or what, determines the merit and value of residential interior design?

What are the financial, intellectual, physical, and personal aspects of residential interior design?

How important is the design of your living spaces to you?

What words are of merit in manifesting a residential interior design project?

Food for thought.

After light, size (mass) is the second most important element of design.

If you think that size doesn’t matter, go into a room with just one mosquito.

There are two design aspects of size that matter: aesthetics and function.

Are the sizes used the best for the function and fit of the activities and people that will be using the spaces and furnishings?

Is the relationship between the heights of the chair and table the most comfortable for eating?

There are not the choices available for mass-produced homes and furnishings as there are for the clothes we wear.

Windows, doors, fixtures, appliances, building materials, et cetera are standard sizes.

How tall is the ceiling? How wide is the doorway? What are the sizes and shapes for the windows?

Proportions, the sizes of the parts in relation to the whole, are the aesthetic aspect of design.

The proportions of most mass-produced residences, based on classics that have developed during the history of civilizations, are adjusted for financial, material, and construction aspects in our current environment.

There are times, usually rare, when these principles are not followed to manifest a unique aesthetic result.

The deciding factor for both aspects of size is whether it is functional and feels comfortable aesthetically where used?

As you go through the daily movements of your existence, are you aware of the results affected by sizes in the comfort and pleasantness of where you live and have your being?

Food for thought.

There are many studies that show we are affected by our surroundings.

They show that the people with whom you most closely associate yourself can have a permanent effect on your behavior.

A bad apple in a barrel will eventually spoil the entire barrel.

Medical research concludes that your physical surroundings affect your physical body including your heart.

When you go through your daily living activities, rushed or calm, do you look around at your domestic surroundings with an awareness of how they affect your behavior?

How does a well designed residential interior affect a more positive, fulfilling, and effective lifestyle for you?

It’s you. It’s not one-size-fits-all. Or mass-produced stereotypical components. It fits you comfortably. It is congruent with your personality lifestyle.

It’s designed so that all activities that are to take place in the space are experienced comfortably, effectively, and efficiently. It’s pleasant and fulfilling to live in such spaces.

It’s beautiful. It’s like having your healthiest diet where everything tastes good.

How well does where you live measure up to these principles?

What you do determines how important something is to you?

Food for thought.

The success of a residential interior design project depends primarily upon how well is achieved the ultimate goal.

What is the ultimate goal for this interior design project to achieve?

Why is it being undertaken? Who will use it? For what activities will it be used? What is the optimum ambiance?

When such is finalized, the process of achieving it is like taking a trip to a desired place.

When flying, you go from where you are to where you want to go in one action.

When driving, you travel in stages of action to get where you want to go.

The same concept can be applied to manifesting a residential interior design project.

The entire project can be completed at one time, or it can be completed in stages.

In both manifestations, keep the direction needle always pointed to the ultimate interior design goal without any distractions, side trips, changes, waylays, et cetera which may detract from reaching this set desired ultimate goal.

Always, keep your eyes, and focus, on the ultimate interior design goal.

Thusly, you can arrive at said place.

Food for thought.

Which is better?

Which is higher, more valuable, or more desired?

Status does not necessarily reflect the quality of the design.

Provenance does not automatically bestow quality to design.

Age, in and of itself, old or new, does not enhance the quality of design.

A copy of an old is not of higher quality design than a new original.

Monetary value is not an indication of design quality.

Emotional reactions are not a design quality.

Perception is not the same as quality.

Authentic design reflects the times in which it is created.

Good design principles can be manifest in all designs.

The quality of the beauty of a design is achieved by the intelligence, creativity, and imagination efforts exemplified in using the laws of physics and the principles of aesthetics and not by the intangible traits projected on, or assigned to, or given to physical objects.

How important is status in selections for your personal living environment?

Food for thought.

“People have been asking that question for ages” is the most usual response received when inquiring philosophically about the realities of life.

The same experience arrives recently in various media concerning the aesthetics of our residential living spaces.

Is such of merit in the life you live?

Useful information can raise the standard level quality of our daily existence.

Taste is all of the personal choices that you make to express your life.

Various, and many, “experts” have stated their positions on what is “good taste”.

What is good taste for personal living spaces has changed, evolved, and matured throughout the many, and various, cultures of history, and such will likely continue.

In what way can you make choices for intelligent and quality aesthetics for where you abide?

You will know it when you experience it completely firsthand.

The intuitive, the intellectual, and the emotional, et cetera will all come together in a complete fullness.

There will be no doubt.

There are literally billions of residential dwellings for the population of this planet.

The only one of importance for your personal concern is where you live.

Food for thought.

There is a difference between shopping at a grocery store and enjoying an excellent meal in a fine restaurant.

In present-day contemporary society, there are different cultural approaches, opinions, and pathways toward the finished result of what is a designed interior.

In our commercial marketplace, the goal is to sell. One person has something to sell, and another wants to buy something.

When they are on the same wavelength, a financial transaction takes place, and both goals are reached.

During our living, when one person has education, experience, expertise, and knowledge in a specialized area, and another person needs help, advice, or service in that area, with mutual understanding of compensation and performance, both needs are fulfilled.

The former is a customer, and the latter is a client.

The former is an occupation. The latter is a profession,

There are situations, or occurrences, where the two different activities may overlap.

When the concept of interior design enters your consciousness, how does your brain react? What appears in your mind?

In the choosing, and manifesting, of your personal living spaces, which road did you travel, which route did you take?

The grocery store, or the restaurant?

Food for thought.