In reading of the current status of residential interior design and housing in this country, an interesting article caught my eye.

It was about one of the most expensive houses in one of the most expensive municipalities in this country.

This house was intimately described with rare materials and other expensive details.

There was a lot of description of the rare stones and jewels literally in the floors and other places.

The recreational and entertainment facilities were enormous and manifest in the same rare and expensive manners.

It would be inappropriate, and probably illegal in some situations, to state my reaction to this residential “rare and expensive gem“.

Repugnance, repulsive, lack of intelligence, immature, gaudy, inappropriate use of materials, hodge-podge, and a total incomprehension of the principles of aesthetics will give you some hint of my reaction to this house.

Wow!

This residence is a sterling example of the ism that expending resources with out intelligence do not manifest quality.

Why would some one with that much financial resources make such an idiot of themselves?

Some times, there is no logic behind human behavior. Here, emotions completely ran the show. And the results are disastrous.

That which is expensive and rare is not in and of itself good design.

Food for thought.

“My experience is what I attend to” William James

How do you experience the residential environment in which you live?

Is it a space you enjoy and in which you look forward to being?

Or, is it much like a service station, which is true for many people, where you eat, sleep, dress, and take care of the basic necessary requirements of a place to exist?

An aesthetically pleasing and functional residential environment which reflects your personality and life style can be a strong positive force which flows into the experiences you have in other of your life’s activities.

Research in the area of human behavior has shown this approach to be real.

Mother nature takes care of what it does and the results manifest.

In our personal environments, what we, as individuals, choose to do in taking actions, making efforts, and extending resources determines the experiences we manifest in our lives.

Simply put, it is left up to you.

What you experience in your residential environment is very simply what you choose to attend to.

Food for thought.

Most of what we, as human beings, experience physically as life is visual.

What we see affects how we react to what we see.

Human behavior research continues to show that our environment affects how we behave and our physical and intangible quality of the life we live.

Thusly, it is obvious that for a more fulfilling life, we need to pay proper attention to the environments with which we surround ourselves.

Thinking of where we live as our home base and where we are most free and nurtured, is it not logical that we should make our residential interiors the best they can be so that our quality of life experiences are the best they can be?

What role do you choose for your residential interior designs to play in the quality of your living?

Food for thought.

Every day, information comes across my desk about the housing industry in this country and how it is affected by the different conditions in this country: the market, mortgage rates, labor, materials, the virus, new products and services, different movements, trends, et cetera.

Since the beginning of civilizations, color has played an important role in what people wear, all of the arts, and what is done with their residences.

Chemistry has played a large part in what colors were available in civilizations.

In today’s world we have reached enormous levels of what can be done with chemistry for colors. Thusly, paint manufactures and those in design industries have pushed to come out periodically with new colors and trends et cetera.

Colors chosen for any well designed residential interior should be used because they are the best colors for the desired aesthetic results.

Colors should be selected to be beautiful for years and not for the present trends and new colors.

After all, we don’t change our residential colors as often as some people change the colors of their lipstick and nail polish.

It is good that chemistry today gives us almost unlimited choices for residential colors.

Is not good that residential colors are chosen because they are new or represent current fashions.

Think when you paint!

Food for thought.

One of the major challenges facing many peoples around the world today who are under stay at home restrictions because of the virus situation is how to do every thing at home within the spaces we have without going bananas. The situation is especially challenging for those people with small spaces and children.

The importance of intelligent and quality aesthetics designs for one’s residential environment becomes more apparent.

Excellent residential interior design is not going to solve all of the challenges caused by stay at home restrictions, but such can make the experience less difficult.

When spaces and furnishings are designed to well fulfill their functions in practical and pleasant ways, such can make doing and being in them a more positive experience.

Any space that is designed and manifest with a high level of quality aesthetics is always a more pleasant and beautiful experience.

All of which can affect our intellectual, psychological, emotional, and practical behavior in various good ways.

In addition to these benefits and advantages, there is another pleasant and intelligent byproduct of well designed interior spaces.

Excellently designed residential interiors are not static. There have different levels of how they can be seen and experienced.

Things will look different during different times of day and with different degrees and sources of light.

The design elements of line, form, mass, color, and texture can be viewed, analyzed, and appreciated in many different ways.

Experiencing the beauty of our living spaces in and of itself can be a refuge and level of being which is nurturing, refreshing, and relaxing.

And don’t we need everything we can do to make a stay at home requirement less stressful?

Think about the interior design quality, function, and beauty of where you live.

Food for thought.

Webster: ” position or rank in relation to others”

Even in the evolution of the animal kingdom there is a manifestation of behaviors where by there is a movement to a hierarchy in groups.

Much of this animal behavior was and is based on potential mating and reproduction of the species.

As the human race evolved, this hierarchy took on a life of it’s own and today still plays an important role in the choices and lifestyles of many people.

For example: How many purchases of cars are based exclusively on the mechanics, efficiency, and transportation long term values of a car?

And how many car purchases are based on manufacturer, model, year, style, features, luxury, costs, prestige, extras, et cetera, and what the purchase and driving status of such a car, especially a new car, says about the life style of these purchasers and how other people react to it.

In many societies, old money is considered the highest status regard less of the other factors involved.

Any thing, any place, any behavior, any traits and characteristics, et cetera can be given status in any hierarchy.

The laws of physics and principles of design are not affected by any status.

The level of quality, the successful fulfillment of function, the financial investment, and the aesthetic level determine what is good in residential and other design manifestations.

Status is not a determining factor in the quality of design.

High status does not necessarily mean high quality.

What role does status play in your choices, life style, and the people, situations, and environments you encounter in your existence?

Think about and analyze these factors and elements when encountering the status situations in your life.

Food for thought.

Due to unforeseen circumstances there will not be a new blog this week. We plan to return to regularly scheduled new weekly blogs next week.

Thank you.

Because of the stay-at-home requirements put into effect by governments around the world, many peoples are experiencing a feeling of being “closed in” in their residential spaces which are resulting in behavior problems.

I am one of the millions of peoples knowing that situation.

In the information on the current housing industry that comes across my desk, there is a movement to change the spaces in which we live as a result of this pandemic.

There is a desire for more and versatile rooms.

People want more space to be, move around, participate in more and varied activities, and to experience less limiting and claustrophobic ambiances and yet still have some private and personal space.

People also want, and need for over all health, more access to out door spaces such as balconies, patios, yards, et cetra for their homes.

In addition, there are more concerns about air quality, germs, and other aspects that may affect one’s health.

This movement is not based upon status, egos, trends, or other such aspects.

These movements and concerns only emphasize the importance of quality and intelligence designing for all aspects of our residential interior environments for one’s physical, mental, emotional, aesthetic, and all other aspects of our health and well being.

Here, as in many situations in life, it is often times wise to think in terms of the long haul.

No one knows how long this pandemic will last or what are the permanent changes that will take place in this world because of it, but we have to look realistically at how it is affecting our lives and try to do what is wise, effective, and healthy for the preservation there of.

Food for thought.

Even though it is not as prominent today for some people as in the past, there are still those people who follow trends especially those in some of the more popular shelter magazines.

These sources are filled with cute and do-it-your-self “ideas” to make changes in your residential space.

While these doings may make a shallow temporary change to the ambiance they are more emotional and decorating than intelligence and design.

If a residential interior space is well designed intelligently, there exists no needs to make changes. Such spaces are complete, balanced, and full on their own merit.

A secondary effect of those people who do and follow these trends is that they get caught up in the movements and loose sight of the results that can be achieved by designing intelligent long lasting results.

Would you prefer to have a series of fast food meals or opt to dine on well planned meals.

Of course, money and other resources are factors in what is chosen to be done. The most deciding factor is not the amount of money in the budget, but how that money and other resources are expended.

Higher long lasting beautiful residential spaces can be achieved when the best possible use is made of what is available that can be used.

With enough thought, planning, research, and designing, any residential space, regardless of the factors involved, can be designed to a high intelligent aesthetic level that will have no need to be trendy.

Which do you choose?

Food for thought.

As I write this blog, most of this country and the world, because of the international epidemic, is spending much if not the majority of their lives in their homes.

In addition to the necessary day-to-day living tasks that need to be performed, we have an increased need to make special efforts to maintain our psychological, intellectual, and emotional sanity.

These conditions offer a unique opportunity to take a thorough look at our residential interior environments.
Look at all of the elements of your interior spaces as design compositions consisting of lines, forms, masses, colors, and textures.

What are the sources of light and how do they illumine the spaces?

How do the proportions of the rooms, doors, windows, furnishings, et cetera there of relate to each other?

What are the intensity, lightness, and surface reflections of all of the colors used and how do they relate to each other in an overall scheme?

What are the functions of each room and how does the room and it’s furnishings fulfill these roles?

What is the overall ambiance of the space and how does it feel to be living in it?

Look at your personal spaces as you have not looked at them before and see everything on a higher psychological, intellectual, and aesthetic level.

Such will nurture you and enhance your living during this world wide climate of challenges.

Food for thought.