Even in the era of computers there are an abundance of printed options relating to the design of residential interiors. Just look at the many magazine sections everywhere.

Publishing magazines is a business funded by readers and advertising targeting potential customers in a specific social-economic life style market.

In selecting and reading such, for what are you seeking: entertainment, ideas, education, information, trends, how to, amusement, conversational fodder, celebrity homes, sources, social-economic status. options, opinions, taste?

Who are you and how does what you seek apply to your lifestyle?

Being published in a shelter magazine is not automatically good design. Neither are spreads of celebrities, famous people, entertainers, people of wealth, athletics, or new or historic period of design.

When looking at the pictures in these publications , squint your eyes and what do you see? Is it a well blended composition pleasing to the eyes, or all just run together, or does it just look hodgepodge? Really look at what you see.

Analyze emotionally what you see. Do you like it, are attracted to it, feel good looking at it, and feel comfortable with it? Does it appeal to you?

  Analyze intellectually what you see. Is it functional, comfortable, doable, aesthetically pleasing, a good design composition, practical, and of quality?

Is it a space in which you would like to live?

Or, you may pick up one of these shelter publications because you just want a pleasant read, or just check out new products and advertising. Nothing wrong with doing such.

Be conscious of what you read and why. For more effective results, what ever they may be, don’t get way laid or over sold by what’s new, popular, fashion, or pretty pictures.

Food for thought.

As the human race has advanced from purely a state of survival and reproduction for millenias to a point where we are aware of ourselves and our existence in time and space, we seek for meaning, significance, and purpose in our lives.

When one is in such a state as to be completely aware of the full scope of one’s life at the time and place being lived where it all fits together, one experiences the wholeness, beauty, and awesomeness of life.

Such an experience fulfills us intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, psychologically, and physically. There is no higher plane of existence for a human being to experience on this planet.

There is an old saying – ” Don’t forget to smell the roses. ” – which would apply here on a much higher level. Don’t get so caught up in the mechanics of day-to-day living that we miss the flavor of life. There is more to life than merely survival.

Is such not even more rewarding in one’s physical home environment surrounded by one’s personal expression of life and of beauty and to live in such an environment on a daily basis?

You know who you are and where you are and you know that is right. You are feeling the presence of home.

Food for thought.

  Light is the single, biggest, and most important aspect of all designed interior spaces.

  Because of the special relationship between this planet Earth and the sun, light is changing constantly by the movement of heavenly bodies and is most pronounced and noticed during the peak times of each of the four seasons. What we see and how we see it changes constantly through out the year.

  Winter light is less pronounced because of the shorter days, more grey clouds overhead, and precipitation – especially snow.

  And yet, on a sunny day, a brilliant pure white light is reflected from the snow.

 This reflected light is brighter and affects the light coming through our windows and thus the light of our interior spaces.

  Because of the less over all brightness of winter light, many people experience what is called a seasonal mood disorder of the blues and blahs. If such happens to you, spend more time in brightly lighted spaces and around live plants. A temperate green house is an excellent place to visit.

  One former client did not like the angle of the winter sun light because it always made her windows look dirty.

  The winter season is also a good time to indulge in warm and cozy, close, and people activities or just to curl up with a good book or music or restful and refreshing quiet times. With interior spaces designed for such activities they comfortably and easily fall into space.

  Treat yourself to the subtle changes in day light and the many types, uses, and colors of man made light.

  Life is better, more enjoyable, and deeper if we let ourselves go and experience the characteristics of each season and appreciate beauty in all of it’s forms in all seasons.

  Food for thought.

Recently reading I came across across observations expressed by extremely successful people on the life style of one of the same. One was particularly noted as living modestly for his means and as such was not expressing conspicuous consumption as if such were an admirable trait. Others deliberately express such which is commonly know as “poor mouthing it”.

Others enthusiastically go in the opposite directions by overkill in quantity, decoration, et  cetera as if to show the world how big and costly everything is so that the end result looks less like a planned aesthetic design than a goal of using as much as we can as expensive as we can to make the biggest show we can to show the world how much money I have spent and how rich I am. And in all seriousness these people believe that such results are of merit and desirable. Perhaps it would be wise for them to put  price tags on very thing so that everyone get the point.

A well designed interior should be functional, aesthetically pleasing, and reflect the personalities and life styles of the people who will be using the space.

It should be done in the best quality for it’s purposes. 

To do an interior space expressly to display one’s financial status and choices, whether inexpensive or expensive, is bad design, aesthetically undesirable, financially and functionally a poor choice, a bad character choice, and may be a manifestation of insecurity and inferiority. 

And in street language, it’s just plain tacky!

If you do an interior design professionally, confidently, and honestly, the results will fit and you will have no need or desire to be concerned about how the rest of the world reacts or what they think. 

It’s you, well manifest, and that’s all that matters.

Food for thought.

Recently in the local television news was a feature about the large number of new they-all-look-the-same houses being built now in very desirable suburban neighborhoods.

  All of these houses are of a size that is functional for a family with children. Some have fair sized yards. There are no excessive spaces inside or outside.

All of the materials used are ordinary every day building materials. These houses are mostly of blah designs with no outstanding architecture, interior design, landscaping, or decorative features. Every thing was ordinary and functional average houses.

The focus of the television report was the flooding of the yards of older residences caused by the changes to the ground surface by the addition of these many new homes.

Everything was reported as being done according to code.

The television reporter constantly called these average houses Mac Mansions. They are not Mac Mansions. They are only houses. They are only average medium houses and not Mac Mansions.

Mac Mansions have large rooms, excessive spaces, expensive and rare materials, outstanding architectural and interior design features, specialized rooms and spaces, highly skilled labor, outstanding status, and are expensive to build and maintain.

It has been my experience in life that if you are going to present, report, or state something, it is always wise to know of what you speak.

To call an average house a Mac Mansion by a television news reporter shows exaggeration and sensationalism of which all is not accurate, desirable. or ethical.

Where is the truth of what is and what is not real? What is the purpose and who is the audience for such commentary?

Is such another example of fake news?

Food for though.

  Several years ago I was invited to a reception, including champaigne and cavier, at a house is a very high economic-social status neighborhood.

  After arriving properly dressed, on time, and greeting people, I was told that the bar was in the library.

  I went into the library and gave the server my preference.

  I looked around. I looked around. I looked around. No books could I see.

  There was a rocking chair that looked as if it had come from the back porch of a country house and I was later told that it had been in the family for generations which seemed to be very important.

  Since I was in the library, I continued to look for books. After all, aren’t books one of the main reasons to call an interior space a library?

  Low and behold, I looked up and there were the books. A wallpaper border with a pattern of books was at the top of the wall next to the ceiling. Wow! Wallpaper books. What an intellectual, functional, and educational choice.

  If for what ever reason you choose to call an interior space something, it should be what it is called.

  If you call a room something which it does not fulfill that function, you are acting, wishing, snobbing, or something else, and you are being a hypocrite. How does being such a person enhance your reputation and what does it say about your character?

Is such how you want to be known?

Interior spaces should be and functional what they are called.

Food for thought.

 

It’s the time of year when much of the world’s population celebrates some kind of holiday.

It matters not where you are on your spiritual journey in this life or at what level is your consciousness with the reality of what is. We are all made from the same elements and are all one with Creation,

As such, during this season, let yourself become aware of the pure tangible and intangible beauty that is every where expressed.     .

This beauty is ever present and all we have to do is open our selves up and experience it only if for no other reason than to know, appreciate, and enjoy it.

  Beauty is beautiful. It is awesome. It is joyful. It is delightful. Beauty is  fulfilling.

Make the most of this time of year regardless of your beliefs, non-beliefs, doubts, questions, religion, customs,or positions.

Let yourself go and become one with the aesthetics of your environment. It is beautiful!

Food for thought.

Tradition! Tradition! Tradition!

 
What is tradition and what role does it play in our lives?

  Tradition is an act, method, fact, or doing of something as it was done in the past and letting such be the main basic validity for doing it regardless of the changes since it originated or the conditions, associations, current times, discoveries,  et cetera.

  Traditions affects our daily lives in language, writing, manners, customs, clothes, housing, furnishings. religions, laws, politics, governments, families, et cetera.

  The majority of men’s clothing styles are very traditional. Most of the houses we see around this nation are traditional. Most of the home furnishings available are traditional, Religious observances are loaded with traditions. Government functions and operations are traditional. Much of legal interpretations of laws are based on tradition. Much of family behavior is based on tradition. The list goes on and on.

  Tradition can be good or bad.

  It is good to know, understand, and appreciate the past. It becomes bad when it is insisted upon, required, or done because it was manifest as such in the past but it has become outdated, irrelevant, inappropriate, non-functional, and meaningless.

  As human beings, our present, in all of it’s aspects, is a result of the flow of events to the current time so that what is past plays a large role in our choices and behavior and life styles and we usually let emotions over rule the intelligence in our behavior pattern.

  As we can only live in the present, let us become aware of, use, enjoy, and appreciate life here today for what it is and how it is and try to advance civilization with out the habit, reliance and custom of doing because that was the ” tradition ” in the past.

  Food for thought.

  From my personal experience as an interior designer for decades it has become my position that one’s personal taste (what one likes) for the interior design of one’s residence is like water in that it always finds it’s own level and settles there.

    For the holiday season, which we are now experiencing, that position rings true in spades.

  People let themselves go uninhibitedly at full speed and with a great deal of enthusiasm to express what they are aesthetically with no restrictions. Everyone has an opinion that needs to to be expressed and they get a snug satisfaction from being involved, expressing themselves, and doing it.

  The range of expressions in quality and aesthetics is widely varied around the world and often manifest itself in overkill, tradition, a low level of aesthetic quality, repetition, cheapness, and a lack of any kind of design composition.

  How many lights and decorative objects are needed for street views? (They don’t belong in this neighborhood. That belongs in Las Vegas.)

  With plastic greenery you can use it for years and it doesn’t shed. And when the holiday season is over  you can take it apart and store it in the attic. (So it looks tacky, cheap, artificial, has no fragrance, and is as common as dirt. Who cares?)

  We got these when we first got married. Aren’t they cute? Just look at that. We always have these and do it this way. It’s a family holiday tradition. I did it and made it myself. (And the list of examples goes on and on.)

  Try to be consistently aware of what you see as prevalent in all of the holiday season celebrations and go toward that which best expresses the spirit and reason for the holiday and try to avoid the vast too much, over done, too bright, ought to do, have to do, need to do, on sale, et cetera manifestations.

  Go with that which is real, appropriate, true, significant, and a quality designed composition. Avoid the too early done, overly commercial, and pressured expectations of the rest.

  How you choose to decorate your residence for the holidays is a manifestation of your aesthetic taste.

     It’s a holiday. Relax. Enjoy. Celebrate. Share.

  Food for thought.

 

 

 

 

The sun is the center of our universe. It’s there. Constant. Dependable. It affects all areas of our existence.

When you are designing a residential interior what role does the sun play in your designing? How much do you think about it when designing?

Do do you like to be greeted with the morning sun upon awakening? Or as you savor your morning coffee?

Do you like to view the sunset at home at the end of the day?

How much direct and indirect sunlight is the source of lighting for your interior space? Where and how is it used? Light is the biggest and most important affecting design factor for interior spaces.

Do you like to follow the patterns of shadows as they make their way across the room each day?

Are you aware and sensitive to to the sunlight in changes and how you see things differently as it progresses through the different seasons?

Do you need to be aware of sunlight as it affects heat and glare and fading of furnishings?

Do you like to sit quietly in sunlight and commune with nature? Or do prefer the shade with no sunlight?

Some of these questions are personal preference. Some are practical. And some are aesthetic. But they, and many more, need to be taken into consideration when designing an interior residential space.

Food for thought