Selected Publications

Room as Art
by Caroline Millett

PRINCIPLES
Think of your living room full of furniture as a large-scale sculpture.  Ideally, you should bring your room into balance, just as you would an artwork. 

Symmetry is the #1 principle of fine design.  Most of you are familiar with symmetry seen in traditional architecture, e.g., the White House.  In strictly balanced interiors, a theoretical axis divides each room down the middle, and furnishings are the same on both sides of that axis.  Since most people associate beauty with symmetry, these strictly formal arrangements remain popular.

Nowadays traditionally acclaimed “perfect symmetry” may seem cold or artificial.  Modern eyes feel more comfortable with asymmetrically balanced interiors where both sides of a space have equal visual weight, without being identical in composition.  Besides, more relaxed rooms give you a certain allowance for artful messiness.

Symmetrically Balanced

Asymmetrically Balanced

These more comfortable, contemporary arrangements lend themselves to individualized lifestyles, where form tends to follow function freely.  This approach is ideal for those of you who want to celebrate your treasures in the increasingly popular Eclectic Style.

The #2 principle is continuity.  Patterned images resemble musical beats, involving both repetition and progression.  Shelves of books or panels of curtains are obviously thematic.  See if you can identify your own room’s rhythms.  Perhaps in the placement of your dining chairs?  Or shades of lamps?  Or your rugs?  (If you cannot identify any patterns, you probably need to concentrate on continuity.)

Focus, the #3 principle, is simply a room’s “central attraction”.  Just as a fine oil painting has at least one focal point, each of your rooms needs at least one strong feature which commands attention.  Since earliest times, the fireplace has drawn families and friends together for warmth, food, and safety.  Your own focus may be less conventional.  You might even consider dramatic or comic attractions.  My favorites have been surprises – a big butterfly kite flying in the eaves of my kitchen, and a mannequin dressed as a policeman guarding the back door.

PRACTICAL TIPS FOR PLACEMENT        

• Open Space – Be sure your furnishings and artwork have enough room to breath.  Open areas between objects and walls and doors and stairways are essential.  Keep in mind that space is not just emptiness: it’s a basic design element.  On the other hand, don’t go mad with minimalism.  Excessive nothingness has the same effect as anorexia.

• Scale – Pay special attention to the relative dimensions of all important objects in your personal environment.  Observe how they relate to the interior architecture.  If, for instance, you have a Victorian house with high ceilings and windows, conventional wisdom suggests that you introduce a high backed sofa, a tall armoire or other lofty pieces.  On the other hand, you can create a wonderful focus by going out-of-scale:  Imagine the drama of one huge tree in a glass-domed entry hall!

• Seating Arrangements For Medium And Large Rooms – Have you tried floating your furniture, out in the open, away from the walls? This is often the best way to begin.  Grouping your pieces together facilitates communication, the natural way.  Notice how guests often pull chairs together, when left to their own devices in formal rooms.  (On the other hand, should you really want the stiff, grand Louis XIV look, line your chairs and tables up against the walls.)  Placement of sofas is often the critical first step in any arrangement. Try putting your couch across the room; or place it facing of windows with splendid views.  Be mindful of your traffic patterns through and around your big pieces of furniture.  In a very large room, you probably will need two or three different groupings, perhaps with a round table or sculpture in the middle of the space.  Whatever you do, be sure to experiment with all sorts of combinations and permutations before you buy any expensive pieces you think you need.  Plan ahead.  Measure everything!Don’t start designing in a furniture showroom.  Impulse buying can be disastrous to your décor as well as your pocket book.

• Seating Arrangements For Small Rooms – Using small scale pieces and patterns is the usual way professional designers treat little rooms.  It works.  But if you prefer standard sized furniture, use just a few carefully selected pieces, perhaps a love seat (instead of a standard sofa).  If you have lots of space elsewhere, you might enjoy using the little room for a special, highly entertaining purpose.  For instance, you could tent the walls and create a boudoir with chaise lounge, along with a charming table for two.

• ALL-IMPORTANT NO-NO – Forgetting Who You Are.  Surprisingly, all sorts of otherwise-intelligent people forget themselves and their own needs when it comes to home decor.  Probably they have seen too many phony photographs.  I suspect this is the case since my clients and students often hand me shots of self–important rooms they want to copy. Surely you have seen glossy photographs of frigid, “museum perfect” rooms – or frighteningly mechanized, gadget–driven kitchens – or worst of all, those hot red bedrooms where no one can sleep when sober.  Being yourself is almost always in good taste. Therefore, the best approach is to celebrate your own sense of self. You may wish to hire a design professional who can work successfully in the style that genuinely expresses your unique personality.