Rethinking the Look of Things No. 68 - The Concept of Pareidolia

 

I've been blessed to have an increase in the time I have been able to spend on my front porch reading this season. I'm not even close to putting a dent in my Front Porch Reading List, but the time to dust off some books in my libraries (piles here and piles there) has been so satisfying. 

The distractions have been few, but one has me rethinking the concept of pareidolia. I have had my head in the clouds so to speak as a passerby just might catch me staring up into the sky in awe of its ever-changing beauty and ever-changing dance of shapes my mind sees in the clouds. Pareidolia is the tendency to perceive a meaningful image in a random pattern and it has me rethinking how this relates to interior design. Not intentionally putting images into the design but seeing the design of a space for more - going deeper to elevate the design.

The design of our homes cannot be without meaning so the I think that a good designer needs to have the tendencies of pareidolia - to have the perception of significant patterns or recognizable images in random arrangements of shapes and lines. Whether designing our personal spaces or clients' spaces, this is a must.

The application of pareidolia in interior design is the partner to getting one with the spaces we are designing. Envisioning the space for its secrets, its calling. And then intertwining these images that come to mind with the owner's biography. 

How will this design story unfold to create the linger in its space that has the same effect on our soul that the sky with clouds does for us? To develop into an environment, we don't want to leave and that we don't want to stop revisiting again and again.

Maybe, just maybe when we are in a design slump, we need to take a break and sit under the clouds and breathe it in filling our tanks with inspiration and then back to the concept boards. 

One can only imagine the next level design that can happen from applying the concept of pareidolia at the brainstorming steps of a design project. Random, but planned. Significant, but comfortable. Meaningful, but relaxed. The perfect dance partners.

Let's get our heads in the clouds because the sky is to be marveled - a design that God renews minute by minute - season by season. A canopy we live under every day and miss seeing, may I say with consequence. 

Perhaps the inspiration from the sky will be the perfect paint color you have been looking for in your design plan. There are colors from the sky that almost seem unable to be duplicated - get as close as you can, the meaning of why you chose this color will be impactful. 

"You are my blue crayon, the one I never have enough of, the one I use to color my sky." A. R. Asher

Be inspired!

Sources: Tumblr, Schumacher, Luxe, Etsy, House Beautiful, Valerie McKeehan, Designs by Carla Aston, Pinterest

When it Could be a Don't No. 14 - When a Wooden Bench is Not a Bench At All

If we open the creative side of our minds we see function, not thought of before, come to life. Take that bench that sits in our home waiting for the need of an extra seat. It's tucked to the side or under another piece of furniture until its need arises. Why?

A bench can become so much more in our homes. How about using our bench as an art easel? I've been rethinking the "correct" way to hang art at eye level. Eye level when? Only when we are standing in a space? Why? Couldn't eye level be when we are sitting down? (More to come on that subject in a this blog soon.) So this brings to mind how the bench can become more than a bench.

Our bench can be in lieu of a console table behind our sofa. And what a great way to display our current stack of acquired books we will be reading next, or our favorite reads from times past. How about those great travel books - they aren't limited to cocktail tables - who decided to call them coffee table books?

There is something to be discovered about spreading things out across a long bench. They become a bit more special. That piece you have on your mantel may become more of an eye catcher put down lower on a bench, its detail appreciated even more.

I love the shape of the bench showing itself off behind a sofa adorned with simplicity by well-chosen books and objects. Remember we still may need to pull the bench in as extra seating so don't load it up too much. Or do! A bench is a great library space! Perhaps your bench is a permanent non-bench - so load it up with stacks of beautiful books. And heck, top those books off with some favorite objects. Or not.

Let's take away the temporary feeling a bench can create in a space - a piece waiting to be used on occasion. Perhaps this is where your stunning photography finally meets its perfect spot. Think tabletop when you are considering what you will display on our bench. Opens up endless possibilities!

I love how a bench keeps the visual of a space open - not blocking the view. The displays you decide to utilize your bench for sit lower, blending with the space rather than creating a division of the space. When a bench is not a bench it brings life to a space, to your objects, to your book collection, to your Summer vacation perfect seashell on top of those books. There's no limit. Just be sure to keep it within the less is more. 

Be inspired to redefine what an easel is that holds your art or photography. Be inspired to redefine what a bookshelf is. Be inspired to rethink about when a bench is not a bench.

Sources: Dusty-Reykjavik Blogspot, Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, Dering Hall, 79Ideas, House Beautiful UK

When it Could be a Don't No. 13 - Mismatched Sofas

This isn't a happenstance, or at least it shouldn't be. Pairing mismatched sofas in a design is not a rule breaker either, nay - it's pure genius! It's throwing away the cookie cutter of design. It's taking all those beautiful fabrics and leathers you've fallen in love with for your space and realizing you don't have to eliminate not a one of them. it's a standing ovation!

The key elements of design are still present in a mismatch plan. Form is played upon by selecting mismatched sofa styles that compliment each other's structure and shape. Even so far as pairing two different periods together.  (i.e. Midcentury with contemporary or Chesterfield with modern.) Balance is still present in mismatching sofa styles as long as scale is a factor in the selection process. Harmony is apparent in mismatched sofa styles with the fusion of color and texture coordination. 

Proceed with caution, this isn't the answer to compromise. It isn't giving all persons sharing the space their taste tossed in the same room. It isn't a way to say see we can put all our existing furniture together and viola. That's called hodge podge - not great design.

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Breaking this design-by-the-book approach takes a skilled eye, a talent. And the results will be spectacular for sure! Be ready, though, because the mismatch will be necessary in other parts of the room as well. Not overdone, please no! Be subtle - it's a look that isn't noticed at first glance. It's the look that gets the stare and then the sly smile comes. The onlooker notices slightly at first and then takes in the total room design like a "can you find the differences" page out of a Highlights magazine.

A slightly braver approach to a mismatched pair of sofas can be as beautiful as using the same fabric on both while only changing the two styles. It's like dipping your toe into the water instead of jumping right in and that's okay.

There will be pieces in your room that pull this mismatched pair of sofas together. These pieces are the harmony of it all. Consider the area rug and the cocktail table with much consideration. These are the important puzzle pieces to the success of this look in a room, like the last puzzle piece that finishes that 500-piece landscape scene puzzle. This doesn't mean you can't start with the rug or the cocktail table and build the design around them. As a matter of fact, that's where the most stunning rooms most likely begin. Then comfort, texture, and color palette follow - fall into place.

Symmetry is not missing in a space designed with mismatched sofas. Plan this room with love, plan this room with how the space will be utilized by the persons sharing the space, plan this room - it isn't a happenstance. A well-designed space never is!

Whether formal or casual, the mismatched pair of sofas is welcome in both. There are no limitations to this design style as to which room it can or cannot work. Just don't use it more than once in your total home design. 

Live well! Be inspired!

Sources: West Elm, Cup of Jo, Lonny, Design Chic, McGee & Co., One Kin Design, The Spruce, Pinterest

Be Inspired No. 91 - The Eyes Have It

My intrigue for eyes... it started on a lazy Summer afternoon and a family weekend at the cabin. My much younger kids, at the time and their Dad went off to do their thing and I decided to explore a small local antique shop not too far away. 

I came across a bin full of old paper, lithographs, and catalogs and hit the jackpot when I came across a small French menu in the shape of a egg cup. I knew I had to keep digging! When I took my finds to the shop owner to pay he mentioned he had a whole back room filled with old paper and I was invited to go back and look through.

Two hours later I came out of that back room with a flat cart stacked with paper treasures. One of which was an old ophthalmology textbook. Why? Because when I flipped through the book I was drawn to an eye sketch that I couldn't look away from. I took this treasure, along with a few others found that day, to my framer's to select the perfect frames. When I visit, I always go to the frames that are made from leftover mouldings and found a round frame that was perfect for my eyeball sketch. 

After I hung the round art-framed eyeball I remembered a clay eye of David that my son made during a summer art camp and my love of the eye detail deepened. I added that clay piece to a wall shelf that was part of my artscape.

Like a lot of my loves, I dedicated a Pinterest board to it. The Eyes Have It is a collection of some of the eye details featured in this blog post. I don't pin every eye I find - they have to make me stare before they gain a spot on my board. 

Detail isn't a new fling for me. So much of life's enjoyment is in the details that we can easily miss when we look at the big picture. Concentrating on the detail of the eye has given me a richer experience in artwork I've seen before. I'll admit there's a little bit of funkiness in this love and that's okay. The quirkiness in us sings out our personality and individuality. 

The beauty of the eye can hold a story that almost seems mysterious. One we can interrupt and own. There may be different versions of the story from one person to another and that is perfection!

The eyes are the mirror to our souls. Be inspired with this as a reminder that it's all in the details, every little detail - even the zooming in on a single eye. 

Sources: Tumblr, The Fuller View, Pinterest