| Senses
of Living® Holidays Focal Point, Schmocal Point! If you watch design shows on television, or read magazines about design, or listen to lectures about conventional design, you will always hear two words that should strike fear in your heart: Focal Point. I’ll be honest: I have no idea when the concept of focal point was introduced to interior design vocabulary. My “gut” tells me it was sometime in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when post-war materialism reared its [ugly] head, and homes became “about” their furnishings rather than their occupants. Now, there is nothing wrong with something being highlighted, or given the place of honor to enhance visibility. But, when one is designing a room meant for multiple occupants, or with a designated purpose (like dining, or entertaining, or sleeping/romance), YOU DO NOT NEED A FOCAL POINT. The occupants are the foci (plural of focus; check your Latin). Décor should be about enhancing relationships, not replacing them or substituting for them. Interior design should be about providing a backdrop for interaction. Decorating should be about comfort, convenience and cultivating communication. “Keeping up with the Joneses,” impressing people, ostentation and hoarding are not relevant to décor. I’m sure we are all familiar with examples of designers who decide (often arbitrarily) that a painting or a photograph or some other piece of art will be “the” focal point of a room. The sheer arbitration of the selection shines a light on the superficiality of the activity. Instead of thinking in terms of how people will use the room, instead of thinking how the objet d’art will enhance the interactions of the inhabitants, instead of positioning furniture to facilitate conversation and communication, all attention is forced to whatever the focal point is. Even with some large scale item, like a fireplace, we need to think about this: is it the rule or the exception that we sit around watching the fire burn? It’s the exception, and it’s often when we are alone. Why make this the focal point? Then we have the matter of the television/entertainment center. It is the rise of the television in post-war America that led me to my earlier comment about the timing of the use of “focal point” in interior design. Our own memories and experiences, coupled with old newsreels and nostalgic documentaries will clearly illustrate that the television became the center of attention in homes across America and eventually the rest of the world. Our lifestyles adapted whole-hog to this “box” that occupied center stage of our homes. TV dinners were invented. TV trays were invented to hold them. Scheduling revolved around television programming. Networks increased. Programming hours increased. Cable and satellite options became available. VCRs (and later DVDs) became ubiquitous. The constant barrage of images has taken its toll in terms of physical health, mental health, and what can generally be termed “overstimulation.” I will address this phenomenon in a future column, but I want to use this idea to segue back to home décor. Despite what seems to be an abundance of designers talking about “zen-this” and “zen-that” (wait until you read my column on THAT topic), we have a majority of design specialists who seem to prefer a “more is better” approach. I just call it “busy-ness,” and I consider it harmful on a multitude of levels. Perhaps the greatest harm of “busy-ness” is that it encourages distraction and discourages focusing. Isn’t this ironic, that in a time when the dominating decorating philosophy virtually mandates the presence of a “focal point,” that the resulting product yields a reduced ability to focus? Consider that at least one nationally known interior designer pointed out his cleverness in putting two focal points in a room that he designed. Imagine having two foci in your living room, or your dining room: just being in that room would be like watching a ping-pong game or a tennis tournament, with one’s attention going back and forth between the focal points, if indeed they function that way. They don’t. If anything, focal points tend to establish a theme, as they are used in general design context. This isn’t necessarily true, however, because sometimes the “inspiration piece” can be quite small (we can then discuss why we even need an item to suggest a theme, but that’s yet another column). What IS true, is that home décor is about relationships. It’s about having an environment that enhances your lifestyle and communication, NOT about BEING your lifestyle or a SUBSTITUTE for communication. Home décor and interior design are backdrops for your life. They are part of the path to better living, not the goals in and of themselves. Get it? Let me help you. Now that we’ve abandoned the concept of “focal point” in interior design, let’s celebrate! I’m ready for a party. American Artist Appreciation Month:
We must appreciate artists, American or otherwise, 12 months out
of the year! I use “artist” in the broadest sense, anyone
who uses creativity in some way. That includes painters, musicians
and writers, but also computer programmers, and maybe the manager
who finds a better way of attacking a problem, or maybe the sanitation
engineer (garbage person) who handles the route more efficiently.
They are all artists, so let’s appreciate them! Once again, many dates in August are anniversaries of independence days, flag days, and other patriotic events: August 1 (Independence Day, Benin; National Day, Switzerland), August 2 (Anniversary of Uprising, Macedonia), August 3 (Independence Day, Niger), August 4 (Independence Day, Burkina Faso), August 5 (Independence Day, Jamaica; Flag Day, Japan), August 6 (Independence Day, Bolivia; Independence Day, Central African Republic), August 7 (Independence Day, Cote d'Ivoire), August 9 (Flag Day, Gabon; Independence Day, Singapore), August 10 (Independence Day, Ecuador), August 11 (Independence Day, Chad), August 13 (Independence Day, Central African Republic), August 14 (Independence Day, Congo; Allegiance Day, Morocco; Independence Day, Pakistan), August 15 (Independence Day, India; Liberation Day, South Korea), August 17 (Independence Day, Gabon; Independence Day, Indonesia), August 19 (Independence Day, Afghanistan), August 23 (Liberation Day, Laos; Liberation Day, Romania), August 24 (Independence Day, Ukraine). Now, in compiling the following list, I discovered an abundance
of what I shall categorize as “super-silly” holidays.
They are self-explanatory; I’ve refrained from commenting
unless it is REALLY important. And what is REALLY important is to
treat every day like a holiday! Do it! Whether you have big celebrations, or little celebrations, or a
combination of both, I encourage you to celebrate the joys of life
daily. Every day I encounter less-than-joyous people, and I think
how wonderful it would be if these people would start celebrating
National Smile Week, and never stop.
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