Window

My aunts don’t understand it. I didn’t know how to make them. After all, it was a silly argument. Furniture positioning is not rocket science, and it’s such a subjective thing, I wouldn’t consider it worth fighting over. They, on the other hand, though it was worth arguing about. For about 20 min they questioned why I chose the layout I did. Pestered me about it. Even tried to move the furniture on me. Moving day wasn’t that big a deal otherwise, but the persistent displeasure of my decor style became the primary stressor. They wanted control. They had no control here. Not that they were trying to be malicious. They just thought differently than I.

My aunts are symmetry people. They love symmetry. It’s what they aim for in all their designs. Couches in a room face each other head on, no matter the positioning of windows and doors. Coffee tables sat dead center in between. They’ve been conditioned into the artform of entertaining. Building conversation in a room. Making focal points, and yes, knowing where to sit to be center of attention.

When I laidout my livingroom, I was mindful of the large and beautiful picture window. I refuse to put furniture in front of windows unless those windows are high enough the furniture doesn’t block the view. But I do this because windows can be drafty and why would I or my company want to be cold? So when I did my floor layout, I put my couches in an L shape. Asymmetry. Not their forte of course, but for me, I don’t believe symmetry is the ultimate beauty. Nor do I believe in having myself as the center of attention. In my home, my beautiful picture window, was the focal point. It was the reminder that there was a neighborhood, a quiet street, nature, lives outside of my four walls.

I don’t entertain much, so the layout of the furniture didn’t matter so much. My friends and I will sit in my bedroom or in the kitchen around a tea set on my dirty tablecloth. We’ll be in the basement shooting pool. Sitting on the floor with the cat. The furniture won’t be used much. It’s there as an obligation to functionality.

If I had my way, we’d all sit on piles of pillows and my kitchen table would be like the low style ones you kneel at. Unfortunately, I grew up in a western culture with western culture mentality when it comes to decor. Otherwise I’d decorate in a more eastern fashion.