Staircase As Metaphor

How many “personality” quizzes have you filled out, only to be more confused after you read the results?  How many books have you bought or borrowed dealing with self-analysis?  The quest to understand ourselves is old as time.  It was, after all, Socrates who said: “Know thyself”.  In modern times we wonder: Why do I like this, but not that?  Why does this thrill me while that leaves me cold?  Why do I keep falling for bad boys?  (Oops!  Wrong quiz…)

While I don’t think we can ever know ourselves completely, there are some things which can give us a clue:  the type of staircase we like, for example.  A staircase is a device which enables us to get from one level to another.  In cases of emergency, when taking the elevator is out of the question, stairs may save our lives.

Do you like regulation straight up and down staircases?  Nothing too complicated: you need to get from point A to point B.  But if it’s carpeted or painted, do you use leopard print carpeting or keep what was on it when you moved in?  Do you hire an artist specializing in trompe l’oeil to paint a fanciful design?  Do you cover it in gorgeous Mexican tiles?  Then it becomes more than something which separates the levels of your abode.  You want your staircase to express your aesthetic to each person who enters your home. 

Do you like staircases made of glass?  You are a forward thinking individual drawn to high tech or mid-century modern minimalism.  Your staircase becomes a focal point, an integral part of your décor which says you value form over function.  (Glass steps make me a little bit nervous.  What happens if your dinner guest is a Sumo wrestler?  Will that glass stand up to 600 pounds?) You live alone or with a partner.  Such a staircase would not be the safest choice for children and indicates you’re probably not planning on having any- at least not now.

 

Whether they're spare or ornate, spiral staircases are very glamorous and more likely to be found in smaller, ruinously expensive spaces with multiple levels.  Great in bachelor pads, this is a staircase that would appeal to people who are very social with an artistic bend of mind.  To an older person, walking up or down and around this staircase would likely give them vertigo or nausea. 

 Then there is the wide curving, two or three story model.  A Southern favorite because it allows a woman to make a grand entrance with the object of causing the waiting beau to catch his breath at the sight of her as she descends slowly, revealing herself a little at a time. Very romantic, especially if wearing an evening gown.  It feeds into the princess fantasies with which women are bombarded from the age of two.  This is all about drama. Obviously, the person who covets this sort of staircase is a Romantic, a dreamer and maybe just a little bit stuck on herself. 

It’s bigger, grander more dramatic sibling is the “Auntie Mame” staircase which, if you’ve seen this wonderful film echoed exactly where Mame was in her life.  It was over the top because SHE was over the top.  She dressed both in color and style to match her décor from head to toe.  It was more about Mame being a woman who completely immersed herself in whatever her passion of the moment happened to be.  She was a woman living life to the fullest, being open to new experiences and despising small minded people.  Can you imagine a wallflower having a staircase like this?

                                 

Virtually everything to which we are attracted is indicative of our personality, not to mention our hopes and dreams.  We give ourselves away every time we ooh and ahh over anything: You see “gorgeous”, I see “boring”.  You love dogs, I love cats.

Pay attention to the things that make you swoon.  You might be surprised.

 

Books

I love books: all sorts of books.  Getting a new book gives me a high like nothing else, except maybe good champagne.  Oh, the thrill of tearing off the shrinkwrap and getting a whiff of that new book smell.  I love the pristine look and feel of a new book.  I love being the first person to open a book.  I think of every new book as being one that might change my life.

I love mysteries, self-help, beauty, fiction and most especially books about Architecture and Interior Design.  While I have my favorite Interior Designers whose work I love, it’s exciting to get ideas from those with whom I’m not as familiar. 

I love to drown in the regional architecture of a far away land like Italy or Morocco.  Or read books about textiles, about lighting, specialized décor whether romantic, modern or rustic.  I love books on design peculiar to various American cities, especially those in the South and in California, where I live.  I love books on Gardening and Landscaping.  I dream of having a Mediterranean garden filled with lemon trees, olive trees, roses and lavender.

Part of what I will be doing on this blog is reviewing Design books.  Hundreds are released every year, some great and some frankly disappointing.  Money is tight for many of us, but we loooove our coffee table books.  I’ll make  recommendations:  If you’re going to spend $60 on a book (as opposed to paying your cell phone bill), it should be worth the money.  I’m also going to have blog posts devoted to a specific Designer.  If they’ve written any books, I’ll include a bibliography and a short review of each one.  For those who purchase a book on my recommendation, I’d like feedback.  Was I spot on or completely off base?  Did I explain the Designer’s work or was I talking out of my…hat?  I leave it to you, dear readers to decide whether or not I’m doing a good job.

 

A Word About Sculpture

A word about Sculpture:  many of us have statues or busts as decoration in our homes.  They are, and have been for centuries a commonly used element or accessory.  We see statues in museums, catalogues and books.  My absolute favorite is Nike of Samothrace which is in the Louvre.  When I saw it in person many years ago, I almost swooned it's so beautiful. 

But it started me wondering why the majority of the Greek and Roman statues are missing heads and limbs.  Were they so poorly made or fragile that anything “sticking out” was doomed to destruction?  Didn’t anyone know how to make a statue that didn’t fall apart?

 

So I did some research.  Do you know why they’re without heads or limbs?  Because the bloody, fanatical Christians of that era chopped them off!  Virtually all sculptures were of Pagan gods or goddesses so they decapitated them and destroyed any part of the statue which might give away its identity thus preventing anyone worshipping them.  The only statues allowed to stand untouched were of actual historical/religious figures (like David or The Pieta) or saints of the Catholic Church.  Pagan statues were considered an affront to the Christian God; blasphemy and idolatry, if you will.  So they had to be stripped of their identity so they couldn’t be honored or prayed to.  Ironically, when Henry VIII engineered the split from Catholicism, the Anglicans rounded up all the Catholic statues and destroyed them for exactly the same reason: idolatry.  Karma, anyone?

Though it had a more sinister purpose, the same thing was done to images of the ancient Egyptian female Pharaohs, whether by their male successors or Roman conquerors.  Pagans may have been hated by Christians, but everyone hated and feared women, most especially powerful women.  (And they still do in most parts of the world.)  So let sculpture keep this thought in the forefront of your mind: From the beginning of time until present day, no matter what  race or nationality, people do not change.  They will always destroy things with which they disagree and they will always use religion to justify it.

 

View From A Chaise Longue

First of all, I know I’ve chosen a somewhat “controversial” title for my blog, if only because so few English speakers pronounce “chaise longue” correctly. So let me take care of that problem immediately:   shezzz longg. 
 

 “We’d like a ‘shay’ in the bedroom.”  or “I want one of those ‘chase lounges’”.  How does one correct a client who may be spending thousands of dollars?  Gently and tactfully.  We shouldn’t just throw some furniture in a room and present a bill.  We need to educate our clients and sometimes ourselves.

Speaking of which, there’s one word in particular mispronounced constantly by many (some extremely famous) Interior Designers/Decorators, who should know better: that word is “accessories”.  It is NOT, ladies and gentlemen, pronounced “Uh sess’ uh rees”.  It is ACK sessa’ rees”.  Two words which appear similar but are spelled and pronounced differently and mean very different things: (“We had total access Backstage Passes at the Springsteen concert!”) as opposed to (“We had to assess the level of danger before we went diving in shark-infested waters.”)  There really is no such word as “assessory” while an “accessory” can be a glove, a vase or someone who aids in the committal of a crime.

I went to Catholic schools so I’m a stickler for correct spelling, pronunciation and punctuation.  I realize we live in a world where not many people know or care about such things anymore.  Rappers have made billions of dollars spelling words incorrectly, e.g. “Ludacris” “Eyez”.  But as designers, we need to know what we’re talking about.  Every profession has its own language and terms.  Our profession’s language is just as important as that used by doctors and lawyers.  Take the time to learn how to correctly pronounce the foreign names of various eras, types of furniture, designers, etc.  (I’ve actually heard someone pronounce “Louis XV” as “Louis Quinnze”)  If you have a blog or website, use spellcheck, use Google. Use all the wonderful tools at our disposal.  The more you know, the better job you can do for your client.