Hi folks! Now you all know my love of interior design and all things pretty to put in the home. I have a different post for you today on furniture design, perfect if you are interested in the thought processes behind furniture design.
To comprehend and define the perfect furniture design one must really appreciate the context in which the question is asked. One person’s dream heaven sent canary yellow armchair could be another’s worse nightmare. Your parents may salivate over a three piece suite designed using the highest quality materials and purely traditional in form whereas all you may long for is a bean bag style chair to collapse into following a hard day at work.
Vincent, from leading interior design business Increation sums this up eloquently
The perfect design for me is one that fulfils it’s brief perfectly. Then comes the question of what’s a perfect brief and how that’s interpreted and implemented. To understand a brief perfectly takes listening and humility to not put your own perspective into your listening. Only then once you have truly listened and fully understood are you in any position to be able to create the perfect design. And yes good design will always have a balance between functionality and aesthetic. For me the follow each other very closely, possibly with functionality poking its nose slightly in front.
Vincent raises some really good points, it has to look like how you have envisioned it to be pleasing on your eye but if it serves no functional purpose then it will quickly become ignored in the corner. As a student I dreamt of owning my own rocking chair in which I imagined I would sit for hours reading literary classics. Eventually I found one that matched the vision in my minds eye in a second hand shop and carried it home and proudly placed it in my bedroom and armed myself with an Alice Walker hardback. Thirty minutes later I found myself back on my bed glaring angrily at the bony painful rocking piece of wood I had just dragged through the streets of London. I had purchased what I perceived as the perfect piece but it was incredibly unfunctional and on eBay within the month.
When looking at the perfect furniture design you need to contemplate aesthetics, lifestyle and the rest of your home; furniture should match the colouring of the room in which it is to be positioned and you need to stick with your theme. If you have a beautiful country living style cottage, filling it with contemporary flashy furniture will only serve to confuse the look and create an uncomfortable living space.
When speaking to a designer, talk about your likes and dislikes; not just in the world of furniture but in your day to day being. That way between you, you should be able to identify a practical brief that will comfort you but also be a delight to look at whilst keeping with the theme of your home.
Bio: Jane Blackmore is a freelance writer who no longer buys rocking chairs off the street but lives in a cottage feel bungalow in the heart of Oxfordshire and surrounds herself with beautiful pieces of furniture found in some interesting places.
