Vered Rosen Design: February 2013

Designing with a purpose in mind

What drives us to keep changing our home interiors?

Why do we keep rearranging our furniture, buying new stuff, repaint, buy more tchotchkes?
Is it because the "old stuff" is dated, not functional or both? usually that’s not the main issue.

Is it a manifestation of our need to fill in an empty feeling with more "stuff"? not only. I don't believe so.

So, what is it? what drives that "itch" to change?
I think that we keep launching “makeover” projects because we have an innate need to live in a place that makes us feel happy, excited, balanced, inspired, calm, etc. Whatever it is, it's always about the feeling first.
It's the "ambience" of the room that matters, not merely the looks.

Understanding this human need is key to a getting it right.

Let me explain. Color, for example has a profound effect on us. It can feel cold, warm, energetic, happy, etc. But color preferences are still individual. Most people either prefer cool colors (blues and blue-greens greens), while others prefer warmer tones (orange, red, yellow). Let’s take the bedroom, for example. Some would prefer a soft but warm tone. Others will feel better surrounded by cool blues or greens. And yet, some people would choose a deeper, more energetic color.

What about styles? different styles are associated with memories and various associations, depending on your personal history and past experiences. That’s why we all have different tastes, which can change and evolve throughout our lives, simply because we change and evolve ourselves, even if we haven’t noticed it.

So why is it so hard for most of us to create a room that we are really happy with?
If you don't know what to look for, it makes it really hard to find it, right?. Shooting in the dark is an option, but not a very efficient one.

Ok. so why is it so hard to "translate" that feeling we want to feel in a room to an actual design? because translating a feeling to tangible stuff like color, shapes, line etc. is art, and like every art, it takes experience, enthusiasm and some failures on the way to get it right.

Here are some examples of what I mean by interiors that evoke a feeling: