An Interior Planning Talk with Tiffany
Dear Tiffany,
It’s nice to visit your condo and nearby neighborhood. I enjoyed the window seat at the downstairs coffee shop. It was a simple joy just sitting there watching people passing by.
You told me about the dilemma of decorating your condo, especially in the bedroom. I understand your concern about the existing piece doesn’t appear symmetrical, yet you could not find the matching one and needed to figure out which nightstand to pick. In my opinion, your idea of making furniture pieces symmetrical is feasible as long as the new nightstands leave enough room for your bathroom door stopper. After measuring your space, those items you emailed me would all work out on that location.
You also told me you like these options because of their style. You are always fond of the mid-century style and want to have a vintage touch on your over-generic interior. Only item C is taller than 23 inches in your list, which will be higher than your current mattress surface. Thus, I would not recommend that item.
The other question is which furniture is more “authentic” to mid-century style because of their different finishing, drawer handles, and profiles. As I see it, there is no such thing as being “truly authentic” to mid-century fashion since all items are made in the current decade and probably manufactured overseas.
However, the two nightstands have legs that allow cleaning robots to pass by. Those are good features to consider if you are too busy or tired of cleaning after work. Generally, cleaning robots in the market range from 3 to 4.5 inches in height and 12 to 14 inches in diameter. Thus, you can alter your other furniture’s legs to meet the size of cleaning robots.
Human beings used to learn from the past and are inspired by history. When retrospect our art history, eras such as the “Greek Revival,” “Gothic Revival,” and “Renaissance Revival” all drew lessons from a wide range of classical expressions. So feel free to have a hybrid furniture style in your space as long as they keep a consistent feel of your home.
You might think “being functional” is not a form nor an expression, yet that statement itself reflects how we view our current circumstances. Art Nouveau embraced the whiplash motif before modernism kicked in the 19th century and celebrated lavish decoration. On the other hand, during the peak of modernism, people valued efficiency and conciseness. Le Corbusier once said, “A house is a machine for living in.” For him, the essence of a good dwelling was to make it as efficient as a machine, which meant using a standardized structure system, modularizing the building elements, and the house master could operate daily necessities within a box.
The sketch above shows that the mid-century trend happened around 1940 and especially thrived after WWII. (That was probably one reason why it was named “mid-century.”) Mid-century modern represented a gentle version of the modernist style. Furniture designed at that time was more decorative than in the previous period. Those objects were natural, fluid lines and with a touch of humor. This change came primarily because of the urgent need to rebuild after the war. The design was treated as a way to elevate living standards and create a warm, “home-welcoming” atmosphere.
During that era, this kind of interior expression remained fashionable throughout the 1950s, conveying that the design could be both “one-of-a-kind” and “mass-produced”. Though I don’t offer any furniture designs, how I approach refreshing your space is more inclined to a mid-century mentality than its form. Modifying your current furniture to have a consistent look and meet your living standard is not a “divergent” from the authentic style you wanted to reach, but rather a manifesto of how we want to live sustainably in our current time.
The last two sketches are suggestions you could consider implementing in the future. I am more of a proponent of making space within a room so the owner can truly relax and enjoy staying in it. You could use this twin-size bed as a “daybed” and turn this room into a “Morning Boudoir” where the lady can read, retreat, or work on hobbies since this room inherits the most natural light within your condo. Moreover, this is a two-bedroom condo; your other room in the inner corner can serve as your primary bedroom.
I hope you like this scheme and take my recommendation.
Your affectionate friend,
Hepburn
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Of Note:
In the old times, women of the aristocracy did not have other labors outside of their residence; therefore, other than serving as the evening sitting rooms, the boudoir was also used as a private drawing room or other activities such as embroidering or intimate venue with friends. Historically, a boudoir is the smallest room compared to a bedroom or a dressing room. It was the last room in a spatial sequence before reaching a more public, more official space. Therefore, placing this “boudoir” in this two-bedroom condo really depends on the homeowner’s lifestyle.
In this case, the homeowner understood the importance of circadian rhythm and wanted to take advantage of natural sunlight. She also often worked from home as her job required. So, cleaning up work-related documents in the common area (living room) every time receiving a guest is not feasible.
On the other hand, the downside of this arrangement is that the in-borne bedroom does not connect to the bathroom, so the homeowner would still prefer to use the existing suite’s bedroom. In the end, combining a “dressing room” and a “boudoir” all together in one room was the optimal solution for her situation.
