In Defense of Whimsy

Why Homes (and Humans) Need Personality

Maybe it's the algorithms. Maybe it's a Feminist urge to f*&# expectations of beauty. It could be because I'm on the brink of Empty Nesting, and am pre-missing the vibrancy with which children of all ages infuse life. Or just that I'm turning 50 this year, and middle age sometimes feels like just getting up again in the morning and doing it all again.

Whatever the reason, these days, I simply cannot get enough whimsy and color and pattern. Picking what to wear now means looking for the least constrictive but most colorful option. (I am so inspired by @homerunballerina and https://www.instagram.com/chelseagettingdressed/!) And when the SYH gals gather round our studio island to palette play for a new client, or hunt for art and fabric and stone, we are seeking more punch, more depth, more personality.

Of course residential architecture and design is, for us, serious business. A functional kitchen triangle matters. Good natural light, and also appropriate shade and privacy, is crucial. Resilient materials - stone countertops, wool rugs, porcelain tile - make life easier. Ensuring shower doors don't hit shower heads, bedsides have light, you can reach the stuff on the upper shelf and the second floor stays up: nonnegotiable.

But insofar as we can pick and suffer no functional repercussions between a basic lamp shade or a translucent butterfly shade, a standard leg that holds a piece up versus a brass stiletto, or a grey chair versus a two-toned pink and purple one with a yellow welt, I mean. I vote whimsy.

Art that is a bit too large - or unexpectedly small. Tile shaped like animals. All the stripes.

Contrast grout. Red pulls. A loft accessible by silks.

A hidden door, to anywhere at all - but best, to a speakeasy.

Red! and Yellow! Green and blue and all the colors whose names elude you.

And yes, wallpaper. We are in favor. The only rule is that you must love it. Who cares about the next guy who has to tear it out, honestly. He should probably look in the mirror and ask himself why he has so little pizazz.

(Sorry, he is obviously a man.)