Symmetry

This post  was first written as part of the project of doing up a Wilhelminian style villa in a village in the Ore Mountains. Alas, this project, like so many others, had to be abandoned once it was three quarters finished. However, I think it's interesting in a general sort of way for those interested in doing up an old house.

In April, The Peak of Chic discussed at her blog the concept of symmetry in interior decoration, which made me acutely aware of my biggest problem (well, my biggest DECORATING problem) at the new place, namely the difficulty to achieve symmetry.

A truly formal room DOES require a high degree of symmetry. For about 15 years now I am living with an electric fireplace [frightfully unsmart, I know, but where I am is the top anyway ;-) ] that has moved with me to the fourth place in the meantime and it always served as a pleasant focal point and "symmetry-achiever". My last place was blessed with a living room of generous proportions (5 x 8 m I'd say) and one door in just the right place. Dark brown walls, heavy dark sofas and dark velvet curtains looked great, as did the oils in their gilded frames. It was the first of my living rooms that could almost claim drawing room status. Symmetry was ruling, and the challenge was to relieve it now and then, not to give the place an un-lived-in or boring feeling. Now I have a living room of maybe half of that space, with two doors at awkward positions and, although it is the first one with a working chimney, this very chimney is in an incredibly awkward place as well and thus totally unsuitable to host a fireplace as a focal point. I will get a tiled stove once I am over my cash-flow problem and try to acquire some symmetry and formality in a different way. But how?

Dark brown walls, heavy dark sofas and dark velvet curtains are a no no here as well. I had the walls painted in a bright yellow and, already living in the shell, am contemplating an alternative solution with entirely different fabrics different furniture and different pictures. It is a big challenge and I wish I always had no bigger problems, but the loss of symmetry truly hurts.


Every cloud has a silver lining and living in the empty shell has saved me from making considerable decorating mistakes already.

I wonder where that craving for symmertry comes from. The human body is symmetric. I am sure there is a certain craving for symmetry deeply ingrained in the human mind, quite independent from "good" or "bad" taste.