Talking asymmetry

Right then the doors of the Design School are being flung open today and tomorrow and we're be yabbering all about how to create you very own dream home. The two M's Maud and Mungy are off to school (with both of us feeling a little poorly felt that it might be easier and kinder on them) as can just about get up the stairs let alone take them to the park. Plus they do this double act when everyone arrives of zooming around and playing up - so school is a good plan and they haven't been for over a month, way behind on their three R's! Although we tend to ditch the rules  in our design classes, you do kind of need to know a little about them in order to do away  with them. For example the idea of symmetry is a popular one, I'm taking bedside tables and lamps exactly the same, mantlepieces and consoles anchored and orderly that kind of thing. Its the easiest way to decorate because you don't need to think its a bit like painting by numbers,  follow the formula and you will get a pretty OK looking space. OK being the key word. Except OK isn't good enough for me I want spectacular, jaw on the floor, gasping at the door type interiors where a room is so amazing you have to sit down in order to take it all in. So I'm not the hugest fan of symmetry. In my spaces everything is not a mirror image and although there is balance its an informal balance, far harder to pull off but far more memorable. How to achieve asymmetrical balance you may ask? Well its not hard - you need to have a number of equally interesting things going on in a space for the eye to linger on. If your eye wanders round the room and then always comes back to the same point - NOT GOOD your balance is suspect. If however things are randomly distributed throughout the room then you've probably nailed it. The reason I  am so obsessed with this style of decorating is because there is no formula, no rules, no limits anything goes. It may take a bit of tweaking to get right but once you've converted you've converted, a bit like crossing over to the dark side there is no going back. The image below shows a very simple example of asymmetrical balance. The pictures are not all lined up on the wall, the pillows are ad hoc so when you first look at it you can't quite take it all in in one hit. Cool hey. Have a lovely weekend