THE IMPORTANCE OF BALANCE IN DESIGN AND IN LIFE
THE PARAGON
People talk a lot about “balance.” It’s something we are all attempting to achieve in various areas of our lives. Having balance means we have indulged in just enough of the bad stuff to bring us a level of pleasure that will sustain us and make us feel happy, but not so much that we damage ourselves.
Having balance means we work just hard enough to have a great career and enough money to enjoy life, but we don’t work so hard that we neglect our loved ones, burn ourselves out, or negatively impact our health.
When we are out of balance, we hurt ourselves and others.
Balance is the ideal and anyone who is able to achieve it is a paragon of good living.
But, many of us struggle to attain it. It’s not simple to achieve and sometimes we need to turn to experts, like doctors, therapists, and nutritionists for help.
I believe the same struggle for balance applies to design. And, often when a design is not right, it all comes down to balance.
BALANCE IN INTERIOR DESIGN
When we think about great design, balance is critical. But, I’m not just talking in terms of having the right amount of furniture in a room or achieving good flow in a home. Those things are important as well to achieve balance. But, it’s more complex than that.
Have you ever walked through a home that was newly remodeled and ticked all of the boxes for the modern home buyer — waterfall quartz countertops, white oak floors, painted feature walls, etc.? But, even though the builder or homeowner updated everything, the place just didn’t sing?
I venture to guess the issue had to do with balance. To achieve balance, a design needs a mix of textures, finishes, warm and cool, hard and soft, loud and quiet. Too much or too little of any of these elements just doesn’t feel quite right.
Balance is the reason stagers and real estate professionals will tell sellers to remove collections of any kind from a home. Yes - they are also very personal and make it harder for a potential buyer to imagine themselves in the home, but they also disrupt balance. This distracts buyers from the features of the home that are most important.
TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING
Too much of anything is a bad thing. Too much floral, too many antiques, too much marble. In smaller doses all of these things are lovely and can even work as the main feature of a space, but en mass, they hurt our brains.
To provide another example (at the risk of exposing ourselves as the furniture nerds we are), have you ever yearned for a piece of furniture, perhaps something classic, like an Eames chair or an antique? But, because of the massive price tag, you tried to find a substitute that would work just as well. Now why was it that every option just wasn’t quite right? There was something off.
I say it’s the balance that was missing - in the silhouette, the color, the texture. The same could apply to shoes or a bag for those of you who obsess over fashion instead of furniture. Balance is key.
And experts agree. According to Australian Interior designer and author of The Tailored Interior, Greg Natale, balance is critical to a cohesive design. In an interview with Architectural Digest, he explained that achieving balance, even for professionals is hard.
THE QUEST FOR BALANCE
When challenged to describe what makes good design, the word that comes to our lips is “balance.” We work to achieve a balance of old and new, balance of textures, balance in color, balance in materials, balance of weight.
We are in the throes of designing and building our own guest house. We’re finding that making decisions for clients is much easier than making those same decisions for ourselves because our options are endless and it’s easy to lose balance.
Balance is the reason why a piece of furniture can look ugly and like a throwaway in one room, but shine like a diamond in the right space. Even the wrong energy in a home can throw everything out of balance.
But, alas, balance is not easy to achieve. This is the value a great designer can bring. These talented people, like the therapist, the doctor, or the nutritionist, can help you find balance. No, designers do not save lives, but if you are looking to achieve beauty in your spaces, which may enhance your quality of life, you might consider calling one.
