A home with a twist

I've never met a room I didn't want to re-arrange just a little.

The color might be perfect but one chair clashes. Spindly, uncomfortable, not even good wood--just a lousy chair and it spoils the room.

Then, there's balance to contend with. If something is out of sync, my eyes are riveted to it, praying that it will turn to ash right away.

Decorating magazines arguably fuss with a new approach to the same old theme and right now the words de jour are "calming" and "soothing" and before that, "eclectic."

For those of us who just stumble along trying for our our version of a comfortable and pleasing room, I use this formula:
first, get the background color under control. Then, push furniture around until it's placed to provide the absolute best comfort. After that, you tweak to get the balance and symmetry so nothing intrudes when you look up from your book.

I can lose my calmness and require a tad of soothing when I encounter "Architectural digest. Those home owners who don't hunker in for a quiet evening in front of the telly. They are people with pieds a terre, the country place and I mean one in every country you can think of and of course, the summer place with the Oriental carpets for the sand to settle into.

A.D. people seem to have their places redecorated the moment anyone spills a drop of martini on the white linen upholstery. Some of these home owners are pictured with beautifully dressed babies but the high chair never shows up in the kitchen. It would be nice to think they had something so useful around, as long as they have the accouterments when they pitch in to personally cook for six hundred people with a place for each one to sit.At least they have lots of staff to do the cleaning up.

My bedroom is the closest to my version of comfortable perfection--the color is right any time of day and the comfort level is high. The balance isn't perfect but nothing is jarring so I wake up happy and fall asleep the same way.

I should get another hobby but honestly, this one is fun.