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Design Perspectives

Exquisite Elegance
Does it get any better?

by Karla Nielson, Allied Member, ASID; WCAA

We have a place here in my city where youth and young-minded adults go to play indoors. Its called Extreme Competition. The idea is that you take your date, friends, birthday party or other group and have a riotously good time in an ear-splitting noisy atmosphere where larger-than-life inflated slides and places to jolt your body are at your command. You and your friends can shoot each other with paintballs and, hey, I guess it doesn’t get any “funner” than this.

Personally, I’m past all that, but I understand where the youth are coming from on this idea of extreme—we are searching, not just as youth but also as a nation, for something to satisfy us. And “taking it to the extreme” (whatever “it” is) seems to be the answer for many seekers today. It really doesn’t get any better than this. And since this idea of “extreme” is the newest socially correct description of feeling emotions and satisfying physical desire, let’s run with the idea—but on a different plane.

POSITIVE ELEGANCE

The idea of extreme, to an adult, may have different, less positive connotations than to today’s youth. Extreme can be a negative word in the interior design world, one that has lost its limits of good judgment. So let’s use a word that has much more positive implications to mature customers, and one that will enhance your vocabulary as a professional. That word is exquisite. According to Merriam-Webster, these definitions apply to exquisite: “(adj.) 1. Excellent in form or workmanship 2. Keenly appreciative 3. Pleasingly beautiful or delicate 4. Intense.” That last definition—intense—comes closest to today’s use of extreme.

As a noun, exquisite means: “An overly fastidious individual.” Now, that overly fastidious person, according to the dictionary, is someone who is “overly difficult to please” or “showing or demanding excessive delicacy or care.” Right now you might be smiling (or moaning) as you recall clients who fit this description precisely. There certainly are people who demand exquisite elegance, many of whom are excessively difficult to please.

Taking this idea to a more universal level in today’s world, shouldn’t everyone who can afford professional design services be entitled to at least a dash of exquisite elegance—something to make their lives feel a little more special and wonderful and meaningful and rich?

If you answered “Yes” to this question, you are a champion salesperson as well as an accomplished design professional. You probably also like people, even the hard-to-please ones. Taking the attitude that “you deserve this” not only will win you more clients, more sales and more satisfaction, it will also win you client loyalty and friendship. They will adore you because they are longing to hear this, and your verification of their inner desires makes them feel validated.

This is at the heart of exquisite or extreme elegance—creating that special look through fine design and decorative detail that spells soul-satisfying beauty for that very special person: your customer.

DEFINING ELEGANCE

Elegance is an elusive noun. It is refined graciousness. It is tasteful richness of design. To some, elegant may mean lavish. Lavishness is one direction of extreme elegance—taking furnishings to the limit. It is the Victorian philosophy of “if a little is good, a lot must be better.”

In lavishly elegant interiors, complexity of line, pattern, color and texture are the goal. It is the saturation of the senses. It is a look of organized clutter, of layering the furnishing elements that suggest one’s ability to afford a greater amount of goods, thereby achieving a status of sorts. Lavish interiors may be dark in color value, enhancing the layering effect through shadow and depth. It also may be brightly colored, with sensuous hues, bold patterns and elaborate trimmings.

This idea of lavish elegance is a time-proven direction that has its roots in English estates from the 1700s through the present time. Its philosophy began in the landholder class, a duke or duchess, a lord or lady or other landed gentry whose manor houses were palatial in size and filled with collections of fine and decorative arts that spanned several generations.

To the English, an “undecorated look” is one that is simply handed down from one’s predecessors and to which you added your own stamp of personality. It is important to note that these inhabitants were lonely people. They lived in houses whose roofs were measured in acres, and whose gardens were parks, and whose neighbors only called occasionally. There was no phone, no media entertainment, no connection with the outside world, and far less pressure and stress. These grand estates with their over-furnished interiors were the comfort, the friend of the aristocracy.

The question for us as we help our customers is, what are their needs? Do they need this kind of comfort against loneliness? Or is the average upscale customer of today in different circumstances, one where over-stimulus will generate excessive stress in an already stress-filled life?

RESTRAINED ELEGANCE

For people whose lives are full and busy and who long for beauty things but don’t have time to dust them, restrained elegance often has the greater power. This philosophy is the power of the understatement, the frank exposure of each element rather than its camouflage.

Exquisite elegance can be appreciated from every vantage point, from every opinion. It holds up under scrutiny. It is the elegance that comes with discriminating good taste. It is the result of knowing when to stop, which is short of excess.

With the influence of Pacific Rim design philosophy, many of today’s Western design professionals have become more confident in producing interiors that have a serene quality. Serenity should be the result of restrained elegance. This kind of interior will promote feelings of security, appreciation for quality and gentility without being overbearing or insistent. It is much more open to interpretation and can be applied to a broad range of design styles.

Retrained elegance is exquisite because it eases the burdens of life through light colors, fewer furnishings, thoughtfully placed elements and understated colors and textures. This new direction in elegance is based on lighter tones and more open spaces. It is the Oriental philosophy of “less is more.” This ideology can mean less decoration is more mental space, or less clutter gives more emphasis to focal point elements.

Perhaps the most potent form of the less is more philosophy is this: “Less items means more money, more detail, more exquisiteness available for each item—more attention to detail.” It means more quality for fewer things. It means less “stuff” but of higher quality as opposed to more stuff of lower quality because the budget must be spread thin. It is, in short, a new way of looking at life and how we fill our environments.

Illustrating this article are examples of restrained elegance. Creating simpler interiors has become a major design movement. It is a furnishings direction that is becoming more universally appreciated for lifestyles of this 21st century. Restrained elegance is also more attainable and has the advantage of being easier to maintain, as not everyone wants hired help to clean his or her home. It is a look that de-stresses and gives comfort and serenity—qualities that more and more people are seeking in today’s hectic, insecure world.

Both of these directions, lavish elegance and restrained elegance can be exquisitely beautiful. Understanding what they do for the psyche will empower you to create a look that is appropriate for each client.