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Monday, September 14, 2020

Scale

Fun House Furnishings

Scale always fascinates me in interior design. I am sure many of you will hate this as out of proportion. Others will see it as fun and modern. This massive basket with a tiny oomph console.

I love playing with scale in interior design. It always involves a bit of risk and daring. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't.

Do you like this?

I think most people would prefer this Summer Thornton design below, including me.

Summer Thornton

The baskets are virtually identical and the lamps and Chinoiserie wallpaper are quite similar. The styling of the Summer Thornton is so much nicer though. In the Fun House Furnishings, the lamp cords are visible (at least hide them for the photo shoot), and I don't like that unfortunate little plant and those two white sticks - are those candlesticks without candles? I also think those lamps are anorexic and sort of creepy they are so tall (too tall) and skinny.


34 comments:

  1. Beth, I agree the scale is off between the basket, the small console, and the anorexic pair of lamps. It is all wrong.The faux bois candlesticks and cabbage planter also clash with the wall covering behind them. The vignette in that image is wrong on many levels. In this case, fewer, larger, bolder accessories would look more in scale on that console.

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  2. The proportions in the Summer Thornton design are much more pleasing to the eye.

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  3. Great examples - the first photo makes my head hurt!
    The second photo is visually pleasing to the eye.

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  4. I'd like to see that first picture pulled back a bit. The scale seems off, but I wonder if it would seem as much from afar.

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    1. Only picture I can find but I don't think the photo angle is the problem.

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  5. I’m not sure that my issue with the first photo is scale as much as it is balance/proportion. The end result is that the lower half is too “weighty” compared to the linear and “delicate-ness” of the top. It’s just bottom heavy to me. The second photo show much more balance between what’s on top of the console and what’s underneath it.

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    1. Interesting - to me the first is a miss all the way around.

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  6. I think the first example is fun with the giant basket; it fails due to the other accessories. The second is beautiful and well-balanced.

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  7. The second photo is perfect in every way and also totally predictable and very traditional. I like it. The first photo is fun, quirky and seems more youthfull. It's certainly not predictable and it seems like the designer is willing to push the envelope and be a bit daring. I like it too. I also assume there is and age difference between the two designers. There is room in design for different viewpoints and that's what keeps it fresh and exciting.

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  8. I like door no 2 better...but...what would #2 look like with #1 baskets underneath? I am allergic to seeing lamp cords dangling below leggy tables/desks/consoles. In fact,I think I might be downright anphylactic to leggy/open at the bottom of anything in general in design. So nice to start off a week with such strong opinions, right? Hope all is well in paradise.]this morning.

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    1. I love consoles with baskets below and yes that Beachcomber basket comes in the taller version shown in the first. I personally like the lower ones there.

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  9. First one is way off. Skimpy lamps on a skimpy console with a big @$$ basket crammed underneath. Second is better but could use some editing. Apparently there is such a thing as too much blue and white pottery.

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    1. I love the second, but agree it could have a bit less on the table.

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  10. Proportion and scale are so important. Sometimes I wonder if the stylist who comes into the house prior to photo shoots really has any design background! These both feature a very bold wallpaper with a lot in front of it (on the table) making it a bit "busy" to me and difficult to sort out. Dangling cords are certainly annoying and disruptive to the visual. I use 3m clips attached to the back of the table legs to conceal. Should you change up the table and not need them anymore, they simply pull off. Easy peasy!


    Just yet another opinion among many.

    Stay dry; lots of rain around Florida today and this week.

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    1. I use the clips too. Just a lovely amount of rain here for the garden.

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  11. Yuck , I dislike baskets , big or small , under sidetables !
    Someone made that look fashionable some years ago , even seen it with white towels in it . Like laundry baskets . Why are they there , make something chic look casual ? A basket with dried wood next to a fireplace makes more sense .

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    1. Thank you, I feel the same about loading up negative space underneath anything, including tables. LEAVE IT ALONE, IT'S EMPTY FOR A REASON [balance]. The first photo is from a commercial retail store that has placed everything you see in the photo for sale; their drive is not for "design," rather for packing as much retail content into a small space as possible. The second photo is [presumably] from a "designer" trying to advance their design skills. If you've forced me out to the end of a gangplank, and made me pick one before pushing me out to sea, I'd take the 2nd. Even so, it's overwrought and tiresome with typical chinoise signifiers.

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    2. Actually, no, the first photo is from a show house and the second is from a top wonderful and very talented interior designer featured in House Beautiful. Take a chill pill.

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    3. I love baskets BTW - chic, functional, organic, and textural.

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    4. OK. This is what a "chill pill" looks like: Yes, the "Fun House Furnishings" photo is fron a show house in which everything in the photo/featured room was for sale. And yes,"the very talented interior designer" is also selling his/her wares. Girrrrl, you put up photos/posts, ask us for input, then pull out your back hand! We're ready for it if that's what you want. xoxo

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    5. You are entitled to opinions, not made up facts. The first photo you incorrectly stated is a commercial retail store when it was from a show house and the second you put "designer" in quotes like she's a wannabe when she is very well known and highly regarded. You can spin all you want, you were wrong and this is not Fox News.

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    6. So very well said. Thank-you, Beth. I so enjoy all you share.

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  12. The only things I like about the first pic are the wallpaper and the table. I love the fretwork on it.

    I really think the second would do better with a campaign chest under it..
    Or if they wanted to go with reedy baskets, instead of an open basket, perhaps one made into a box with leather strapping..
    My two cents..

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    1. Interesting - I personally love the baskets and they are very hot with interior designers. I think it's a great look.

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    2. Child, baskets are not "hot" with interior designers. Baskets/rattan/wicker/seagrass have been going on since....well, if I have to explain it, it's not worth the energy.

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    3. I was referring to the braided handle Beachcomber baskets that were in both photos and not any basket. Please don't respond - tedious.

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  13. Picture #2 looks like the sale table at a nice accesories store. Edit!

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  14. Hi Beth..first time comment but long time reader...I am so glad I found you through a google search for chinoiserie many years ago...you have really opened my eyes and educated me on the finer details of a style I love but actually didn't know very much about!!
    And, if you don't mind me saying, you are very observant!...in fact, you make me laugh at myself..where I see a pretty picture with birds and flowers wallpaper and a table with lamps you also see things like the power cords!....I am always going back for a second look and saying, "Oh yeah.. oops...I missed that!!"
    Anyway...thanks for sharing your thought via this blog...it is fun!

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    1. Thanks for being a follower and for taking the time to comment.

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