On universal laws

Hello/Bonjour, you find me contemplating Hofstadter’s law, which states that… It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law. Originally used in 1979 by Daniel Hofstadter when discussing why chess-playing computers were still being beaten by humans(!), it can, I think, be equally and reliably applied to any decorating or renovation project. Which is a roundabout and high-falutin way of saying that we still haven’t  finished painting the dining room. It’s those last fiddly bits that, argh, are taking an age, aeons, and an eternity. So much so that we’ve started to remove the wallpaper in the kitchen because it has the virtue of being a satisfyingly quick job. A necessary job too owing to the ill-advised use of plastic-y paint and an over-abundance of some type of glue, both of which are causing damp issues.

As a distraction from the seemingly endless sanding of wood now ahead of me, and as vital encouragement, I have been enjoying Sarah Andrews’ The Poetry of Spaces. Even if you don’t happen to like her style, which I do, her “guide to creating meaningful interiors” is definitely worth reading. She focuses on life first… and look second. And reminds me that what I am doing when putting a room together is actually designing an experience. So it makes sense to start from the perspective of the experience you would like people to have on using the space, rather than just how the space is to be used. Rather than thinking of a chair as just a chair, she advises us to think about how it will make people feel when they use it and also about how it might influence their behaviour. We’ve all been to places where the furnishings, lighting and decor have made it very clear that we are not welcome to linger. And even some places where they’d like us to linger but have made it nearly impossible because of their design choices. 

I definitely don’t want anyone to feel unwelcome when they visit and am keen to encourage relaxation and unwinding. And I am longing to feel more comfortable in my home… hence the near-obsession with getting rid of the grey. 

Here they are, my favourite projects/restorations/encouragements of the moment, a wonderfully comfortable colourful house in London by Kate Guiness  and this a sympathetic conversion of an Umbrian monastery to a hotel by Archiloop. 

Hofstadter’s Law can also be usefully applied to settling into a new country, or starting a new business, or relaunching an old one, or getting fit, or learning a new language, or anything else you can think of. Which is both consoling and frustrating in equal measure. 

A bientôt