Summary

On today’s episode you will learn the rules of good taste and how they relate to wellness within your home. We also play a new game called, Let’s get rid of it. Play along with us and let us know what you plan on getting rid of #teaoverinteriors on Twitter and Instagram. — This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app — Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/teaoverinteriors/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/teaoverinteriors/support

Transcription

Auto-generated by Descript, Sign up for free!

Episode 22 The Rules of Good Taste

Dee: [00:00:00] I’m Dee

Alicja: And I’m Alicja

Dee: Welcome to Tea over interiors. This week, we will be discussing the rules of good taste. But before we get to that, Alicja, what you sipping on girl?

Alicja: We are sipping on the same wonderful tea you sent me. It’s the candy apple with a touch of cinnamon, and it’s got a green apple notes and it’s a black tea it’s really delicious.

Dee: Yes, very yummy. You know, it’s October. So it’s apple picking pumpkin picking season.

Ooh,say that up three times fast.

Alicja: I can’t do it. I’m terrible at,

Dee: So it’s that time of year, even though today was so beautiful. Thank you God. It was such a beautiful day. Today. Still is.

let’s move on to. [00:01:00] Dee’s randomness , Alicja? Yeah, by the time we release this recording, it will be national inner beauty day. Have you ever heard of it?

Alicja: I haven’t. That sounds wonderful.

Yes. Well, every year, October 7th is national inner beauty day. This day was declared. To help people appreciate themselves and their inner beauty. It encourages people to look beyond outward appearances and respect and admire the people that they are. Love yourself and appreciate the beauty that lies within you as well as within your home, right? Your home is a reflection of you. So go out there and love on yourself today.

Let your light shine.

Dee: Exactly your light shining does not [00:02:00] dim other lights, right? Because the sun shines on everybody.

Onto today’s topic, today we are talking about the rules of good taste. Are there rules of good taste? Sounds like the topic for us to talk about and put a wellness spin on it. That’s what we do. We talk about your home as you are a place of refuge right? Alicja, what are your thoughts on the rules of good tastes?

Alicja: I thought about that when you first raised the topic I must say, if we’re going to stay focused on inner beauty and wellness, I want to preface all of this conversation by saying that it doesn’t really matter what other people think.

It’s really not that important. Of course, you know, this what someone else likes when you’re talking about making your home a beautiful space. People come [00:03:00] to us for advice on what is appropriate and appropriateness for me has everything to do with the space, architecturally, spatially, you know, how, how you flow through this.

It has a lot to do with how you use the space, what the purpose is of that space as in, you know, form follows function. So I want to really drill down on the importance of creating or having spaces that function for your life because that’s, what’s going to nurture you. That’s what’s going to make you feel good at home.

Since we’re talking about rules in the world of waves and the world of design, I believe that it has a lot to do with appropriateness. You want to choose and have [00:04:00] an aesthetic that resonates and compliments and is in alignment. The physical space and what feels appropriate for that space. We last week, or if it was two weeks ago, we talked about how scale has a huge impact on how a space feels if you choose the right size furniture.

So I think that is. It comes back to the appropriate conversation, making sure that you’re choosing things in the, in a space that feel appropriate, that has , a lot to do with good taste. Good tastes also, it’s not just appropriateness. It’s also something that is not offensive. Once again, this is subjective. So what is offensive to you may not be offensive to me, but if you walk into a room and or you walk into your home or any space for that matter could be a restaurant and some people thrive off of the shock [00:05:00] factor.

I personally don’t think it’s in good taste to have things that are going to use the word garish or offensive, you know, something that’s over the top or over done. Some people love the wow factor. If it’s over the top, the happier they are. So there you have it. Go, go, go for it, you know, but it’s that shock back there.

I think that makes things feel tasteless. So, and when I say offensive, I’m talking about things that don’t feel appropriate. This is up for debate. I have a client years ago, a male client who wanted his master bedrooms. To feel, I didn’t do this for him. He made this choice without me.

And you know, that’s fine. It’s his bedroom, but there was a huge picture. I think it was a photograph may have been, of a nude man, it [00:06:00] wasn’t like, you know, a new. When you go to art school, you sketch nudes just to kind of learn the form of the human body. No, it was like full frontal.

It was like, this is a nude man above my bed. So, you know, it was when I walked into the room. But then again, that room wasn’t meant for me, the room was meant for he and his partner. That was appropriate to them. So you see what I mean about somebody could argue that that was not in good taste. Right?

Would you, would you, what would you say about something like that? So, Hmm, crickets, right?

Dee: No, to me, if you’re asking, when it comes to like, how do I feel about these. These, uh, notions about what are the rules of good taste and good taste and things like that. I feel like when you say things like the rules of [00:07:00] good taste or that’s in good taste, I feel like it kind of is a way to make people feel like they’re being.

Forced to conform to ideals of what society has deemed is beautiful. And,

Alicja: or that’s just the thing D like you’re right. It’s about social constructs, but there are so many different constructs within our society. He felt like that was cool in his circle amongst society.

It may be offensive to me. It may be offensive to you, but it’s not offensive to a whole host of other people.

Dee: Yeah. I mean, if that’s what he wanted in his home as a designer, I, well, as a designer, I’m always going to attract the people that are most aligned with me. Right. Because. I have a totally new, energy that I carry with myself.

And so I don’t have to worry about. [00:08:00] Encountering people that are going to want to make decisions that would totally offend me because I feel like I don’t want to hang a photo or a huge portrait of a nude man and any design that I do, because how do I photograph that and be like, look, mommy, look what I did.

You know? I mean,

Alicja: you know, that’s another thing now what you’re talking about, our values and you’re talking about. You can stand behind and feel good about no matter who sees it. Mommy, uncle, auntie daughter, son, client.

Dee: That’s what, but that’s what we, as designers, we edit a lot of our work into what we feel society would feel is good taste.

So we’ve done lots of interior design projects that we would hardly ever in our past show anybody just because we did not like some of the choices that our clients made. And we [00:09:00] felt like presenting it to the world would not show out. Idea of what good taste is, but it is such a subjective thing.

And it also varies within certain circles, right? So like in high society, good taste may be one thing. And then in the middle-class working people aesthetic it’s something, what they might’ve seen on Instagram that they’re trying to emulate. You have all these different structures in different, hierarchies instance within society that defines all these different things.

You know, like I’m thinking of the met gala, right? When I think of. Oh, people who think they have such good taste, right. I’m not trying to offend the people at the met gala, but I’m just saying like, you know, that’s where everybody comes out and they try to outdo each other and try [00:10:00] to come up with what they feel is either shocking sometimes or what they feel is very beautiful.

There’s all these different rules, I guess, or all these different ideas. I find that if you want to figure out what good taste is for you, then there are a few rules that you can go by to derive how you want your home to feel and book.

So as designers, we’re always going to start with the elements and principles of design, right? As far as the elements of, art, a concern, we’re going to look for line form, color texture, pattern, light space. And as far as the design principles, we’re going to look for proportion.

Right? We talked about last week, we talked about scale. We’re going to look for balance. A lot of times it’s symmetry. We’re going to look for harmony. How does it all work together? We’re going to look for rhythm. [00:11:00] How does, how it flows. Brings that I, you know, how, how does the eye move within the space?

Is there something interesting that you’re looking at and we’re going to look for emphasis, right? Where we said focal points. We talked about. And our objectives are to create beauty that we find is beautiful to be expressive, right? To express what our client is wanting to express like your client. He wanted this photo of this man, because he thought that, it would add whatever element that he was looking for to express himself and what he deemed to be beautiful within his home.

And then we’re going to also have our objective of functionalism. How is this home or this space, whatever, how is it going to be functional for our client? . Those are the things that you can utilize in order to create a space that you feel is within your guidelines of good tastes.[00:12:00]

And then, you would go and make your selections in arrangements that are, beautiful economical for you. And that gives you the ability to judge and determine the quality. Of your items. We always talk about quality. We always talk about what the end goal is. So, you know, buying quality pieces, I feel are very important.

And to me, that’s in good taste, not just buying a bunch of different things and then throwing them together with no rhyme or reason. So I feel like as long as you have a goal and you follow. Some sort of structure, like I just went over then I feel like that will help you when determining the rules of quote unquote good taste for your home.

Alicja: You’re spot on with all that. I do know though that the, the phrase good taste. Denotes highlights [00:13:00] and emphasizes a refinement. Yes. Grim a nation, perception of quality. As you said earlier, or Paula. For an acumen or acuteness something that’s well cultivated or curated. It’s all about this aesthetic that is supposedly above the fray, you know, a cut above the rest. And I don’t know who judges that deems that or determines that to be the case, but pregnant with.

Th that emphasis and, and all of those words that I just described. I’m with you on owning it and using some rules in order to. But I don’t think we can ignore the fact that just using that term in our society and our social construct, the Americanism or whatever in our culture, that it has a great deal to do with refinement of some on some level and [00:14:00] refinement.

Dee: Yes. So definitely good taste is all about the refinement of the details and things like that. I found this article written by Linden Lewis. how do you deconstruct taste He broke down a painting. in the painting, he notated that one of the things that you would find is a Persian.

because it conveys the reality that nobility is perpetuated through luxury tours and trade routes. And the initial incorporation of such things into design was directly correlated with the establishment of merchant trade routes and the import of wealth from Asia.

So this painting is probably from the 17 1800. Okay. And so another thing that he points out is symmetry and composition, right. Which [00:15:00] is something that I spoke about and elements. Exactly. He also points out how incorporating a deep Emerald or hunter green is something that, you know, Ralph Lauren always incorporates in his designs.

And so that’s something that’s always incorporated luxury interiors and things like that. And then he notates the. Asian motifs, which within this painting that, that he’s deconstructing as well as the implication of wealth by the presence of massive single sheet of, uninterrupted glass or materials like marble.

I think we talked about Marvel before as being a material that is going to forever be in Vogue. So those are some of the elements that he said [00:16:00] was interesting was part of deconstructing taste.

Alicja: Yeah, I’m not negating it. It’s fine but I also know that that’s a certain aesthetic.

Dee: Definitely. It’s a certain aesthetic, you know, I lean more toward the minimalist, but not in the utilitarian form of minimalism. I like more simple interiors. I’m not a maximalist, filling up every single space at a home. I do love some negative space.

I do like a room to breathe. But bringing it back to the wellness aspect, how these things make you feel. I think in another episode, we also discussed how interior decor items and accessories and things like that actually contain chemicals that can be harmful to your health.

How much do you want to add into your home and what these items may do to you physically, right aside from. Creating a home that creates mental wellness for you and makes you feel [00:17:00] comfortable and relaxed.

Alicja: You know, something just hit me in my spirit. And I think the, the key to choosing tasteful. As an option in your interior space is choose valid. And I think if the emphasis and focus is on the balance of objects and the balance of scale and the balance of symmetry or asymmetry, if you’re choosing balance, which we, I choose.

As a daily or I attempt to choose that as a daily, mantra and, existence is to feel balanced in my body and to feel balanced in my choices and to exude balance. I think that is a road to wellness as, as it relates to the interior space, choosing best. If I were to try to, you know, put it in a capsule, you know, and, [00:18:00] and, and semis it.

I really do think that that’s the goal and I believe tastes or tastefulness will abound if you are able to, lock into that and choose that as a goal.

Dee: There’s balance found in nature, you know, and that’s why we, we want to feel those things within our own spirits and within our own homes. That’s why we’re always looking for ways to find balance, you know, whether it’s work life balance or whether it’s like, you know, , getting in that vacation or.

Trying to find a space to do yoga and meditate and take care of our bodies and, you know, heal ourselves within, or take a nice relaxing bath. These are all the things that, we seek on a daily basis , to do

Alicja: Being available for that, mentally, a lot of things come at us on a daily basis.

A lot of. People, you [00:19:00] know, being exposed to different places, having to juggle and manage a lot of physical and material items. We are often bombarded we’re over stimulated. So taking a step back, like this morning, I had all these great ideas about doing a whole bunch of stuff. The true balance for today because I have to listen to my body, was to do a great deal of nothing was to prepare some clean, good food, some nice vegetables, eat those good vegetables, feel good in my body, not overdo it physically. I had a million things to clean out and do this and that I did.

None of them. I needed to sit and enjoy my space because work, the workload is heavy this week and I needed to recharge my batteries today. So you can have the best intentions, but if you don’t listen and you’re not physically and spiritually in [00:20:00] tune in touch, then you’re not going to be able to , seek the proper balance.

Balance is definitely something , that you want to in the effort to be well and well in your soul and in your spirit and in your home, you want to, you want to constantly seek that balance and, feel for it because you do have to feel for it.

You can’t always think yourself through that. I could have been like super determined to get all these tasks done today. And that was not going to make me feel well at all. So there you have it

Dee: To sum up our topic today, are they really rules of good taste? Give us some final thoughts

Alicja: the answer is no. Okay. You and I can come up with a whole bunch of stuff. We we’ve given people some, a roadmap we’ve given them tools, but I’m not going to claim. I refuse to do that because I do believe that it’s different for everyone.

But if there’s one rule, if I have to make up one, it’s the [00:21:00] balance world, you know, it’s the balance rule. Just make sure that that balance resonates with you and forget about the social constructs except the ones that you buy into. That would be to me, theme. Good taste.

Dee: Excellent. I love it.

I wanted to introduce a little fun game called let’s get rid of it. And in today’s let’s get rid of it. I’m going to tell you Alicja, that this week I got rid these pretty bottles.

I thought I read it, I recycled them. I said, I’m not doing anything with these. And I am tired of holding onto them, waiting to see what I was going to do with it. I was like, hello, D declutter queen, what are you doing? Why do you have these couple of bottles that you have here ready to do something, which is let’s get rid of it, girl.

Boom. That’s what I did. Do you have any.

Alicja: This week, but I am [00:22:00] going to get rid of it tomorrow in the trash. I’ve got some hanging plants, pot and those have been sitting in my backyard and I’m sure one day the goal is to put some new plants in there and hang them. Yeah. I I’m getting rid of them. I’ll buy some new pots when I’m ready. You know, something else.

I don’t even know if I want hanging. So they’re going in the trash.

Dee: Yay.

We don’t need it. It’s just putting too much pressure on our poor little brains. All the other things we gotta do. Do you have something at home that you’re looking at? That’s like, what am I going to do with. Listen, what you going to do with it is get rid of it and then let us know that you got rid of it and how it made you feel.

Cause I’m telling you yeah. Yes, [00:23:00] yes. Play let’s get rid of it with us, please. It’s a fun game. And it’s a way to free your mind of things that you know, you’re not going to do. You know, you’re not going to use

Alicja: it. I think that energy and those in those things with you attaching yourself to it, thinking about when you’re going to get to it.

Dee: Yes. We talked about that before. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. And yes. All right, Alicja, thanks for joining me today. And thank you listener. We will see you next week. Bye guys.