The Rhythm of Life
Recently I was in a great shop on Magazine Street, Pied Nu. It compares to Barneys in New York- but on a much smaller scale. I was browsing around, not meaning to ease drop, but this woman was talking really, really loud. She was complaining that her daughter constantly complains about practicing the piano. She lamented to the clerk that lessons were soooo expensive, but she was not about to let her daughter quit! Besides, that piano cost a fortune! I didn’t mean to…but, I laughed out loud. Everyone turned to look at me, so embarrassed and with a very red face I explained that my mother MADE me take piano lessons for 5 years, under duress too, and I can’t play chopstixs!! It is simply not my gift. My words bounced right off of her and she continued her lament…oh well.
Although music is not my gift, I find myself using musical terms frequently when considering how the design of a home links and flows together. Rhythm is a core principle in interior design, and it plays quite an important role. Rhythm lends continuity; it is how one object relates to another. Rhythm is really the pulse of an interior because it creates regular repeated patterns of movement. Good music, good design- nor a good life is meant to be stagnant; each should ebb and flow just like the tide, creating rhythmic movement and progression.
You can create rhythm in the design of your interior in several ways. It starts with repetition. In this Dining Room in Nashville, Tennessee, I repeated a circular pattern. Can you see it? The dining room chairs with the shallow curved back surround an oval-shaped table. The silk Fortuny pendant chandelier, cream porcelain plates, beautiful curve and swag on the pair of Italianate consoles and slightly-curved lamp shades cause your eye to move from similarity to similarity, which creates a gracious pattern of movement…a rhythm to the room. Subconsciously, the mind’s eye recognizes this repetition, and there is a smooth flow, or harmony created, as your eye transitions around the room.
Another way to create rhythm in your interior is by using contrasting materials. Above I combined varying textures, materials and finishes. This is especially important when the design is monochromatic, which means using tints and shades of one color. Here, I placed a natural seagrass rug, which is very textural, on smooth shiny hardwood floors. The sofas are upholstered in a nubby linen fabric, which creates a wonderful contrast against the smooth leather ottoman used as a coffee table. The nailhead trim on the ottoman not only adds interest, but texture as well.
When you look at a well-designed room, notice the design principal of rhythm.
When you look at a well-designed life, notice the design principle of rhythm!
How about your life…
What is the tempo, the rhythm?
Is it in synch, or harmony, with what you believe?
Is there continuity…
or have you grown stagnant in your Spiritual life?
It is God’s good pleasure to create harmony in our homes and lives. Sometimes His melody unfolds in very subtle ways, but the Lord maintains the rhythm of our lives by the unforced rhythm of His grace. Jesus said, “Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:30 Message) That sounds like a good rhythm! When we rhythmically move as one, as His Church, there is an ease, a flow, a pattern in our daily lives that we sense within and others witness without. The Apostle Paul reminds the Colossians of this very rhythm…
Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other.
Let the Word of Christ -the Message- have the run of the house.
Give it plenty of room.
Col:3 16,17 Message
Just like a home that is easy to move through and visually connected, the Holy Spirit desires to move through our lives connecting us to God’s good and harmonious designs…forever.
just moving and grooving in His grace … xo leah
