Back after a week of visiting family and friends in my hometown of Washington DC and the surrounding Virginia suburbs, we find that we have compiled myriad observations about the contrasts between our two worlds. The sensory overload and ideas galore give us energy, if not exhaustion.
Lights, graphic designs, shopping extravaganzas, all the chain restaurants and those individually owned – those mega enterprises and the more personal entrepreneurial endeavors. So much design is universal and obviously certain cultures have their own. Multi-cultures within one complex setting is startling, fascinating and worth consideration.
I met with a new client. His needs were like others, to create a homey environment where there once was more activity – to re-invent a new version of life in the same environment. Starting with the basics that he already owned, some from long ago and others recently purchased, we set forth to design his interior.
Listening to what he liked and enjoyed and what he hoped to achieve, we began the process. To hear what a client is saying and to discern what they mean differently from what they actually speak is a fine line. We weaved through the discourse and moved between statements of seeming fact only to be dispelled in the next few minutes by new considerations after careful and thoughtful exchanges of ideas took place. His life was comfortable, in a beautifully intimate setting, fairly insulated in a pleasant pocket, paced well and not too different from ours far from the bustling city. More on this in a later blog.
But comparing our relaxed, fairly even pulse and predictably manageable pace to the frantic, blitz of traffic and graphic overload that we’ve seen – we are reminded that people do live in “pockets” of larger environs. They shop close to home and work if possible within a reasonable radius. Less fortunate have lengthy tiresome and tension-filled commutes and interact with a broader, more complex set of people and places. It’s a mix.
Yet, in summary we find that, well, we love our life here in the Land of Enchantment and very much enjoy visiting the rest of the planet upon occasion!