Style VS Function

We ask all of our new clients to prioritize: beauty, function and cost in the order of most to least important. The information they provide sets the tone of their project.   

I would assert that something that doesn’t function well is inherently not beautiful. 

However, there are many gray areas and certainly room for interpretation. 

Functionality generally has come to mean, in the context of interior design, that there is a place for everything you own. As a culture we suffer from the common problem of too much stuff. As painfully exemplified the 2012 documentary, “The Queen of Versailles”, about the largest house in America.  Having more space, and more funds, does not mean that your space will function. It can instead mean that the choices you have are bottomless and therefore the need for more storage and more functionality become like “chasing the dragon”. 

A critical skill of a good designer is to find a comfortable balance between the client's aspirational style and their lifestyle. This includes evaluating a client's threshold for customization and maintenance. Will their kids open a closet door and put something on a hanger; or are hooks a better option? A stack of plates and matching glasses will always look good on an open shelf.  A box of Cheez-It crackers and a plastic Vanguard Group travel mug will not. Does your client want to think about the difference?  Silk is soft and beautiful. If the resident pets also think so that piece may not bring the expected joy and happiness.  

When I first started designing projects, I cut my teeth on our own. My husband and I installed a custom concrete trough sink in the church. It had two wall mounted faucets ordered from Europe. It was my absolute pride and joy. I loved it less when it flooded the basement the first time. The drain was smaller than the standard and there was no overflow. The faucets while beautiful, were not intuitive to shut off. People would easily give up and leave the faucet running. Even though the sink was seven feet wide it would eventually overflow because the force of water coming from the faucet was greater than the capacity of the drain. While this could have worked in the home of mindful adults with no children it was a disaster in a public installation.  Eventually function won and the sink was removed. 

Is a pot rack form or function? 

I designed a custom pot rack that goes from our countertop to the ceiling. It also has shelves for pottery and mixing bowls. This allows me to run my home kitchen like I did my restaurant: tongs, dishes and platters within my reach to plate up steaming pasta from the sink and food right off the stove.  For most of our clients having their cookware visible in the kitchen feels unruly and cluttered.  

Falling Water is an iconic international legend that is very damp and leaks. Did Frank warn his client’s? 

It is the role of the design team to navigate the perfect balance between stylistic allure and day to day functionality.