for ages i was stuck in that post modern open plan phase. besides the obvious advantages in terms of space and time, it had the particular drawback of letting you see everything at once. killer. it’s like first base on the first date. no more mystery, nothing around the next corner. as much as i am for transparency, something remains to be said for the anticipation and suspense that a passage creates. although i’ve never been one for surprises, an asprey gift voucher would do fine.
my mother used to convince herself that she knew best (what a tired axiom), but needless to say i now actually have a mother cupboard. filled to the brim with misguided trinkets and treasures disguised as something you always wanted.
back to, foyers, landings, passages, hallways etc. i find them excellent to play with. some are wide and some are thin. some are light and some are dim. i’d like to follow the dictum of uber deco fundi jacques garcia: if its light let it be light, if it’s dark let it be dark. this has saved me a lot from unnecessary theatrics and the client from unnecessary costs. passages should be wide enough to walk down in a farthingale without wrinkling your dress. i prefer furnished passages, consoles and display cupboards or even bookcases. i live as i decorate i suppose. god, that sounds lame. i always thought the life imitates art thing is bad, but life imitating design? what i mean is that i am generally unconventional but very conservative. which is probably why i am so ignorant of the latest this and that. i could never get past the laminated wood floor craze. mrs R showing me the cherry floors. ‘now is this a pretty wood or aint it?’
one of my more inventive ones is this one which i did in an archive print curtain fabric with a old portuguese motif on the carpet inlay and a custom design damask in the reverse. maybe not quite pattern on pattern but lively enough since the passage is 35m long and anticipation can turn to anticlimax which is why i paneled the hallway on the opposite side in a punchy gustavian blue.
my personal favourite however is still the enfilade. even the modernist style of enfilade.
