Beyond doing up my own apartment on one of the many occasions I’ve changed residences in my short life, I’ve never really been overly interested in interior design and decoration topics. But that’s what travelling does – it exposes you to so many different things and so many different ways of looking at those things that you end up just picking up a broad-based knowledgebase of just about everything.
Between some of the dubious two-star joints I’ve had to brave (largely due to last-minute planning and trying to get a place to stay in the high season) and some of the best hotels the travel and tourism industry has to offer, I think it’s safe to say I’ve experienced more than my fair share of having interior space decorations imposed on me.
Look, I’m not about to open up my own interior design consultancy or anything of that sort, but I’ve kind of developed a nose for breaking down interiors according to which styles they fall into. One of these interior decor styles which is gaining some serious traction is the ultra-modern style. On some of those rare occasions when I’ve been able to go all out and splurge a little on some top-end accommodation, I couldn’t help but notice a general gravitation towards ultra-modern and contemporary styles.
The typical modern living room in a fully-equipped presidential hotel suite generally tends to follow the same theme as any high-end hotel lobby or waiting area, or indeed the overall interior space of a modern-day apartment with high ceilings and wide open spaces.
There’s a very fine line between ultra modern styling and styling which appears to be a bit too clinical though and that very fine line is very easy to cross. That fine line also proves to be quite illusive to locate, as one finds out when you’re trying to decorate your own living room space in line with a more modern look.
After quite a bit of deliberation, tweaking, shifting and visualising though, I think I can confidently say that I’ve located that very point when ultra-modern spills over into being a bit too clinical. In order to avoid crossing that line, one simply needs to add a “homey” focal point, such as a fireplace, a couple of soft rugs or just anything really which doesn’t look like the kids (if you have any, or if any come to visit) would leave their fingerprints all over if they touched it with their dirty hands.
Basically, for every selection of sharp edges, there must be at least one or two softer items with softer edges to balance the scale out a bit.
