Home Decor

My stepsister, Donna, is an interior decorator. Her last visit here was her third one, and she felt comfortable enough by then to offer a couple of helpful tips. I can't remember the specific words she used, but to paraphrase what she told me, I was being too careful about where I placed things, too lined up and squared off. She said things look prettier, more natural, when they're placed more randomly. She picked up a few objects from here and a couple from there, juggled them around, and showed me what she meant. By golly, she was right.

From that time until now I've been very careful not to move those items when Swiffer-dusting them. Now that I'm in deep-cleaning mode, though, I wanted to give all those objects, plus the flat surfaces they sit upon, a thorough wash and wipe. That meant taking everything down.

Hm.

I understand the theory of randomness, but I don't yet trust myself in the practice of it, so I photographed these two arrangements before dismantling them:

The photos were helpful when it was time to put everything back; however, since photos are only two-dimensional, I had a little trouble recreating the various depths at which Donna had placed the objects. Using the pictures as reference, I moved several items back and forth an inch or so at a time until I thought it looked right. There. I'm done.

It's a satisfying feeling to know that all these things have been situated so precisely at random.