IN THIS ISSUE
The FEELINGS-TEXTURE continuum
The FAUSTIAN BACHELOR as an aesthetic
Inside the homes of Joseph Holtzman; Hamish Bowles; and Doris Lockhart Saatchi (as she was known at the time)
DOMINATION FOR 400, ALEX: The dominant among us choose to put their television in THIS private domestic space. (“What is the bedroom?”)
An aside: A PROMISE/WARNING THAT NEXT WEEK WILL BE VERY SHOPPABLE. This one is absolutely not. It’s BRAIN FOOD.
“JUST AS WATER SEEKS ITS OWN LEVEL, A HOME’S DECOR USUALLY EVOLVES INTO A PATTERN SATISFYING TO ITS OCCUPANTS” — M.H. HARMON
Friends of For Scale, please SHARE THE F*CK OUT OF US:
BOOK CLUB ALERT! But, the kind where we’ve read it and we’re just telling you the best stuff that’s in it. Many call this a “review”.
Dear Snoops.
There exists, in the 700s of the Dewey Decimal universe, a book much beloved by the most self-congratulatory corners of Interiors social media. Its sensational cover is very sharable, mainly for its absolutely FLAWLESS title, and yet it feels apparent that few (if any) actually read it.*
UNTIL TODAY.
The set-up:
The year: 1977.
The author: Ohio State University MA Psychology graduate M.H. Harmon.
The subject: psychoanalysis (of yourself and others) by means of interiors.
The reveal. It is:
PSYCHO-DECORATING: WHAT HOMES REVEAL ABOUT PEOPLE
M. H. Harmon is a woman that does not limit herself, a lesson to us all. This book covers a lot of territory, with tools to make interiors-based personality judgments about the following types of people (an exhaustive list):
Neighbors
Employers (i.e. tools for ladder-climbing)
Potential sexual or romantic partners, and their parents
Friends with problems (i.e. genuinely suggesting you might figure out what their problem is based on lamp selection, etc.)
Your child
Strangers from whom you’re attempting to solicit charitable donations. Presumably also works for cons and grifting
And, most importantly:
Yourself
PEMISE OF THIS POST:
Translate (PARTS OF) this Words Book into a Picture Book, by means of pictures from other books.
Full bibliography-ish of source material to follow.
A HOME DECORATED WITHOUT PERSONAL EXPRESSION IS A LITERAL ORWELLIAN NIGHTMARE, THE AUTHOR REMINDS US
AN ADDENDUM FROM FOR SCALE:
ERGO, INTERIOR DESIGN CAN BE - SHOULD BE! - A RADICAL ACT OF SELFHOOD.
HIGHLIGHTS OF PSYCHO-DECORATING, briefly explained and finally illustrated:
1. THE TEXTURES-FEELINGS CONTINUUM
The relationship between Hard and Soft is more than Hard or Soft – it’s What Hard and What Soft, of course. I think we all know that.
In Harmon’s Textures-Feelings Continuum, we learn that certain Hards (on top) tend to go with certain Softs. But the continuum is BENDY. Certain combinations are favored by those with STRONG FEELINGS ABOUT STUFF, e.g. people who like it ROUGH and ANIMAL are more passionate about stuff.
And, the middle is for the emotionally barren and bland – N.B. essentially the Airbnb Aesthetic. Some might also call this “Scandinavian” (which tracks, based on FOR SCALE’s ex-boyfriends).
Let us illustrate using NOTABLE NEW YORKERS and their late 1990s homes, from the Bookshelf Must-Have NEW YORK LIVING by Lisa Lovatt-Smith:
1. VELVETS = strong sexual desire; strong sentiments about social justice; exhibitionistic needs
Example: NEST founder Joseph Holtzman, who did show the world a number of horny homes, e.g. “That Farrah Fawcett Place”, which ticks two of the three boxes
2. ANIMAL SKINS = also sex? NO! A desire to be nurtured!
Example: the home of Hamish Bowles, who accents with leopard, and as someone who evidently is keen on developing a personal brand — which is very Abandonment Issues Come To Life — the nurture desire definitely tracks. (TWO FOR TWO, HARMON!)
3. GLASS AND CHROME = aggressive tendencies
Example: at home with legendary art collector DORIS LOCKHART. At the time she was DORIS LOCKHART SAATCHI (as in, was married to Charles), so not only a collector of art but also a collector of at least one nasty man – and so there’s a lot to unpack here about her glass-chrome coffee table and the “aggressive tendencies” it suggests. Are they hers? Or does she LUST AFTER them, and found them in Ch*rles S**tchi?
THE COLOR PURPLE (AND OTHERS)
All the most self-assured psychologists are SWISS or Swiss-educated. (We didn’t say “Best”.) And so, Harmon turns her attention to Dr. Max Lüscher of Switzerland for some advice on COLORS. Here, repeated in oversimplified form, because we want to dwell on BLACK AND WHITE.
The Color Purple a.k.a. VIOLET: the mystic union of object and subject (N.B. THAT TRACKS!)
RED: the urge to achieve results – makes you wonder about RED BATHROOMS:
GREEN: security and self-esteem
BLUE: tranquility and contentment
YELLOW: the forward, the new, the modern, the developing
GRAY: a desire to avoid overstimulation
BROWN: when especially preferred is associated with the ill and weak (another hilarious slight at the Scandinavians)
ONTO BLACK AND WHITE.
White is “YES”, Black is “NO”. Black is nothingness, relinquishment, surrender. Is it existentialist? Perhaps, but it seems there is a lack of ACCEPTANCE. Case in point, that it is, assuredly, the consummate color of the FAUSTIAN BACHELOR.
AESTHETIC: A THEORY ON “FAUSTIAN BACHELOR LUXE”
Richard Assatly, fashion designer, whose New York apartment is pictured below, was incredibly enthusiastic about BLACK. Mais pourquoi? We’re glad you asked.
The assignment for designer Eric Bernard (also very enthused about BLACK) was to create as much drama as possible because Mr. Assatly was upset at how many visitors ignored his decor in favor of his Manhattan view. What we can only assume was a pretty f*cking good view, if everyone was hot-footing to the windows.
WHY IS THIS FAUSTIAN BACHELOR? (a FOR SCALE reading)
Black laquared surfaces that require twice-daily cleaning are an excuse for hired domestic help, i.e. Mother Worship
Perpetual Night: an effort to destabilize an overvalued WORKLIFE (what else does the Bachelor possess?) by freezing the domestic realm in space-time in which the workday is complete, a new day never begins
And, per Mr. Assatly, a belief that the SELF is all that is needed and/or should be the center of a universe if not THE universe, i.e. ultimate EGO STROKING
What is redeemable about these obviously intriguing spaces?
Nothing. And yet, we appreciate and even kind of adore them. And that is a question for a psychologist more powerful than Ms. Harmon.
RAPID FIRE HARMON TIDBITS:
CURVED VS “STRAIGHT”:
Curved is modest, obliging and values “socialization” a.k.a. THE WET BLANKET
Straight is for those “interested in accomplishing things in the outward environment”, a.k.a. the For Scale reader
Do you prefer the informality of a combo living room-dining room? Well, you may have “HIGHER SEXUAL INTERESTS”, a.k.a. OPEN PLAN IS FOR THE HORNY.
*Wonder what is to be said about the VISIBLE BATHROOM, that so plagues the Mid-Priced Hotel, but is nonetheless stylishly rendered HERE:
LOCATING YOUR TELEVISION
To find a place for your television somewhere OTHER than a public space (i.e. public space = the living room), you are DOMINANT. You are a leader, “a chairperson of the committee”. We suggest the bedroom, following in the footsteps of these great interiors:
FINAL NOTE: CRITICAL OMISSIONS IN PSYCO-DECORATING
Is it a “personal space” if you’ve hired a decorator? Please see TRAVIS BARKER (Blink 182, married to a Kardashian)’s horrifying Archi Digest tour
What of the lesser aesthetic options, e.g. CHAINS? We’re enraptured with chains at the moment.
WE VERY MUCH WANT TO REVISE AND REPUBLISH THIS BOOK. Who wants to help?
LOVE AND GOOD LUCK,