2 answers
na'kiyah
Student
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Questions
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Does less furniture make you feel lonely ?
Or does it give space to breath?
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2 answers
Bob Burton
Consultant
74
Answers
Austin, Texas
Updated
Bob’s Answer
In my experience furniture or lack thereof reflects your perception of the world around you and your place within. I can be seated in a crowded concert hall and convince myself that I am the only individual there. The orchestra is playing, for me alone, the music that I love. For me, no one else is in the audience.
I can be secure in the beauty of an oriental rug. Centered in the room. without any furniture, it is an amazing work of art. Either sitting on the rug or standing aside,I can appreciate it. Adding furniture, wall paintings, personal items, with colors and shapes, complementing the rug, may make the room complete. Either way, I am comfortable.
Conceptually, we are all alone. The person we speak with most often is ourselves. It takes a degree of confidence, allowing ourselves to be vulnerable. Once we like or even love ourselves, we are free to explore.
Over time, you will find within yourself how you see and feel about a room (space around you) with or without furniture (how you perceive yourself). Be patient
I can be secure in the beauty of an oriental rug. Centered in the room. without any furniture, it is an amazing work of art. Either sitting on the rug or standing aside,I can appreciate it. Adding furniture, wall paintings, personal items, with colors and shapes, complementing the rug, may make the room complete. Either way, I am comfortable.
Conceptually, we are all alone. The person we speak with most often is ourselves. It takes a degree of confidence, allowing ourselves to be vulnerable. Once we like or even love ourselves, we are free to explore.
Over time, you will find within yourself how you see and feel about a room (space around you) with or without furniture (how you perceive yourself). Be patient
Eula Biezen
Owner & Interior Designer
63
Answers
Houston, Texas
Updated
Eula’s Answer
Hello Na'kiyah,
I am happy to have a chance to answer your questions.
Interior Spaces, can always evoke an emotional response. I am sure you have had the experience when you smell a foul odor. Our faces contract and our noses pull up. We then have a physical response to a stimulus outside of use that expresses disgust. Same thing for an ugly or dirty house. It's a turn-off.
The same thing happens when we enter a very beautiful palace, the nice and opulent decor, the color and fragrance of fresh flowers, the expensive furniture and paintings, plush rugs and tapestries. They all elicit an emotional response. We smile and like the space and want to stay longer in this beautiful place.
Thus the link between interior design and psychology becomes clear and visible.
Have you watched TV and seen how people react after they come into their newly remodeled house?
Human beings all have the capability for having moods and emotions. Some are temporary and pass by quickly, others are lingering. Feeling happy, or sad, does not have to last forever.
To answer your question about feelings of loneliness...
Having less furniture in the house is a decision, usually a rational one. People wish to unclutter or declutter their house, want to have less stuff to clean up and put away, want to use only what is essential, and think that having all sorts of gadgets and stuff is a waste of money and that they can get by just as well by having less "Stuff"
Some other reasons are their need to free up their time tidying up, or simply their way of viewing the world is one that restricts too much commercialized and mindlessly buying and accumulating stuff that they rarely even use.
Now, back to the issue of loneliness,... Feeling lonely, is exactly that, a feeling.
Furniture are inanimate objects and do not "make" us or cause us to feel anything.
What makes us feel is our human nature which naturally includes emotional expressions.
We feel because we are alive. We are animate, living, thinking beings and we feel things.
When we feel anything, it comes from events in our lives.
If my pet dies, I will feel sad. If my friend moves to another city, I feel sad.
I feel lonely because I am lacking the good company of people that care about me and support me, like me and interact frequently with me. The one who feels is ME, the furniture I choose has nothing to do with this. And what causes it is my feelings, not the furniture.
I can have beautiful furniture, minimalist or opulent, and still cry about my pet dying or my friend moving away.
Now, it is true that SOME decor may cause people to feel down. Rooms that are very dark and have little sunlight, can cause depression especially when they are outdated and in a color that the person dislikes.
However the condition of sadness and loneliness is already present, and the mood of the room augments it.
Who is feeling lonely? and Why are they feeling lonely?
What was there before, the feeling of loneliness or the room with minimal furniture?
Most minimalists I know, feel liberated in a clean and open room. They live with what is necessary and yet have lots of friends and people around them. They just like to live in a simple and clean room with very little stuff.
And the stuff that they do have, is neatly tucked away in cabinets where no one can see them.
Please let me know if this helped.OK? I will be happy to tell you more.
I am happy to have a chance to answer your questions.
Interior Spaces, can always evoke an emotional response. I am sure you have had the experience when you smell a foul odor. Our faces contract and our noses pull up. We then have a physical response to a stimulus outside of use that expresses disgust. Same thing for an ugly or dirty house. It's a turn-off.
The same thing happens when we enter a very beautiful palace, the nice and opulent decor, the color and fragrance of fresh flowers, the expensive furniture and paintings, plush rugs and tapestries. They all elicit an emotional response. We smile and like the space and want to stay longer in this beautiful place.
Thus the link between interior design and psychology becomes clear and visible.
Have you watched TV and seen how people react after they come into their newly remodeled house?
Human beings all have the capability for having moods and emotions. Some are temporary and pass by quickly, others are lingering. Feeling happy, or sad, does not have to last forever.
To answer your question about feelings of loneliness...
Having less furniture in the house is a decision, usually a rational one. People wish to unclutter or declutter their house, want to have less stuff to clean up and put away, want to use only what is essential, and think that having all sorts of gadgets and stuff is a waste of money and that they can get by just as well by having less "Stuff"
Some other reasons are their need to free up their time tidying up, or simply their way of viewing the world is one that restricts too much commercialized and mindlessly buying and accumulating stuff that they rarely even use.
Now, back to the issue of loneliness,... Feeling lonely, is exactly that, a feeling.
Furniture are inanimate objects and do not "make" us or cause us to feel anything.
What makes us feel is our human nature which naturally includes emotional expressions.
We feel because we are alive. We are animate, living, thinking beings and we feel things.
When we feel anything, it comes from events in our lives.
If my pet dies, I will feel sad. If my friend moves to another city, I feel sad.
I feel lonely because I am lacking the good company of people that care about me and support me, like me and interact frequently with me. The one who feels is ME, the furniture I choose has nothing to do with this. And what causes it is my feelings, not the furniture.
I can have beautiful furniture, minimalist or opulent, and still cry about my pet dying or my friend moving away.
Now, it is true that SOME decor may cause people to feel down. Rooms that are very dark and have little sunlight, can cause depression especially when they are outdated and in a color that the person dislikes.
However the condition of sadness and loneliness is already present, and the mood of the room augments it.
Who is feeling lonely? and Why are they feeling lonely?
What was there before, the feeling of loneliness or the room with minimal furniture?
Most minimalists I know, feel liberated in a clean and open room. They live with what is necessary and yet have lots of friends and people around them. They just like to live in a simple and clean room with very little stuff.
And the stuff that they do have, is neatly tucked away in cabinets where no one can see them.
Please let me know if this helped.OK? I will be happy to tell you more.