Beauty Matters

– Jenny Bell Nielsen

 

Welcome to my first blog post on behalf of Susan E. Brown Interior Design.  Look for more posts from both Susan and me in the weeks to come.

Susan and I had the opportunity to attend an advanced screening of Downton Abbey, the movie. We both loved the PBS series with its splendor and drama.  The movie was no less grand in its depictions of the abbey and surrounding countryside.  The costuming was, as expected, amazing and detailed.  The story felt a bit choppy, as if the writers were trying to put a lovely, lush silk bow around every character and circumstance, but worth the trip to the theater if only for the beauty of it all.  I’m no critic but there you have my two cents.

During the movie I found myself distracted by my own thoughts regarding beauty in our environments.  My internal dialog sounded something like, “That dress is amazing with its beading and embroidery” or “That room is remarkably grand but seems so comfortable at the same time.”  Maybe that was because I found the story lines lacking or perhaps it’s because I’m a visual person and naturally respond to those elements.  The things that stayed with me in the days following the viewing were all visual and it occurred to me that the visual elements in this movie told as much, or more, of the story as did the words spoken.

That brings me to my point.  Beauty matters. Beauty is subjective, yes, but it matters greatly to each of us in our daily lives because it helps us to tell our stories.  It’s more than fluff and decoration. Listening to a client describe their likes and dislikes, showing off a treasured family heirloom, hearing how they want their space to feel… these are all elements of a finished design that must be interpreted visually in order to create a sense of beauty for that individual or family.  A beautiful room is worth the energy it takes to create simply because it’s beautiful and tells a story.

It’s a joyful and gratifying thing to be in a business that’s all about interpreting words into visual beauty that tell a story.  Lucky us!

And go see the movie.  It’s beautiful.