Interior Design Today - Episode 027

Welcome to the Interior Design Today radio show with Mary Knackstedt. In our 27th episode, Mary talks about entertaining and conversation. We do a lot more entertaining and visiting this time of year than usual. How do our spaces, our living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens, contribute to the enjoyment of the visitors that come into that space. It's so interesting. I was listening to someone on Saturday tell me how they so enjoy going out for a meal and having somebody serve me. I think I much more enjoy going into someone's home or inviting people into my home and having the pleasure of discussing a personal subject or something that is just for us and not having everyone around listening to what we're doing, not having to hear others and picking up the noise of the space. We've been taught, that when we want to communicate properly with a person, they should be no more than 6 feet away from us. Which means, as we look at our spaces and plan our seating in any space where we want conversation, we should consider that measurement. After all, you've noticed that if you have a huge table and a person is 12 feet down the row, you don't really get the full impact of their conversation. You pick up parts of it, but not all of it. As we look at the surrounding aspects of the room, what materials absorb sound? How can we eliminate the noise from people moving their feet or glasses on the table or other kinds of things which are often distractions. This is really all part of our joy of conversation. Having the right environment in which to have that talk… Think about the joys that you will be sharing and the time and opportunities you will have in the next few weeks or months of really spending time with people that have meaning to you. Make sure that your environment properly supports it. I had an experience a few years ago when I was helping some students tour a new senior citizen complex. I said to the design students, "If you brought your grandfather into this coffee shop and wanted to talk to him and have a fruitful conversation, where would you have him sit?" It was interesting because really they were not sure what to do. The bottom line is that you would want to be careful that he was sitting against a wall or some form of blockage so that he was not getting background sound. You would also want to be sure that the particular surface absorbed some sound so that you were not getting things reflecting against it and bouncing back. It's really quite interesting as you place people around a table, whether at a restaurant or at your dining room table, that you are concerned about the different physical qualities of that person. If their hearing or sight is limited, how you will light the room to care for that. Older people are not as intrigued by that romantic candle-lit table as young people are because it is quite different when your sight is not as acute. You are very happy for the light contribution of an overhead light or some other source so that you are not totally relying on candle-light. Not just to read a menu, but also to read expression of the faces of others at the table. As we look around, whether we consider using a table cloth or not, whether we want the noise of hearing items moved on the table, or whether we're looking at the lighting or the people hearing our conversation, this is all part of the way we design a space that is designed for good communication. Communication is really the highlight of our human interaction. Let's use all the design elements properly to support the best type of communication. Whether it's your house or a public space, there are great things that design professionals can help you with to make your space enjoyable for good conversation. Please subscribe to the video or audio version of the radio show via iTunes or listen to it at http://interiordesigntodaypodcast.blogger.com via the following MP3 Link.