Why quiet interiors
are difficult to design

A quiet interior looks effortless, which is exactly why it is hard. When there is little to look at, every junction, proportion and shadow gap is visible, and nothing is available to distract from a mistake.

Restraint is a lot of decisions

Calm rooms are rarely calm because of what was left out. They are calm because dozens of small things were resolved: where a skirting stops, how a door sits flush, which surface meets which. The work moves from adding to editing.

Quiet is what remains after every unnecessary decision has been made.

That is why we study how a room is used before choosing finishes. A quiet space still has to work, and the stillness should come from clarity rather than from removing everything that makes a home lived in.

More from the Journal →