11/09/2026
A perfectly symmetrical room has nowhere left to go.
Ten of ours, and the thinking behind them:
1. Fukinsei is the Japanese principle of considered asymmetry. In Zen thinking, symmetry implies completion — and completion implies an ending. A sofa set slightly off-centre with a single armchair at an angle gives a room somewhere to move.
2. It is not randomness. In a tea room, if there are fresh flowers a painting of flowers is not permitted; if the kettle is round, the water vessel must be angular. Every element sits in tension with the others. Deliberate, not accidental.
3. When you compose a shelf, work in odd numbers, vary the heights, and leave breathing space. A vase placed dead centre divides the space into two dead halves.
4. Lower the eyeline. Traditional Japanese rooms are composed to be seen from seated on the floor, which puts everything below the height we are used to. Drop one piece of furniture, or hang art lower than feels correct — the wall above opens up and the room reads taller and quieter.
5. Bigger windows are not automatically better. A well-placed opening that controls how light enters does more for a room than an oversized one that floods it indiscriminately.
6. Shadow is a quality to orchestrate, not a problem to solve. A room where the light shifts between morning and afternoon keeps you attuned to the hour and the season.
7. Choose materials that respond to that light. Plaster, timber and stone change character through the day. Reflective finishes look identical at noon and at midnight.
8. Decide what to hide and what to display, then commit. One place where a single thing is properly shown, and everything else put away. Displaying five things well is harder than displaying one, and much less restful.
Save this for when your own living room comes around, and follow along — a different room every Friday.
