Design Dilemma: Space

image by Cleveland Hall Designs

Space...the final frontier...ha! Just kidding!

Isn't it true that we never seem to have enough space? If we are lucky enough to own more than one home, we tend to chose a larger one each time. There are certainly practicalities inherent with this trend: growing families, desires to entertain, or just the need to accommodate more stuff. But, having more space doesn't necessarily solve the design dilemma of space, and that's because more often than not, if your DD revolves around space - it's not really about the quantity, but rather the quality.

Have you ever been to one of those grand homes, tons of living space, and yet felt as if you had to yell across the room to the person sitting on the opposite couch - thirty yards away? Clearly, not lacking in the quantity of space, but undeniably void in quality space.

How a room is organized is typically dictated by use - a living room that hosts many a soiree should probably be put together so that furniture arrangement allows people to move about easily, whereas one used mainly by a family might focus around a fireplace or entertainment center.

Often when we feel we need more space in a room, we remove items - the whole "less is more" concept - but maybe the solution is not so simple. It may be we need to rethink arrangement/placement, actual use and dimensions. For example - it may be we need extra seating - but instead of one large club chair, two, smaller slipper chairs would work.

The best rooms don't necessarily have a lot of space, but most definitely make the best use of space.

Nowhere is the "best use of space" more vital than in airplanes, where each inch of space is deemed critical. Check out these pics of Airbus' new A380 - a double-decker commercial aircraft built for the 21st century.

Just a little VIP lounge - that's all...

So what? I can stretch my legs.

Care to join me at the bar?
And this is COMMERCIAL FLIGHT!!

With all the (dreaded) long-range flying I do these days, I'm thinking flight school might have been a more useful career path than law school!