Savoir Vivre

Joseph Pubillones
Fri, 20 Feb 2026 13:47:00 -0800
Lifestyle

If I had to be simplistic about explaining interior design, I would do so by saying that there are two kinds of interiors: traditional and contemporary. These two categories are the main streams from which all other styles are derived. One is rooted in classicism or history, and the other in the future or what each generation perceives the future will be like. These styles are polar opposites, but they have in common one basic premise: the desire of making a home.

It is always surprising to me that so many people around the world are dumbfounded when charged with the task of decorating a home. I am not just talking about young adults or newlywed brides, but grown adults, some with money, some without, and even widows and divorcees. How can something as instinctive as the need to create your own nest or space be so unimportant to so many people? A futon just doesn't do it. Some people have "it" — savoir-vivre — and some don't.

I guess it has to do with style — or the lack of it. As I remember, when I was a graduate student, I was invited to the apartment of a young couple for dinner, both graduate students on strict budgets. The place was located in an architecturally bland apartment building that had high clerestory windows all painted white with nondescript terrazzo floors. Ordinarily, it would not make much of a statement.
Updated: Sat Feb 21, 2026

If I had to be simplistic about explaining interior design, I would do so by saying that there are two kinds of interiors: traditional and contemporary. These two categories are the main streams from which all other styles are derived. One is rooted in classicism or history, and the other in the future or what each generation perceives the future will be like. These styles are polar opposites, but they have in common one basic premise: the desire of making a home.

It is always surprising to me that so many people around the world are dumbfounded when charged with the task of decorating a home. I am not just talking about young adults or newlywed brides, but grown adults, some with money, some without, and even widows and divorcees. How can something as instinctive as the need to create your own nest or space be so unimportant to so many people? A futon just doesn't do it. Some people have "it" — savoir-vivre — and some don't.

I guess it has to do with style — or the lack of it. As I remember, when I was a graduate student, I was invited to the apartment of a young couple for dinner, both graduate students on strict budgets. The place was located in an architecturally bland apartment building that had high clerestory windows all painted white with nondescript terrazzo floors. Ordinarily, it would not make much of a statement.

I recall the living area furniture being a pair of stripped-down metal daybeds with tic-striped mattresses covered with dozens of colorful mismatched pillows for comfort, a found tree trunk as a coffee table, an upward-lighting floor lamp and just one bold colored painting on the wall. The dining table was a modest parsons table with vintage office chairs, wheels and all, topped with a beautifully woven basket transformed into a lighting fixture.

Dinner was delightfully brought out on wooden chopping boards and an assortment of found china. As I left for the evening, as a budding design aficionado, I was giddy with satisfaction of how so little could produce such a powerful statement and be a complete definition of home. Most people don't know how to live large, even when they have the means, and here this struggling couple managed to show what style could be in a modest and, at the same time, grand manner.

The lesson learned here is that sometimes in our desire to make a place beautiful, we think interior design has to do with adding more embellishments to our environment, when in reality it is all about editing and removing excess decoration. Their interiors were neither traditional nor contemporary; they were personal and timeless.

Creating a home has always been a product of manners and how we use our space and furniture. Today's lifestyle is filled with technology and gadgets that make life easier and better, but at what cost? They often leave us with little or no time to ponder the beautiful things in life — an interesting color, an amazing painting, a breathtaking fabric. Slow down. Your home should be the most important place in your life. It is where you will make memories and teach future generations about gracious living.