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Design Aesthetics and Upward Mobility
I am currently in the process of moving, which has inspired a lot of my thinking on the Black home, domesticity, womanhood, and homemaking lately. It has also made me a lot more introspective on learned cultural patterns regarding the home, like where to put things. What things should be seen and what shouldn’t? What objects can be warranted as centerpieces of a room despite their traditional purpose not being such? All of these thoughts, and just quiet, empty space surrounding me… a bit of a Genesis into a new chapter of this ever-changing life. And of course, opinions, which is what has brought me to this current conversation on design aesthetics and upward mobility. Let me explain the situation:
Both my parents and in-laws were kind enough to lend their hands in helping transfer some of our items into our new place, and of course, they were also all so kind as to lend us their opinions. As the tradition of gender-roled-tasks would allow, on this day, I was left to socialize with the mothers and my husband with the fathers – of course, us in the home, “homemaking”, and them moving objects to and fro. All of my discontent with this gender-relegated social pattern aside, there seemed to be much discussion on where to place the couch in our new living room. More specifically, on what wall this couch should be anchored in order to allow for the best view of the assumed centerpiece of this social space – the television.
Because there is a lot to unpack in this letter, or maybe not even unpack but definitely draw forward, I don’t really have the time to share with you my complete disdain for televisions as centerpieces in social spaces. I will say that, for me, making an American propaganda tool and mindless time-sucking entity the center of a space for social interaction is absolutely disgusting (and I use that word intentionally). Again, let me not center the TV in this discussion, or this room. It is the anchoring of this couch that we need to discuss.
Ridicule me if you must, but I am a believer in the “Rich Couch Theory”. For those of you less familiar, the “Rich Couch Theory” is the idea that justifying a couch or sofa to a wall in your living space is an indicator of social mobility because, as stated on the all-wise TikTok, rich people center their couches in a room, out in the open. Their couches don’t touch the wall. I am not a believer in the Rich Couch Theory for its stated purpose of indicating socio-economic status, but rather because I believe it provides more versatility to your living room. It is true that the wealthy, all in all, just have more space. So oftentimes there is a sitting room and a living room, one in which will house the television and the other directed more at providing an inviting space for social interaction. And, no, I am not rich, but I also don't support this black hole against productivity to be the center of the largest room in my home. And let's face it, interior design and architecture are made for the wealthy, so a lot of the ideas and theories that drive these industries are culturally insensitive at best.
Anyway, I politely shared with the mothers that I would rather not place our couch against any wall, and confusion was the only thing readable from their faces. I did not want to share with them why, because I knew that my reasoning would insight judgment rather than understanding (and to give you the inside scoop, that's exactly what happened once I was honest about why), but I also knew that this wasn't their home and although helpful, their personal opinions on how my husband and I desire to enjoy our space really didn’t matter.
And, let's face it, if they were in my position 35 years earlier, I'm sure their mothers would have been appalled at the idea of not covering their couches in thick plastic for the preservation of the piece. So, to make a long story short, our couch is in the center of our living room because this comfortable recluse from life is the centerpiece of this room, not the television. It is an object to be admired and used in space and not a destination for the purpose of admiring something else.
And that's how I like it…
Until next month,
stay BAD.d
Written by Keren Dillard