Furniture as an Emotion!
Depending on our personal needs and livelihoods, we surround ourselves with objects that cater to an easy living for us.
From the tiniest object like a stapler pin to a double king sized bed, how much do we own? How much do we actually need out of it and how much becomes a part of our life?
On noticing the things that we use daily without fail, I realized not only it becomes a part of our life, but sometimes it also makes an attachment to us. Having been designing products and furniture for different sectors of people and different audiences, it comes as a reflex to always understand the user and design to cater to their needs.
Sometimes these materialistic objects also get us an emotional attachment to them. We have a particular sense that we can relate to, on seeing such objects and furniture around us. For instance, you went on a long and tiring business trip, on coming back when you enter your bedroom you see your own bed and feel a sense of comfort.
Some more instances in this trend will be that lounge chair you hit for watching TV in the living room. That blanket you need when you want to sleep. That study table space that helps you focus. Your particular dining table seat where you instinctively sit. Or just that pillow you’ll always keep beside you.
Have you ever wondered what emotions do you put in while directly grabbing that seat, or that object? The pillow when you’re sad, the balcony chair when the weather is nice, the table where you want to focus to read a book or that pen you fiddle with when you’re tensed. This means you are putting in emotions in your day to day tasks.
Not only based on emotions, but furniture also becomes a part of our reflexes. Remember the time you were getting late? So you hurriedly opened the shoe cabinet to get your shoes and immediately opened that drawer to grab the keys. Yes, that is exactly when you don’t realize what heavy part of your life these objects have become. Does it mean our life, let’s say in home and office ‘revolves’ around this? Maybe.
Furniture was introduced in order to facilitate our livelihood, to make our storage and actions easy. Slowly but steadily, it has become our life. That is also exactly how we as designers try and solve user needs. Not only should the furniture simplify our living but it should fade away when in use. A piece, that is meant to provide a usage to an otherwise empty space and to support the life of its people, becomes a habit eventually.
It itself is never the focus, the life we create around it matters. That is when I say, furniture as a sense and furniture as an emotion becomes a part of our lives.
