Huge coffee table in a tiny rabbit hole

The author recommends to listen 'Alice Decides' while reading.

---

I was thinking about what to write in my first article about design and trends. I've listed the titles, found fancy topics to discuss, but I'm not satisfied at the end of the day because it's summer. The weather is too hot, and I am waiting for a tiny, little wind to wake me up and refresh my mind. Then I decided to write. Because you know what the King said to the White Rabbit in "Alice in Wonderland:"

The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. "Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?" he asked. "Begin at the beginning," the King said gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop."

I'll take the King's advice and begin from the beginning: The place in which we live and spend many hours, turn it into the most personal area in our lives: living rooms.

About five years ago, I saw a photo exhibition at Istanbul Modern called "The Room Project." It was a photo series by Danish artist Annette Merrild.
The exposition, presented in the museum's photography gallery, aimed to highlight both the differences and similarities between nations, regions and people, captured in the space of their living rooms in nine different European cities including Istanbul. For a long time I thought about the reasons for making such a project about living rooms.

Why not bedrooms or kitchens but living rooms? What does the character of a living room tell us? How could a sofa or half-opened curtains or super-tidy armchairs and symmetric lampshades be able to give us clues about the user of a place? Are living rooms scenes in which we host our guests or display ourselves? I guess so… In those photos I've realized something: almost all living rooms in Istanbul have coffee tables in the middle of the room. No matter if the space is big or small, it is as if it is an essential requirement: coffee tables are the major owners of the rooms. The photos tell us the story of any objects; which one is for the user and which one is not. If you listen carefully for a second, you hear all the voices, gratitude and complaints. However, the loudest voice comes from the coffee table because it knows its indispensability.

Of course, this is not only a Turkish custom to insist on coffee tables; we are talking about a very global and settled living room decoration element. Let's confess, it has many benefits. You can place various things on it - your books, mugs, candles, flowers, handmade lace tops, et cetera.

You can also extend your legs while watching TV.

But if you have a huge coffee table in the middle of your 15-square-meter room, you will never be a part of it anymore. The coffee table would always underestimate you because its permanency is guaranteed but yours is not. (As an unnecessary detail, it's suitable to mention Kramer's "The Coffee Table Book of Coffee Tables" from the "Seinfeld" TV series here. The legendary Seinfeld character was on a talk show and talking about his book that could turn into a coffee table itself with some small legs under it and that also contained celebrity coffee table photos. I hopefully browsed online to find it on Amazon to no avail. It's such a pity.) Actually, I cannot just blame coffee tables for our crowded lives that are surrounded by oodles of items. Maybe if we look at the history of home decorating, we can find various understandable reasons for sticking millions of things in our living spaces. Feng-shui tried to empty our rooms to provide some space in which we could walk.

Then minimalism was honored, as it is a very newly invented technique for getting rid of unused items. Nowadays, we all love loft apartments: no doors, no walls and not much furniture. But when it comes to decorating our spaces, the coffee table is located in the center of our lives, but empty rooms make us anxious and feel naked when more air and light touch our bodies. However, spacious and bright areas scatter creativity, happiness and hope. But who cares, we don't want our hair blowing in the wind, we want a familiar hug to warm us.

I personally want to object to this unwritten law. To free your soul, you need just 10 minutes and good company. I'll ask my readers right about now to turn up the volume of the music and imagine themselves moving in slow motion.

First, open the curtains and windows. Then pick up the coffee table and take it away from the room. Now you will feel the power flowing slowly in your blood. You conquer the living room again and announce that you are the real owner. If you have nice wooden parquet or shiny marble flooring, roll up the carpet as well and hide them until next winter. When you realize that you don't only breathe but can also see the fresh air circulating in your room, sit on a sofa. Close your eyes. Think about the White Rabbit and King: "Go on till you come to the end: Then stop." You have come to the end: Write your story from the very beginning in your empty room. But this time, never let your stuff be there more than you.