A Hammock for Your Home

By Sarah Van Arsdale

Nothing is quite as restful as a lazy summer afternoon in a hammock, especially if that hammock happens to be hanging in a tree-house sun porch.

This room is a bit unusual, and it is certainly sparsely furnished. But that's a lot of the room's charm, and that's part of why it works so well in terms of the Sheffield Guidelines to Interior Design: function, mood, and harmony.

Looking first at this room's function, we see that this room was made for pure relaxation. There's very little opportunity for actual work to be done here; in fact, there isn't even so much as an upright chair, never mind something as work-inducing as a desk or table.

The only place to sit in this room is on that hammock, and that means that pretty soon you won't be sitting, but you'll be lying back enjoying the summer breezes.

We can see that one function of this room is also the observance of nature. It's easy to hunker down in that hammock with a field guide and a pair of binoculars and just enjoy the wonders of the natural world without straining your neck.

In terms of mood, this room is rustically casual, but you'll notice that doesn't mean it's messy or unkempt. The rustic look is lent by the antique side tables, the centerpiece hammock, and the willow-twig basket. The casual plants and the arrangement of wildflowers further this look.

But there isn't anything out of place in this room, which is something that keeps the look from descending from rustic to messy. There is no clutter here; there are just a couple of candles on two of the tables, and one photography book. Perhaps another way of illustrating how the room isn't cluttered is by noting what isn't there; there is no stack of old newspapers on the lower shelf of the table, there is no scattering of coffee cups on the floor under the hammock. Part of making the rustic mood work so well lies in keeping everything orderly and clean.

Finally, everything in this room harmonizes. There is nothing that stands out as out-of-place, nothing that calls undue attention to itself. The white clapboard walls are the perfect finish for a rustic sun porch, the windows are plain and simple, and the sisal rug fits in perfectly too.

Altogether, this room makes for an ideal retreat from the workaday cares of the world.

Reprinted with permission from the Sheffield School of Interior Design