SYNOPSIS
Do our
surroundings really make a difference in how we feel? In the harmony with
which we conduct our daily lives? In our exploration of our personal,
professional and spiritual paths? The answer, as shown in The Art of
Dramatic Living: Personalizing the Home through Good Design, is a resounding
“Yes!” Form, color, texture, light, proportion and material - as well as
cleanliness and order - are powerful tools for expressing who we really are.
In these pages, Dr. Carol Soucek King visits more than thirty residences
around the world in which good design echoes the identity of those who live
there. A house in Israel connects an active family with their cherished land
and the sea beyond. A rustic lodge/camp dwelling in Texas celebrates its
owners’ retreat from urban life to a setting amid oak trees, creeks and
hills. In Italy, a bachelor pares down the size of his living space and
number of possessions but not his full expression of his devotion to music,
lyrical spaces and elegant entertaining. In Tokyo, a Japanese entrepreneur
creates a background to share his interests in global business and fine art
with visiting business leaders and diplomats as well as his family. A couple
in Sydney, Australia, uses every aspect of their home’s historic site and
style as background for their thoroughly up-to-the-minute interests and
worldwide travels.
Today’s homeowners want to shape their house to their lifestyle, not adapt
their lifestyle to the home. An individual’s home is a mirror of their inner
self and a person’s environment affects their mind, body and spirit. This
book goes beyond design to health and well-being. In these and an array of
other homes, Dr. King shows how a variety of people in vastly different
circumstances have realized that, in creating a home, one is creating one’s
own universe, and that in order to live life to its fullest, one should make
the most of all the tools of good design.