Dear Jean and Richard, Are your designs influenced by the latest building innovations or housing materials? For example, do you ever place TVs behind mirrors or install tubular skylights? –Ricky, Black Mountain

Richard: Hi, Ricky. The answer has to be yes, but it is usually at the request of a client or when working with a home builder. We are more likely to choose a specific light fixture, though, than a specific kind of light tube. One is fashion; the other is function. But we can and do recommend that an area be filled with light, and if that means a light tube, we will suggest it.

Jean: Well yes, but we wouldn’t recommend a light tube because it is the latest innovation in building products, but rather because the room needs more light. And if a client wants a TV behind her mirror, we would design the room to work around it, but we wouldn’t use it just because it is available. I learned a long time ago just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.

Richard: That’s exactly why I don’t hoola-hoop in the office.

Jean: And we’re glad. But if you did, would it be because someone introduced a new hoola-hoop?

Richard: OK, there are lots of reasons. I would never order a shark tank, either, but we recently did that for a client. As it turns out, shark tanks are different from regular fish tanks because they have no corners, and sharks like to swim in circles.

Jean: What in the world does that have to do with building materials? Or are you just talking in circles?

Richard: Well, if someone doesn’t know there’s a special tank for sharks he might not want one. And if someone doesn’t know a light tube or secret TV is an option, it’s doubtful he would want one of those, either. But most innovations—if they serve a purpose—will eventually influence someone’s taste in furnishings, and thus interior design.

Jean: So what you’re saying is that fashion can come from function, and I agree. But I submit that the need for more light precedes the need for a skylight, not the other way around. Our client’s desire for a shark tank is the result of his hobby of collecting unusual fish, not because he saw a tank with round corners.

Richard: Are you sure? If you think about it, a lot of trends began because there was something new and exciting on the market. Bamboo floors, granite countertops, gas logs…

Jean: Sure—and at one time consumers were excited about the bright colors of lead paint, the permanence of asbestos shingles, and the simplicity of synthetic stucco. New methods and materials can be wonderful, but simply being new is the wrong reason to embrace them.