Clarendon at peace. Just around the corner is a Christmas tree welcoming this festive season. The choice of oak panelling was a zero sum design game. Walls can often be built over older walls to clean up lines both figuratively and literally. It was a no brainer to pull one room into the other this way. Crisp, bright, warm, homey.
This passageway is the only link between the front and back of the Clarendon. My man tends to be a little contrary and calls this back room the front because it is fronting on Sussex, the main axis in his mind. Fact is, the front is where the entrance is and that’s at the bar. You may decide this for yourselves of course and may also wish to weigh in on this important matter as long as you agree that I’m right. I’ll introduce you to the little snug pub you see to the right tomorrow. It’s a little nook for moules frites and makeouts.
The takeaway today though, besides the fact that my man thinks backwards and that I’m always right, is the doorway sill. This is a space that many of us completely neglect. Back in the day 16 years ago I had a tiny little townhome in Miami Beach. The footprint was as big as a good sized boat, but that did not deter me from exaggerating the width of the walls from a visual point of view. For my European brought up self, wide walls mean old walls and old walls mean strong walls, strong walls mean longevity and longevity means living a good life well. It does not mean that on the other side of these door jambs you are wasting space. In Miami I carved out the walls with bookshelves or closets.
There is a certain feeling of being embraced by a properly clad door jamb. It is nearly akin to floating weightless in tropical warmth water: a womb-like happiness occurs. It may not be that you all feel like I do in a wide doorjamb but if I ever find you in a happy fetal position right here I will be the first one to join you.