Now there’s an essential question that is really hard to answer…At the heart of the question, aren’t we asking ourselves if one person’s opinion isn’t better than another? And that is fundamentally undemocratic. Regardless of our perilous political times, Americans do believe in democracy and if all men are created equals then it follows that all opinions are valid and none is better than the next. Yet when we think about good or bad taste, and we remember Uncle Bob and his ugliest of all TV lounger chair, all brownish and decrepit and always sporting the worst pattern of fabric, WE KNOW we cannot be wrong in stating that his chair is an ugly chair and his good taste and judgment is simply lacking.

You could argue that the passage of time can crystalize bad taste decor decisions because the person making them is simply displaying what he or she has learned early in their lives when they were growing up, and hasn’t thought much about changing what they like. What is familiar is inherently comforting.

So why is it that some people appear to have better taste than others? Is it because those people spend more time thinking about it and are willing to evolve and maybe even change their minds along the way?

I actually believe that good taste comes hand in hand with good design. And good design is simply form and function coming together to create a good product, say a sofa, a chair, a set of dinnerware, that is both eye-pleasing AND efficient within its environment. To take the example of dinnerware, surely a set of gold trimmed bone China plates will look a bit silly in a log cabin. However, the same plates will look magnificent in the right setting, surrounded by other decor pieces that help emphasize its beauty, like a gorgeous mahogany dinner table, or the right tablecloth and exquisite crystal. So good taste requires thought, and the longer process of learning what exists out there that will fit the environment you are creating. Good taste requires that an objects fulfills its function to the fullest, not simply existing as a museum piece. An uncomfortable chair that no one wants to sit in because it’s uncomfortable is never in good taste. What it does is reflect is that the person displaying it is making a statement, namely: look at me! i’m so cool that I have this unusual chair in the middle of my living-room that nobody else has because I’m an unusual person worthy of your admiration! I think pretentiousness is never a good look…

But what do YOU think? How do you define good taste? Write me a note! All opinions welcomed.