I would like to take some time and explain the story behind ‘Haiku House’, but first let’s refresh and define ‘haiku’. A haiku is a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five (good numbers!) traditionally evoking images of the natural world.

So, a haiku is a poem…A very short poem. It always makes me think of the saying about how if a person truly understands something he or she can explain it very simply. I relate this to design, specifically Interior Design in which I hold a bachelors degree. My study in this field is where the idea or philosophy of ‘Haiku House’ began.

We were given floor plans for a custom high-end residential home located in a coastal area. The client profile was a husband and wife who were both designers and because the husband was Japanese, he wanted that Eastern influence in the overall design.

To make what could be a long story short, I named the residence ‘Haiku House’. The description below the hand-rendered exterior elevation on my presentation board stated:

“The design for the Haiku House is a tranquil fusion of Eastern meets Western & like the Japanese poem it is simplicity at its finest.”

Simplicity at its finest…That is what it truly comes down to and we can apply this to all sorts of areas in our lives.  It really isn’t much different to what William Morris said about not having anything in our home that we don’t find useful or beautiful.

We can get ourselves cluttered up so easily in our physical world…but this can happen to us mentally too. It obviously goes hand in hand. If we are surrounded by so much in our environment, we feel the weight of it. So we have to always be aware of this in order to keep ourselves BALANCED, HAPPY, and FREE! There have been a few moments in my life where I have felt owned by my possessions and let me tell you it is a heavy, almost hopeless feeling. (My inner battle with the material/worldly aspect of Interior Design is a whole different story.)

So I will end here with a haiku that I wrote while I was working on the ‘Haiku House’ project,

This is a farewell

To a world that moves to fast

I am enlightened

Keep life simple and beautiful,

-H.H.