About

This site contains a collection of patterns I’ve developed for myself in order to solve common problems related to interior design and organization in homes and apartments. I hope you find some of them useful!

What are patterns?

A pattern, in this context, is a specific solution to a solving a common general problem.

This notion of patterns was popularized by Christopher Alexander’s 1977 book A Pattern Language. In it, Alexander introduces the concept of a “pattern language”, a set of named patterns that apply to a specific field. The bulk of the book describes a pattern language for urban design and architecture. He also urges readers to consider the potential of pattern languages in their own fields.

One field that has been particularly influenced by Alexander is software engineering. There are dozens of books describing pattern languages for software. Some may only be indirectly influenced by Alexander’s work, but many explicitly pay homage to it.

How should I use this site?

There are no rules, but if you’re looking for a place to start, I recommend approaching it similar to how Alexander encourages readers to use A Pattern Language. That is,

1. Think about a specific part of your own home that you want to work on, and click on a pattern whose name seems related to that part of the home.
2. Read through that pattern and explore the smaller patterns that it links to that help to build that pattern.
3. Repeat that process.

Where did the patterns on this site come from?

I started this set of patterns in order to help me design the interior of my current and my future homes. I wrote some with help from friends, and some are adapted from patterns in A Pattern Language.