I do wonder, why we read so little
nowadays in our interior design per-
iodicals, of the problems of accom-
modating household staff. Even the
architecture websites, for all their
endless regard for second and third
residences, inexplicably pay almost
no attention to this apparent after-
thought of domestic planning. We en-
joy the most exhaustive support for
our selection of paints, and natur-
ally of fabrics, so I wonder why a
nod to the sub-domestic necessities
is almost nowhere to be found. I im-
agine, our people's lack of a trade
association or union - constituent
features, these days, of so-called
stakeholders -- may play some part
in their invisibility, despite the
best efforts of the Social Security
Administration. For all the wear and
tear upon one's own decision-making
powers in the laying out of various
rooms, I cannot recall so much as a
moment of concern in my present move
for accommodating a valet, and yet
when now I examine my plans, I note
only some fuzzy assumptions about
storage space and walk-in closets,
which I suppose have always served.
I'm fortunate, I suppose, in derma-
otological advice to avoid a con-
servatory at my age, and in a lack
of need for fur storage since the
invention of ersatz fleece, so I'm
less concerned about my negligence
than merely mildly embarrassed. At
least the pictures have their walls.
