# Which function is likely to have a preference for an aesthetically pleasing environme



## Ray Mabry (Jun 6, 2010)

Se or Si can kind of play a role in this. Se might fill their environment with objects that are stimulating in some way to their 5 senses. They also would probably be more likely to constantly want to change the objects in their environment because eventually they lose meaning to Se and are no longer "fresh."

Si on the other hand might fill their environment with objects that are more sentimental to them and have their own beauty that may at times only be seen by the Si type and they are probably more likely to not change their environment as much but will like to objects to it over time.


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## letsride (Dec 22, 2009)

Ray Mabry said:


> Se or Si can kind of play a role in this. Se might fill their environment with objects that are stimulating in some way to their 5 senses. They also would probably be more likely to constantly want to change the objects in their environment because eventually they lose meaning to Se and are no longer "fresh."
> 
> Si on the other hand might fill their environment with objects that are more sentimental to them and have their own beauty that may at times only be seen by the Si type and they are probably more likely to not change their environment as much but will like to objects to it over time.


I agree. I know what looks pleasing to my eye, and decorate whatever way makes me happy. I disregard rules or what is popular, and am not afriad to mix things you wouldn't normally see together. I also like to change things up frequently. And for me, aesthetically pleasing is different from organization. I'm a slob, but once I get the clutter cleaned up, my room looks awesome.:laughing:

My ISFJ mother is more concerned with how other people's homes look, and is more likely to copy a style. She also likes things to match, or uses a theme. She has a lot of family photos on the walls, that have been there forever, but she likes them so she never changes them. For her, I think good organization = aesthetically pleasing, or at least plays a big role in it.


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## chaeriean (Jan 18, 2011)

i think si would be more likely to have a preference for an orderly environment rather than an environment that is beautiful. at least that is how it is with me. i love empty rooms and minimalism and so on. it is refreshing. not exactly conventional however. my room has a couch (sleep) and a small end-table with a computer on top of it, a little table beside it that i can eat dinner on, a camp chair (to sit at computer) and two luggage bags with clothes. the rest is just floor and bare walls. it isn't very attractive, but it is very neat and orderly and straight lines and white and big.


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## Kr3m1in (Jan 16, 2011)

chaeriean said:


> straight lines and white and big.


That's adorable :wink:

What i can't stand is useless decor. Like a vase with marbles in it. I don't get the point in things you can't use just sitting there. Or fake fruit baskets, or fake flowers. If I ever fell in love with someone who wanted to put any of that in our house, I would probably reconsider moving in with them.:crazy:

Beautiful is a very subjective notion though. To me the vibe is everything, anywhere. My friends tell me my place looks and feels like me. There is a lot of red and black in my decor, but it's all usable stuff, not just a marble holder of sorts.

It's not overwhelmingly red and black, but that's really the theme. There is a Ralph Steadman poster and a black and white portrait of Che, both hanging on different angles, unframed. The walls are white, but not naked, and the ceilings are angled.

Generally, perfectly decorated and organized houses out of magazines aren't my thing. I find them ugly. I want my walls to have cracks, I want it to look lived in. Not messy, but not perfectly polished and sanitized and whatnot. That's just too boring. And probably doesn't reflect what's going on inside a whole lot.


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## chaeriean (Jan 18, 2011)

mars6988 said:


> That's adorable :wink:
> 
> What i can't stand is useless decor. Like a vase with marbles in it. I don't get the point in things you can't use just sitting there. Or fake fruit baskets, or fake flowers. If I ever fell in love with someone who wanted to put any of that in our house, I would probably reconsider moving in with them.:crazy:
> 
> ...


i don't think the way i like rooms really expresses who i am, more that i think i need that kind of "clean-room" vibe in order to feel safe and not overloaded. my room is where i go to be away from everybody and to get away from the overload of normal life, so if it was full of things that i thought were nice looking or that represented me it wouldn't serve its purpose very well. i live with tons and tons of other people, adults and children alike so the staff who live here the environment is basically very college-dorm like. you get your room, then there are shared bathrooms and kitchens and so on. 

if i ever had my own place, i would probably make it very cozy, and leave my "clean-room" minimalism for the kitchen and my bedroom and bathroom. bookshelves with books i actually read, dark brown/tan/white/grey/dark red coloring, dark carpets, darkwood tables, lamps with dim light. a more cozy environment, that feels comfortable. i really enjoy being in other people's homes when i can tell the vibe of the home is explicitly of that person. especially if i like them, i enjoy spending time at their house because it is like i can almost sense them in the decorations and the aesthetic choices and the colors and so on. i am weird n_n


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## Kr3m1in (Jan 16, 2011)

chaeriean said:


> i don't think the way i like rooms really expresses who i am, more that i think i need that kind of "clean-room" vibe in order to feel safe and not overloaded. my room is where i go to be away from everybody and to get away from the overload of normal life, so if it was full of things that i thought were nice looking or that represented me it wouldn't serve its purpose very well. i live with tons and tons of other people, adults and children alike so the staff who live here the environment is basically very college-dorm like. you get your room, then there are shared bathrooms and kitchens and so on.
> 
> if i ever had my own place, i would probably make it very cozy, and leave my "clean-room" minimalism for the kitchen and my bedroom and bathroom. bookshelves with books i actually read, dark brown/tan/white/grey/dark red coloring, dark carpets, darkwood tables, lamps with dim light. a more cozy environment, that feels comfortable. i really enjoy being in other people's homes when i can tell the vibe of the home is explicitly of that person. especially if i like them, i enjoy spending time at their house because it is like i can almost sense them in the decorations and the aesthetic choices and the colors and so on. i am weird n_n


Not weird, at least not alone in it,because I definitely get that. If everything is too picture-perfect I can't relax. And I can't think. So, I don't enjoy being in houses like that, it's like going to a museum.

My surroundings, meaning my place, has to fit with me. I have to come there and feel like I'm home. I do have a hell of a library in my place too, I own thosands of books, they are my most valued posessions. They really make the place mine too.

I like imperfections, things on an angle, angled ceilings. I don't like everything to be polished and symmetrical and flawless, I feel that it's kind of dishonest (like a stage of sorts). Therefore, I'm probably weird in that way

I got this friend who is an actress and a hippie, and she lives in this tower with tapestries on the walls and candles hanging everywhere and a hookah in the middle of the floor. She calls her place the opium den and being there for me is always a way of getting to know her better (although we've been great friends for over 6 years now). So i get what you mean. I am all about finding out about people, I'm genuinely curious about their stories, likes and dislikes, so I like when places feel like the people who live there.


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## letsride (Dec 22, 2009)

mars6988 said:


> What i can't stand is useless decor. Like a vase with marbles in it.


:laughing: This part made me crack up! Yes, I understand what you mean. I do enjoy fresh flowers though, since they smell good and add bright colors. They just make me happy whenever I look at them (it's probably an ISFP thing).

I'll admit I do have a big jar full of seashells that my friend collects and is always giving to me. It actually looks really cool, even if it has no function.



> If everything is too picture-perfect I can't relax. And I can't think. So, I don't enjoy being in houses like that, it's like going to a museum.


Yes, I agree. If you can't move around and live in it, without having to worry about breaking something or messing it up, what's the point? I've been in homes that are like this too, and it's not comfortable. It really does feel like a museum, especially when they have artifacts or antiques all over the place.


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## Kr3m1in (Jan 16, 2011)

letsride said:


> :laughing: This part made me crack up! Yes, I understand what you mean. I do enjoy fresh flowers though, since they smell good and add bright colors. They just make me happy whenever I look at them (it's probably an ISFP thing).
> 
> I'll admit I do have a big jar full of seashells that my friend collects and is always giving to me. It actually looks really cool, even if it has no function.
> 
> ...


Fresh flowers are nice, I agree. They aren't quite my thing, but they certainly brighten things up.I can't have them, because I end up forgetting to water them and they die on me. I am very mad scientist-y organization-wise, I forget to feed things (including myself) but don't forget errands and projects ever.

I own a chinchilla and the only reason she is still alive is because she has developed an evolutionary strategy of adapting to living with me (she literally takes the food bowl and throws it against the cage when it's time for her to eat), so I know. 

My dad is an ISFP and the way he likes his surroundings drives me crazy. He is always re-arranging furniture. This takes hours and happens every month. I don't understand what changes when you move everything in the house from point A to point B. He likes antiques too, so there are just a bunch of old rusty things that don't work sitting around the house pretending to be decor.

Seashells, esp is a friend collects them for you, are different, since they are a symbol of sorts, or a personal thing. But marbles? You have glass balls sitting in a vase for god's sake.Glass balls that you paid money for.Sad.

Another thing I severely dislike is when people have pictures of themselves all over the house. My aunt is like that, one wall would have her in a red outfit, another in a blue outfit. That's just a bit scary. If you want to look at yourself all day, just have mirrored walls. That would at least make sex more interesting:crazy:


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## letsride (Dec 22, 2009)

mars6988 said:


> My dad is an ISFP and the way he likes his surroundings drives me crazy. He is always re-arranging furniture. This takes hours and happens every month. I don't understand what changes when you move everything in the house from point A to point B. He likes antiques too, so there are just a bunch of old rusty things that don't work sitting around the house pretending to be decor.


I like to change things up too, but I just simply can't move my furniture anywhere. There's no room to. Everything fits and works the way it is. Plus, I'd probably be too lazy to move it around all the time anyway. My grandma used to move her furniture around all the time, she has this sectional couch you can break up and rearrange. It seemed like a lot of trouble, for little or no gain. She finally gave up doing this when she tweaked her back.



> Another thing I severely dislike is when people have pictures of themselves all over the house. My aunt is like that, one wall would have her in a red outfit, another in a blue outfit. That's just a bit scary. If you want to look at yourself all day, just have mirrored walls. That would at least make sex more interesting:crazy:


This makes me think of the Seinfeld episode when George brings a girl back to his parents' house, and pretends it's his house, but his childhood pictures are all over the place! Love the mirror idea.:laughing:


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## Kr3m1in (Jan 16, 2011)

letsride said:


> This makes me think of the Seinfeld episode when George brings a girl back to his parents' house, and pretends it's his house, but his childhood pictures are all over the place! Love the mirror idea.:laughing:


Well if you like the mirror idea you should move in with me :crazy:

Also, cleaning when everything in my life is going crazy makes me feel like I;m lying to myself,although I know a lot of people do that. If everything is in its right place in my house, but my life is upside down and inside out, I feel like my surroundings are in a kind of fake harmony.

That's probably a strange way to look at it though:blushed:

Childhood pics are ok, but when women put up 'sexy' pictures of themselves up in their house. Come on now that's way too tacky.:dry:


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## Ray Mabry (Jun 6, 2010)

chaeriean said:


> i think si would be more likely to have a preference for an orderly environment rather than an environment that is beautiful. at least that is how it is with me. i love empty rooms and minimalism and so on. it is refreshing. not exactly conventional however. my room has a couch (sleep) and a small end-table with a computer on top of it, a little table beside it that i can eat dinner on, a camp chair (to sit at computer) and two luggage bags with clothes. the rest is just floor and bare walls. it isn't very attractive, but it is very neat and orderly and straight lines and white and big.


To me, it seems like a manifestation of Ne in the negative. An environment with too much clutter would might create chaos or anxiety in the future so keeping it simple keeps this possibility out of the picture.


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## chaeriean (Jan 18, 2011)

@Ray Mabry, maybe, but ne is my lowest function (even after ni) so i don't see how it would be related to ne for me? ne is very abstract, to me, which in my opinion is more likely to _signify_ chaos rather than prevent it. chaotic ideas, chaotic frame of mind, etc. of course i know hardly anything about cognitive functions so i am probably wrong, but that is just how it seems to me. se is far more concerned with _sensory experience_ whereas si is concerned with actual, practical, environmental detail and structure.


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## Ray Mabry (Jun 6, 2010)

@chaeriean


chaeriean said:


> @Ray Mabry, maybe, but ne is my lowest function (even after ni) so i don't see how it would be related to ne for me? ne is very abstract, to me, which in my opinion is more likely to _signify_ chaos rather than prevent it. chaotic ideas, chaotic frame of mind, etc. of course i know hardly anything about cognitive functions so i am probably wrong, but that is just how it seems to me. se is far more concerned with _sensory experience_ whereas si is concerned with actual, practical, environmental detail and structure.


I'd be careful with ordering your type's functioning based on cognitive functions tests. But I guess that's a whole other discussion.

From what i've been reading about the functions and from knowing at least two ISTJ's I don't think that Si is the main cause for them being neat...if they are at all. 

Both of my ISTJ friends aren't necessarily neat in their home environments. Especially the male.

I would just theorize that perhaps a cluttered environment would create anxiety for ISxJ's which may drive them to be neat in the first place.

Intuition is the possibility inherit in a situation and i'd assume that negative forms of this through Ne might come up in the form of anxiety which in turn would drive an ISxJ to be neat...to avoid this.

Many people are quick to make Si's seem almost dead inside as if they don't have any kind of tie to sensation but they are a sensation type. MBTI generalizes Jung's definition of Si a bit but I think it's important to note that it's not as thought Si types don't have any ties to objects or things of the external world...they merely adapt to them differently in comparison to Se types.

So it's just a thought. I don't think that the neat room thing really applies to all Si's and so I don't see it as being apart of the function in it's purest form.


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## Aelthwyn (Oct 27, 2010)

I'm not sure. I'm INFP, and having an aesthetically pleasing environment is VITAL to my existance. I seriously start going insane when I am surrounded by ugliness or blah environments for long. I get depressed, anxious, irritable, empty.....it's just really bad. While I certainly don't have a need for a 'tidy' environment, I have a great need for the things in it to be beautifull. I am very attuned to the coherance of colors and shapes and like things to follow some kind of theme. I am also very aware of the usage of space and feel very unsettled in rooms that are not well arranged. I always felt like this had something to do with Feeling, though I'm not entirely sure why. Something like....form over function perhaps?


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## Djanga (Nov 28, 2010)

I'm an INTX, and I totally agree with Aelthwyn. For some reason when the organization/ appearance of my space gets upset (clutter, dust, "ugly" objects, etc) I feel like I'm going insane; I feel physically sick and stressed out. Also, if I'm in a vulnerable emotional state, just looking at photos of spaces/ rooms that I find ugly can make me really depressed. Of course I've long suspected that I'm borderline OCD so...


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## wandai (Feb 8, 2011)

It strikes me that a bachelor's room is usually messy. I don't really care about keeping things exactly the same, though I developed a habit of putting essentials (wallet and key) at the same place. It just easier. Oh, I tend to move the furnitures every now and then.


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## ENTPreneur (Dec 13, 2009)

I wish to have my surroundings pleasing, but practically organized. There must be potential for beauty (or coolness/whatever) but I dont mind the desk inside it being messy up to a point. After this point has been crossed, then I start feeling bad. This border is quite tolerant: Piles of papers everywhere (in apparent disarray but organized in my head), even dust and mugs. As long as I can keep working and it doesnt hinder me. I know heavy J types seem to crave external structure and organization to get by (probably less structured inside). I just dont find it worthwhile doing stuff that will repeat itself and go on and on forever. Until it hinders me, or make other people feel bad. Then I tidy it up. 

But the basic room, style, decorations and stuff inside it can be bold and almost always esthetically pleasing (with regard to style preference of course). Small funny details with symbolic meanng. The standard Lego-men and minor toys. Music boxes. Old-school posters and art. That kind of thing. I think they like my taste, but he traditionalists sometimes moan about daring to chose this color and that. Still the respect me for doing it.


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## nevermore (Oct 1, 2010)

I'm not sure. I'm, big on being in an aesthetically pleasing environment (I kind of go insane when I'm not) and have a flair for landscape design and domestic decoration, but I wouldn't associate this with my dominant function (Ti). Nor with Ne...too abstract. I think Si is more on the mark.


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