42. New Home (1) The Diderot Effect

The Frenchman Dennis Diderot (1713-1784) was gifted a beautiful scarlet silk dressing gown. It was so beautiful, however, that it made everything else in his home seem old and shabby and he felt compelled to start replacing prized old possessions with brand new things more in keeping with his fancy new gown. His favourite if tawdry straw chair was replaced by an armchair in Moroccan leather, his rickety old desk by a new writing table and so on, all at considerable cost. So much so that he began to regret the gift that set this train of expenditure going. He wrote an essay "Regrets on Parting with My Old Dressing Gown" complaining that "I was absolute master of my old dressing gown but I have become a slave to my new one."

With our new home the Diderot effect has taken us over. Major and minor items have been replaced (ranging from lounge furniture to toothbrush holders) and others are due for the chop when we have saved a bit more money. Only one change in the study, however. From this:

To this:

With that exception the study still has all the warmth and charm of an old dressing gown. I'll give you a comprehensive study tour in a later blog.