Q: There is a big bay window in our living room, which is confusing me. How do I arrange the furniture in there? Should the sofa face the window with the view? If not, what should I put in the bay area? Are there any rules that would help me?

A: Decorating is one venture that eschews "rules." Think, instead, of circumstantial decisions. You are practicing an art that is based on pseudo-science — decorating is as much about practicality as attractiveness, and success lies in the eye of the beholder.

All of which leads back to your question of which way to face the sofa, toward the view or toward the room? The answer is "yes" and "yes." If the view is irresistible and your room is large, I'd say float the sofa in the center of the space, oriented toward the window and the view.

On the other hand, to take best advantage of the extra floor space afforded by the bay, it makes sense to park the sofa within the window bay and orient the rest of the furniture around it — exactly what the designers have done in the comely room we show here.

John Loecke and Jason Oliver of Madcap Cottage (madcapcottage.com) have turned the bay of handsome windows into a backdrop for the seating area, using color (love that teal!) and whimsy (a scalloped valance!) to make it the focal point of the room.

It's the very essence of these designers' modus operandi to combine unconventional color with traditional ideas. As whimsical as the Madcap setting may look at first glance, it is based on immutable principles of formal symmetry. To wit: the sofa is balanced by mirror-image pillows and flanked by matching tables and lamps, and the scallops hung overhead repeat in the cocktail and octagonal tables.

It all goes to show that classic formal balance is as timeless as ancient Greece — and as timely as today.

Q: We are concerned that my mother is turning into a hoarder. She recently moved to an assisted-living condo much smaller than the house my family grew up in. But mom refused to get rid of anything. We tried to de-clutter for her, and it made her furious. It's impossible to make her new place nice with all that old stuff. Any advice?

A: Yes. Back off! What may look like "old stuff" to you is truly the stuff of your mother's life.

If she's like other older people I know, a personal memory is attached to everything she cherishes enough to go on living with. My friend Sue, a hip marketing professional and world traveler, puts it this way: "Everything I have sparks a memory of someone or some place or some event in my life. My things keep me company at times when I'm alone.

"It's not about what something is worth in dollars. It's about how much I value it ... The papier mache rooster the Haitian women made despite the earthquake ... the whale key plaque I bought in Bequia ... the enamel spatter-ware I found at the Paris flea market ...

"Not that I live in the past, but I do love living with my past," Sue responded by phone when I passed along your question.

Photo: Scallops and unconventional colors turn a classic bay window into a formal-but-fun seating area.

Rose Bennett Gilbert is the co-author of "Manhattan Style" and six other books on interior design. To find out more about Rose Bennett Gilbert, and read features by Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.