Symmetry Gets a Bad Rap

Our painters are doing their finishing touch-ups today on the last two rooms, which means that curtains and pictures are next on my Home Decor To Do List.
I like the look of white plates hung symmetrically on a wall.

...especially on a dark or brightly colored wall.

This one has grown to out-of-control proportions, but it's quite the impressive art installation.

I have plans for something similiar (but on a petite scale) in the dining room.

I don't have any kind of training, and what do I know about these things, but it seems symmetry can get a bad rap in the young design world. I think it has a reputation for being uncool in an old-ladyish way, but maybe I'm just being defensive. It is no surprise that I find symmetry intensely pleasing. I think it touches on and satisfies something in the human psyche. You see it everywhere in nature and in our own bodies and in the rise and fall of human life, and if applied delicately to a home and without tense rigidity, I think the harmony of symmetrical design is comforting. We recognize and enjoy the pattern. I don't like symmetry when it's too formal or inflexible, but I hopefully I'll like it in my dining room.