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Featured Article:
Basic Interior
Design Principles for Everyday Use in Your Home
By Lisa M Smith
All of these basic principles are used every day by designers all over
the world. They are all necessary and often interdependent on each other.
When a room fails one or more of these concepts is at fault. Often we
can walk into a room, even one we have never been in before and notice
that something feels off. This can be a subconscious reaction or very
obvious. If you were to use these basic principles as a template for the
room, you would easily uncover the problem.
The basic interior design principles are the "tricks" all of
us successful designers function with. The careful study and understanding
of balance, scale, proportion, rhythm and emphasis is what makes it easy
for us to walk into a room and often immediately fix a problem. It is
not about taste or personality that creates good design. It is the appropriate
application of these design principles.
Balance
Balance is a fundamental of life that everyone seeks, consciously or
subconsciously, whether in your checkbook, relationships or home. This
makes us comfortable, gives us stability, reduces stress and gives us
peace. This is the most important element to achieve when creating or
changing the design of a room.
For interiors balance takes into account the physical and/or psychological
weight of an object. Balance is important in all facets of room design
from the physical architecture to the furnishings, materials selected,
and accessorizing.
There are different types of balance:
Formal or symmetrical - This is very traditional and quiet. The focal
point is often in the center. One side is the mirror image of the other.
An example would be two sofas on either side of a fireplace facing one
another with a large coffee table in the middle.
Informal or asymmetrical – This is much more active but also more
subtle. The focal point may not be in the middle. There is no mirror effect
but the visual weights play a more important role. It could be as simple
as having two completely different chairs sitting across from one sofa
in the previous example.
Radial – All elements radiate around, toward or from a focal point.
There is a lot of repetition in form and color.
Scale and Proportion
Both of these relate to the size and shape of an object. • Scale
deals with the absolute size or character of an object or space when compared
to other objects or spaces.
Proportion is relative describing the ratio of one part to another.
Rhythm
How objects relate to one another develops rhythm. This works the same
way in a home as it does in a piece of music. Rhythm creates interest.
It can make an area come alive. Repetition and contrast are key elements
to use. A modern example of this would be a room that is mostly one color
(monochromatic) and feels very harmonious and comfortable. This is achieved
by using different textures and materials of this one color. The mix of
textures (contrast) combined with the repetition of color provides rhythm.
Emphasis
Certain areas or elements of a room need to be dominant or emphasized.
Variety will keep an area from being monotonous and dull. The best analogy
for this would be a movie. In a movie there are stars, supporting cast
members and general cast members. All parts contribute to make a whole
and all important to the telling of the story though some are more important
/ have bigger roles (emphasis) than the others. It doesn't work if the
movie is comprised of all stars, you don't know who to watch or who is
more important.
A great way to handle this design concept is to make sure everything in
your room isn't a star or your "favorite". Good design will
be achieved when you realize you don't have to "love" every
item or element in your room. Every element has an order of importance,
though all are necessary.
You will achieve this through balancing color, placement, and proportion
of items and materials you select.
Contrasting color is one way to add emphasis to an element. To make a
beautiful antique carved fireplace in a deep walnut color the focal point
you would want to use a surrounding wall color that would show this off.
You wouldn't want to use a color in a similar hue or saturation because
the fireplace would blend into the wall and would become its equal. For
the opposite effect, if you had a really ugly nondescript fireplace you
may want to make it the same color as the surrounding walls so it seems
to go away.
These interior design principles are applicable in every situation regardless
of home style. As you may notice none of these have anything to do with
taste or money. Good interior design is the clever use and application
of these design basics and can be achieved by anyone.
Lisa M. Smith is an interior designer and owner of Interior
Design Factory, Ltd. She specializes in creating beautiful and inviting
residential interiors that are timeless and look collected, not like a
showroom. Real design for real people. She produces individualized results
using creative solutions that are liveable and tell a story. Good design
is for everyone and available in every budget.
Hire an Interior Designer Now for only $4.95. Click on website to ask
your personal design question. You can even send pictures. Get design
advice and answers just for you!
www.InteriorDesignFactory.com
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