The art of interior design
Selecting elements for distinctive style
Many times while on a consult I see the same problems again and again. A homeowner will purchase a lovely sofa from somewhere like Pottery Barn and later wonder why it has not transformed their white box of a room into the designer look that they see in the magazine.
It takes much more that a sofa and a couple of beautiful accessories to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. Proportion and scale are key as well as the selections of color, texture and architectural elements. Many of these above items do not just happen, they take planning, research and careful consideration.
The layering of a room is the designer’s best ability. A professional should be able to do a cohesive and coordinating design that brings in the best elements of the home or space. Layering is the combination of textures that it takes to make a room sparkle and come alive.
Beginning with a clean slate in a room or home it begins with the architectural products, wood floors, tile, cabinetry and granite or laminate, paint colors and lighting fixtures. A designer looks at how one room relates to the other and makes them cohesive to the eye. The next layer would be the window coverings. Window coverings should not be an afterthought as they occupy so much wall space. These necessary objects may be as beautiful as a piece of artwork or blend into the walls giving a great backdrop for the furnishings. However simple or complex, care should be taken to spend your money with a plan in mind.
Next in the layering process comes furnishings. Furniture can be both functional and beautiful. The proportion and scale of the furniture should fit the space that it occupies, not only in with and length, but also in height and style. If chairs sit in front of a view window, they should be short enough to not block your vision. When placing furniture into a room remember the flow of traffic and how each piece relates to the other. I am not a fan of purchasing suites of furniture. When a home is well designed the furnishings look collected but somehow blending in style, color or shape. By some brilliant mistake all the furnishings blend together so that not one thing draws all the attention, but rather the room blends into a well thought out whole, leaving the observer the opportunity to discover small treasures such as the texture of the upholstery, or the artwork, or the beautiful stonework on the floor or fireplace.
Layering a room should be like pealing an onion, or painting a canvas. All elements should be built around an architecturally sound room, or rooms. The architecture is the core and the final touches such as accessories are like the outer layer or final brush strokes. Without these elements a room can be a little flat.
If you are not able to build your dream home or remodel, so many things can be done to compliment a bad architectural plan. Stay tuned in the August issue as we discuss how to make your uninteresting rooms come alive with a few simple tricks.