Every good design plan will have a set of guidelines to help keep it on track. These fundamental truths serve to keep everything on track, and interior design is no exception. Though interior design gives every person different aspects of freedom to help express themselves; there are still principles to consider. Interior design is created by facilitating the seven different elements into your home or workspace. These elements will work together to create your design.   Today, we are going to discuss rhythm. Let’s take a look!

Rhythm 

Rhythm is the flow of the room. How do your eyes travel from one area to the next?  Rhythm can tie together your design in a unique way. Consider a band with a guitarist, drummer, bass, and singer. While each member is critical to enhancing the performance, they must work together. If each performer plays a different song at once, the music is lost. Learning how to facilitate rhythm is key to design as well.   

Repetition 

In music, rhythm is usually created by the percussionist through repetition. Repetition has a powerful psychological effect.  Our brain will notice repetition and correlate multiple things as one. This powerful technique can be used in design. By adding repeating patterns or repetition of colors, we will subconsciously associate the room as being unified (another key principle).  Having your curtains, pillows, and rugs with the same patterns will help create rhythm. While rhythm can easily be one of the most forgot elements to novice designers, it can be a key to your success! However, there is more just repetition used to create rhythm.  

Gradation 

You can also help the flow of the room visually through gradation.  We can easily identify this as shading. By incorporating gradation in a room, you can direct where people look in a room.  

Transition 

Likewise, you can also direct “eye traffic” through your furniture. If you want to emphasize the height of a vase, you may place a smaller vase followed by a medium vase followed by a large vase. This will easily be noticed, yet can help create rhythm in your home. 

Contrast 

Another powerful tool used to create rhythm is contrast. Even in some songs, dramatic pauses can create a powerful impact. Likewise, you create a dramatic visual impact with contrast. The most common contrasting colors are black and white, but many opposing colors like red and blue can have this effect as well. 

Radiation 

Like radial symmetry, radiation is creating rhythm revolving around your focal point in a room. This will establish the balance in your space while creating the rhythm you desire. 

Rhythm is important and commonly overlooked. If you can master rhythm, you will achieve a beautiful and aesthetically pleasing space. There are still two more key principles that are important to design. Even with rhythm, a room can feel awkward if the proportions and scale are not considered. Check out the next part of the series to see the secret to scaling your space and achieving perfect proportions every time! 

As we explore the principles of interior design, we learned about the importance of balance. Without balance, our homes can feel like a chaotic mess of elements meshed together. However, balance can be broken down to help create a dramatic effect, and this is not done on accident but deliberately to affect the room. 

Emphasis and focus fundamental principles to understand when it comes to interior design.   Not everything in your space deserves the same spotlight. Allowing architectural focal points to shine can really enhance the appeal of your room. Here is how you can incorporate these two elements:

Emphasis 

Many rooms will have an area of architectural interest. In living rooms, your emphasis may be a fireplace, whereas, in a foyer, it may be a chandelier. Perhaps your dining room has a large window that sees out into your backyard. For places that do not have these aspects, you can simply create one. Your furniture is usually revolving around this point to help emphasis it. You can create a directional flow in your room to help amplify these aspects, and your point of emphasis can be created through color, texture, or even lighting. 

Focus 

Another way to consider adding emphasis is by creating a focal point in your room. The key is to arrange your furniture to view the focal point. Consider adding a large painting or display shelving as a focal point, then the rest of your room should complement that point. 

Perhaps, you add a large painting in the room of a zebra. To help reflect this feature throughout the room, you may want to add more black and white patterns throughout your space. These accents do not take from the focal point but instead are intended to help enhance it.  

Remember your focal point helps develop the room, but your room will also help establish your focal point.  Every room should feel like it flows, and this can be evoked through a sense of rhythm. Rhythm is another critical principle every room should incorporate. Make sure to check out the rest of the series to help you add more rhythm to your space. 

Interior design is an art with featured principles to help establish the space. Your goal is to help create a mood or a flow for the overall environment. There are seven elements we can use to help orchestrate our designs: forms, lights, spaces, lines, colors, textures, and patterns can influence the way our atmosphere is portrayed. For example, if you want a room to feel inviting, you may feature an open space with warm colors and comfortable textures. Or if you are attempting to create an ambiance, you can facilitate different mood lighting and patterns into your space. All these elements have a time and a place. 

The Five Principles of Interior Design can establish these.  These fundamental guidelines can help turn chaos into structure.  Whether you are just getting started in designing your space or looking to spruce it up a little bit, this series can help you better grasp the foundational principles to creating your space.  Let’s take a look!

Balance 

The first principle to scrutinize when creating your design is balance. With so many elements being mashed into one space, it is easy for certain aspects to overshadow others. The easiest way to observe balance is to look at your room’s symmetry. There are three types of symmetry a room can have: formal, informal, and radial. 

Formal 

Formal balance is simply keeping a room symmetrically balanced. If a nightstand is on one side of the bed, another one should be on the other side to maintain balance. And this can be more than just furniture. Consider the lighting in the room, as well. While you may not be able to adjust fixed lighting, if all light is on one side of your space, it can disturb the balance in the space. 

Informal 

Informal balance is the easiest of the three to achieve. A room does not need to have an exact replica mirroring it on the other side of the room. Perhaps you have an office with an off-centered doorway; you may be forced to put your desk against one wall. Though your room may not be a mirror image of itself, you should still consider balance. No side of your room should feel “favored” on colors, shapes, textures or furnishings. 

Radial 

Radial is a symmetrical design that is achieved by starting at a center point in the room. All aspects will radiate symmetry around this point. This is typically seen in dining rooms where the table may be the center point.

Balance is an important principle to consider in every room of your home. You cannot achieve balance without considering all the elements in the room; however, there are exceptions where you may find the need to create a focal point or emphasize center aspects of your room. While this may not create balance, it can still be used artistically to help add a dramatic effect to your space. By continuing the series, you will be able to understand better how to facilitate these principles in your home, so be sure to check back!  

 

Whether you are just moving into a new home or planning on sprucing up your current home’s design this summer, there are thousands of avenues to take for home improvements.  Some projects can help improve your space with simple décor pieces and other smaller investments, whereas a full-out remodel can really allow you to let your home shine.  That being said, whether you are redecorating, remodeling, or renovating your home, we gathered some different projects to help refresh your design and embrace the effortless look of summertime. Let’s take a look!

Focus on Flooring

To quickly spruce up your flooring, you will want to invest in an area rug.  You can find all kinds of patterns and colors to match your home’s design.  Plus, if you are looking for a high-quality piece, you can order or select a remnant to be bound into the perfect size rug for your home.  You will be amazed by how effective an area rug can change the dynamic of any space. Additionally, hard surface flooring like luxury vinyl or tile can be the perfect summer remedy for beach days, mudrooms off of pools, and dirt from hikes. These easy to clean and maintain flooring options are the perfect choice for active homeowners who want flooring as stylish as it is durable.

Count on Countertops

Do not miss out on the opportunity to style your gorgeous countertops with decorative pieces. By adding decor to your countertops, you can highlight their beauty without taking away from them. Additionally, you can utilize beautiful countertop solutions like Quartz, Marble, or Granite to spruce up your design. These gorgeous countertops are as beautiful as they are durable. Quartz is a well-loved, superb countertop option that is non-porous and easy to maintain, whereas, Granite is a natural stone that features a timeless, classic look and is loved for its heat-resistant and low-maintenance properties. Marble is another stunning, luxurious countertop choice that features a veiny, highly-desirable look that instantly adds style and charm to any space. From Granite to Quartz to Marble, countertop styles and looks are truly endless and can refresh any kitchen or bathroom design this summer.

Color Me ‘Refreshed’

Another powerful tool you can use is paint.  Color is one of the most effective ways to convey a feeling or mood into an atmosphere.  Consider using pastel colors to keep a neutral feel while helping to brighten up your home. They will reflect natural light and help your atmosphere to feel soft and open.

Refresh Your Atmosphere

Refreshing your home’s atmosphere can be simple tactics to spice up your interior design.  They do not need to be elaborate investments or changes to the blueprint of the house for them to be worthwhile.  To help you find the perfect balance for your own home, we broke it down into several categories to look at when refreshing your space.  Try adding some of these to your home to enhance the summer appeal:

‘Wall,’ Hello There

An easy way to refresh your space this summer is by adding pictures to your walls.  Pictures can say a thousand words and can help enhance a theme in a room. If you already have images, you can swap them out with summertime classics to captivate the free-spirit, effortless vibe we admire about summer days. Simply store your winter/fall photos in a bin, and swap them out with light and airy artwork for a fresh look.

Delightful Décor

Let’s be honest; we all love décor.  Whether it is scented candles or soft throw blankets, every homeowner leans more towards a particular piece. But if you find yourself limited, try adding flair to a space with homey decor pieces. Curtains, throw pillows, and shelving décor can give a room a theme and make the design feel deliberate.  Just be sure to find a common theme and allow your décor to complement each other.

With all of these design elements, your home can embrace the light and airy vibe that we admire about summertime while encapsulating the homey attributes you always wanted. Thanks for reading!

Variety is an additional principle of visual design that involves changing the character of an element. It is an important technique used by designers who want to stir visual interest. Interiors that makes use of a combination of different textures, hues, and shapes reflect variety.

While variety resists monotony, there must be some form of cohesion for the design to be well put together. It is essential to ensure that the design elements, which can include furnishings and decorative accessories, complement each other. Otherwise, the room will look like mismatched pieces thrown together.

The variety of degree heavily depends upon your own personal taste. Some homeowners choose a more simple design that embraces various design elements, while others opt for more elaborate design schemes. How can you create a room that is full of unique features? We are glad you asked! Check out below to find out how:

Size

You can create variety through the use of shapes. Even if you decide to repeat the same shape by using different sizes, you will be creating a variety.

Color

Colors, when used in different combinations, can create an appealing visual presentation. When using a variety of color spectrums, be sure that the colors blend.

Shape

When striving to design a room that reflects variety, homeowners can try elements that have different shapes. Different shapes like squares, circles, and triangles can add variety into your design.

Do you use variety in your design? If so, we would love to hear your ideas below in the comment section.