Steal these Four Easy Room Design Tips
I like to break it down and make it easy to design a room with simple success tips. Ever heard of Garanimals? This toddler clothing line enables fashion picks for the day with success. We don't exactly have Garanimals for the adult interior room design. Instead, here are four ways to transform any room that you can't go wrong.
Before we get started with our design tips, we are going to switch off our storytelling eyes. When we look at the objects in our room, we see the stories they tell us and our "love for them." Now we are going to use our eyes to be more critical and start to investigate a bit more. Note the shape of the room; where does the natural light come in, or does it not. What is the way you enter and exit the room, we call this the path of travel. Is there more than one path of travel? Let's consider these key design ideas.
1 . Build in a Focal Point
Consider the primary way into the room and what your eye is most likely to 'see' first. Is there is a natural focal element like a fireplace or large dining room table present? Is there competing attention and a lot going on in the room? You may need to focus your eye and attention on the 'focal point.'
Here are some simple ways to create a focal point in space. Paint an accent color, or hang removable peel and stick wallpaper. I love this one from the Wallshoppe. It is Pacifico Palm in Sky Blue from the Nathan Turner Collection.
You can create the focal point by having a robust collection of similar items on a wall. See the example of the image with the wall of matching woven baskets in storage bookcase. The anchor item for the focal wall is the movable library ladder. All these details create immediate attention in the room.
2 . Simplify your Palette
We won't get into color theory and complementary colors right now. One of the easy things to do is to identify 1-2 colors that you want to use as your primary colors. To round out your base palette, use tones and shades of these colors. Next, bringing in shades of white and black as neutrals to fill it in.
Now to give the space a rich and deep sensation, bring in one color that will pop for you. This one extra color that you use is the extra sprinkle of zest to season your comprehensive palette. One suggestion is to make your color pop items like pillows, accessories, or throws. These are useful items to swap out when you want to change the feeling or sensation
3. Err on the side of Less
You don't have to adopt the minimal lifestyle trend, but there might be a chance you have clutter. Look around, is there a growing stack of magazines or books that you plan to get to one day? Time to remedy this. Start again with your critical eye and identify the key big or anchor pieces in your room. Keep these items and move on to the rest. What stays, what finds a new home inside your house, and what will you donate? Add in only what you need to complete the room.
There's a saying in design, "Form follows Function." What do you need to function? Now pick the piece to add to serve the function. Proceed to walk out of the room and then reverse, walk-in. What do you see? What needs to can you add? Are there items that need to shift or moved to a new location? You want to harmonize between the shape, space, and you in the room
4. Use Triangulation
It comes down to Three's Company! If our brain sees arrangements of odd numbers, it processes as more appealing. This is more attractive to our sight. It looks more natural and lively to us. There are many ways to achieve a group of three. One natural-looking grouping of three is similar things, like candle pillars. Another example is three items mounted on a wall.
In our West Elm room example, there are lots of three's going on, check out the three legs of the lamp. Did you notice there are three shapes in the floating side table? When you pair these with a cluster of pictures on a wall, you create an alluring vignette.
Find a room that you want to make-over and try one these tips or all four of them. Look around within your home and re-purpose items from room to room.
Enjoy giving your space a fresh look.