Everyone dreams of a stylish home, where you can socialise, work, have family time, eat, or sleep. The home is where we spend the majority of our time, so it’s important to get it right. This isn’t an easy task for the majority of us, who aren’t interior designers.
You may have lots of ideas about what you want to do with your house, such as colour schemes, key pieces, textures, or basic concepts. But knowing how to incorporate these is something you can easily get wrong.
Luckily there are a few simple rules that can be followed for a better designed interior.
1. Size and Proportion
The first rule of this is considering the space you have at hand. The furniture in the room shouldn’t fill it, or leave too much dull space. The key is getting a balance between the two appropriate to your size. If you fall in love with the centrepiece, such as a dining table, that is just a bit too big, you can play it down with undersized dressers and the rest of the included furniture. You can also position it off centre can help maximise the available space.
2. Space Balance
The next important rule throughout interior designers that you can mimic easily yourself is the rule of balance. Some designers take this more seriously, obsessing with a symmetrical placing of furniture, such as having a chair either side of the window. But you might handle it asymmetrically too, for example a lamp on one end of the table with a selection of ornaments on the other.
3. Contrast
You must ensure that the textures you choose have a good deal of contrast. A sure way of getting a boring looking interior is by having too much of the same texture or colour. For example if you have a leather sofa, try pairing with textured fabric cushions. For heavily patterned wallpaper, a plain floor carpet or floorboards works well.
4. Colour
The same applies to colour. For best results a good and simple idea is to go for two shades of the same colour paired with a neutral. Older ideas might be pairing two contrasting colours with a neutral one, for instance coral and lime with white, for a refreshing and popping vibe. This idea of contrast is also really good for incorporating family treasures. You can have an ornate vase and a simple modern table and they will balance each other out. This rule of contrast goes with the idea of balancing out a room – just as the entire room should have balance, contrast should exist in a smaller area like your sofa too.
5. Rhythm
The hardest rule to follow in interior design might be keeping rhythm throughout the room. Bearing in mind you have to follow all the rules about contrast, balance, and variety to avoid boredom, keeping the concept of rhythm in continuity can be hard. However, there are a few shortcut ways of getting this. One of them is carrying one of your colour is through the room. I would recommend this being a minor colour, not on the walls or floors, and having several smaller pieces of this. Another more challenging thing you can do is have a pattern running through the room. Spots and stripes work well, however, try to make sure that this isn’t overwhelming and use similar colours throughout.
Follow these tips for a near professional look to your home with effortless aesthetics. Don’t worry if you don’t get its perfect, your home environment is somewhere you can continue to change. And whatever you do to your home interior, make sure it reflects your personal style. Above all make it a place where you and your family can enjoy being together and be proud of it when socialising.