Blog
5 Sep 2013
Interior Design - Where to start
At first glance, interior design seems not so complicated. “Do you need some extra knowledge besides a little aesthetic sense?” you might ask yourself. Well, sure you do! Just like poor construction skills pose a significant risk and may end up hurting someone, so can an improperly executed interior design harm our… eyes. Being a rather artistic activity, of course there is no strict guideline on how to do it, but even art has its rules. When it comes to interior design, here are a few things you should consider before you undertake these activities: Understand construction! You really need to understand how construction works in order to design something that can later be implemented. Artistic minds tend to let their imagination’s run wild and come with concepts that are impossible to go through with. Pragmatic constructors can and will cut your “wings” if necessary. Know your space! Proportion. Scale. Balance. Be careful with the space you have to work with and keep in mind you are designing for people’s comfort not for a magazine cover. Under no circumstances should you place oversized and unnecessary elements is a small space. You should also pay special attention to the balance. Whether you choose a symmetrical or asymmetrical balancing technique, make sure your space is well tied together, and all the elements are either identically mirrored (e.g. one nightstand on each side of the bed) or compensated for with another decorative element (e.g. a vase on one side of your fireplace and a photo frame on the other). Feel your space! Colour. Texture. Rhythm. Harmony. Your space has its own personality. A good way to start figuring out what this may be is to create a mood board. Start with something you really want to feature in your space: a specific texture, colour or object, then gradually and carefully add other colours, textures and accessories to coordinate with what you chose first. Patterns and repetitions are important in setting up a rhythm. You can have some unique focal points, but other than that, you need to create patterns for perfect rhythm and harmony. Don’t forget about lighting! What good is a brilliant design if it’s not brought up by the right lighting? It would be a shame to put so much effort in designing something beautiful and fail because of poor lighting.
