Office Interiors

Interior Design Explained

A well designed interior space installs pride in ownership and promotes a higher sense of well being amongst the people who live there.
When designing the interiors of your home, it is important to choose elements that reflect your personal style. Putting all the pieces together can sometimes be overwhelming.
Outlined here, are a few basic principles of interior design to help you in planning your home, step by step.

A COMMON THEME

The house, comprising of all its rooms is one single entity, which is linked together by corridors and stairways. A common theme running throughout the house, celebrates its unity. This does not mean that different styles cannot be used in different areas, but there should be a sense of continuity in all the spaces, that make them parts of a whole. This unity can be achieved by using the same wall color, pattern or interior style. Indeed, choosing the main color scheme is a good point to start from.

COLOR

As a basic element of design, color is what ties an interior environment together. Color has a great impact on the visual balance of the space because it has the influential ability to inspire emotions, affect appetite, vision and sexuality. Due to the natural or psychological association that colors trigger, it is important to understand what a particular color could convey.

Colors can be warm [reds, yellows, oranges] or cool [blues and greens] and could manipulate the atmosphere of the space, to make it appear fresh or vibrant or feminine etc. A color wheel is a useful tool for choosing a palette. The following link has an online color generator that can be quite helpful in deciding a scheme for your home http://www.wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html

International paint manufacturer, Dulux has interesting online tools, to help choose the right color for your interiors and exteriors.

BALANCE AND HARMONY

Balance is created by equally distributing all the visual elements in a space. This can be created either symmetrically, which is more common or asymmetrically. To achieve a symmetrical balance, you would need to place and repeat the same objects on either side of a vertical axis; like placing the same bedside lamps on either side of the bed. The axis itself is either an imaginary line or a visual reference drawn from a larger object or wall, already present in the room.

The existing shape of the room, placement of windows and doors and other immovable elements usually act as guidelines in defining this vertical axis. Essentially, balance is a result of dividing the room into two and designing each half identically, so as to maintain equilibrium in weight. In the modern context, with increased individuality and a less-than-before inclination to conform, it is more common to find asymmetrical design schemes, wherein unalike objects are clubbed together and distributed with equal visual weight age.

Even though it is more difficult to achieve, an asymmetrical balance exudes a casual sensibility for the most part and if done well, can deliver a sense of order. Having said that, most of today’s minimalistic, contemporary interiors are based upon asymmetrically balanced, design schemes.

Harmony as a definition is the pleasing arrangement of parts, and as such, is the first step towards creating comfort, both of the physical and the visual aspect of the living environment. This can be accomplished by repeating certain visual elements or by combining elements that complement each other through scale or color.

SCALE AND PROPORTION

A space that has disproportionate objects can look quite awkward. The proportion and scale of the objects in relation to each other and to their environment is of considerable importance, when bringing them into a single space. The objects’ size in relation to the human figure is also an essential criterion in creating visually, functionally and ergonomically efficient spaces.

RHYTHM

The perceived sense of movement, usually created when the eye recognizes and follows a regulated pattern is called Rhythm in design. As a principle, rhythm can be used to being a sense of continuity and flow or even its exact opposite, depending on the space.

FOCAL POINT

One or more focal points in a room are used with the intention of drawing attention to a particular niche in the room, which could be anything from an interesting piece of furniture to a feature wall holding a vibrant artwork or a fireplace. All the other elements of the room are linked to the focal point through the color scheme and style.

Contact