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It’s ALL About Balance!

It really is ALL about balance – in design and in life! Think about it for a minute…

Can you think of anything where balance is not an important element?

It is essential in

  • Music
  • Food
  • Politics
  • Finances (you know – the dreaded balanced budget)
  • Art and Photography
  • Sports
  • Stories and Books
  • I could go on, but you get the point.

You always hear self-improvement gurus talking about balance in your life.

Balance between work and home, spiritual and physical, financial and social. You’ve probably experienced that guilty feeling when seeing these six spokes on the “wheel” of life and having to admit that you’re woefully out of balance in at least one of these areas (in my case more)!

Balance is also critical to our physical well-being. You know if you have an inner-ear imbalance it will make you feel dizzy or “off”. That’s why,

Balance is hands-down THE most important Principle of Interior Design.

Without it your room will just feel “off”.

Balance is an inherent quality within all of the other Principles of design in that they just don’t work without it.

For example:

We discussed that a successful room should have common elements to tie everything together (Unity) but in order for it to not be boring, you have to introduce something unexpected to liven it up (Variety). And that’s the trick – there has to be balance between Unity and Variety. Too much of either one is unsettling.

Every room needs a focal point, but it also needs a counter-point to balance it out. Otherwise the room will feel “heavy” on one side. If elements are arranged in such a way that they are out of balance, this will disrupt the rythm of the room as well. Your eye will get stuck on anything that’s out of balance, throwing off the sequence or flow of the room.

You’ve no doubt heard designers say that the scale or proportion of something isn’t right. That’s because there are two or more elements in the room that are not relating well to each other. They are not balanced.

In design, balance is all about “visual weight” and every item and element in your room has this weight.

Therefore, everything in your room needs to be arranged so that the visual weight is evenly distributed or balanced.

There’s a reason why you shouldn’t put a big, bulky, dark-colored sofa next to a petite, little, wooden, white chair. They are not in scale with one another and would feel unbalanced.

If the two are next to each other, assuming there are no other elements to help balance them out, your mind processes them like they are on a teeter-totter.

The visual heaviness of that sofa makes it feel like that little chair is about to be catapulted into outer-space. Not exactly a place you’re going to want to sit!

So, I hope I’ve given you a glimpse into how imperative Balance is to the design of your space.

Through this blog we will dive in deeper with more examples of how to achieve visual balance and we will explore the different kinds of balance: Symmetrical, Assymetrical, and Radial in future posts.

The next post will wrap up our series (for now anyway) on the “Rules” of Interior Design. But before we go there, I have a feeling that some of you might be thinking that I’ve totally contradicted myself!

On one hand I claim that there are no rules, and on the other I turn around and spout off all of these Principles saying they must be used to have a successfully designed room.

You’re probably wondering why I don’t consider these Principles to be “rules”. Especially if I’m saying that you must ALWAYS use them…

And didn’t I just have a whole post where I went-off on designers making ridiculous assertions that you must “always” do such-and-such?

Well yes I did…but of course I can explain why I seem to be saying two different things, and why Principles are not actually rules. So check out the next post where I explain it all. Until then…

REV-Up! -Kim

 

 

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Principles of Design – The Closest Things to Rules

Today I want to talk a little more about the Principles of Interior Design that I eluded to in my last post when I revealed my Top 5 Rules of Interior Design.

In case you’ve forgotten, here are the first three:

#1 – There are no rules!
#2 – Rules are meant to be broken.
#3 – The closest you’ll come to “rules” for interior design are the Principles of Design.

Let me back up a little here because while I don’t believe in any “Rules of Design”, I do believe in the certain “Truths” of design.

These truths are better known as “Principles of Design” and a space cannot be successful without them.

So given their importance, let’s discuss what these Principles are and what they mean. Depending on where you look, this list can vary slightly. For our purposes I will list the Principle and any other name that I’ve seen used to describe it.

  • Unity (Harmony) / Variety (Contrast)

I can give you a really bland definition of Unity like the “…arrangement of elements in an artistic work so that each contributes to the main theme“* but that’s not how I would actually explain it, or how you probably want to hear it. And I’m pretty sure that you basically already get what it means. But just in case, I’ll put it this way:

Unity means that there has to be something in your room (and/or your whole house) that ties everything together. Some sort of common element. (We will explore the various Elements of Interior Design in future posts).

However, even though it’s the opposite of Unity, Variety is also included in this Principle because without it your space will be BORING!!!

In other words, don’t make everything “matchy-matchy”!

  • Rhythm (Arrangement)

The way in which you arrange elements in a space should create some kind of rhythm, or sequence. Rhythm is most often achieved by repetition and contrast. Both will create movement. When done properly, they keep the eye moving throughout the space in a pleasing and rhythmic sort of way.

  • Emphasis (Focal Point, Hierarchy)

Now I know you’ve heard of that all-important “focal point”. Every room’s gotta have one! There can be more than one (especially if there’s more than one way to enter the room) but they should not compete with or take away from the main focal point. That’s where Hierarchy comes into play. Every element within a space has a certain level of importance which you dictate through your design decisions. I like this explanation:

“…hierarchy occurs throughout an arrangement and reflects a complex series of decisions, which grant the totality its character. Hierarchy grants the room its key moments of importance.“* Again, not how I would have put it, but much more eloquent!

  • Scale & Proportion

These two are by far the most complex Principles and although they are different, in interior design we often use the terms interchangeably. I think that’s okay because both are about comparing at least 2 objects. With Scale you are dealing more with comparing size, and with Proportion you are dealing with mathematical ratios…WAKE UP!

I know this is turning into a snooze fest! The important thing to remember is that objects in a space ARE going relate to each other. It’s up to you to make sure that they relate properly, and the best way I know to do that is through the Principle of Balance…

  • Balance

By far, this is my FAVORITE Principle, and I don’t think you can use any of the other Principles successfully without it.

That’s why it has its very own “Rule”:

Rule #4 – The MOST important Principle of Interior Design is BALANCE.

I will explain this in much more detail in my next post.

One more thought that I want to leave you with,

When you design your room, you are designing an experience. You are NOT designing for a photo shoot.

A room is not meant to be stared at from a fixed point. It is made to be experienced sequentially. You and your friends and family will be walking around in the space and viewing it from a variety of different angles. It’s important to remember this so that you create a pleasing atmosphere, not just a pretty vignette.

That right there is probably the biggest difference between Design vs. Decoration (click here to start exploring that difference).

I hope you’re enjoying this series for REV’s “Rules” of Interior Design. To have more Design REVelations delivered straight to your inbox, leave your e-mail above and receive your FREE printable of REVdesign’s 3 Stage | 6 Phase Process.

REV-Up! -Kim

*Quotes taken from “The Interior Dimension: A Theoretical Approach to Enclosed Space” by Joy Monice Malnar and Frank Vodvarka

 

 

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Top 5 “Rules” of Interior Design

In our last post (which you can read here) I told you the Top 2 Rules of Interior Design are

#1 – There are no rules!

#2 – Rules are meant to be broken

Before we move on to the last 3 rules, I had promised to tell you why, if there are no rules, designers on TV and in magazines are always telling you that there are. So here goes…

Because even if they use the word “rule” what they really mean is “tip, trick, key, secret, etc…” They are merely suggestions of what might work in your space. It’s possible that they have their own personal rules. Maybe it’s their “signature” style or something they always do. But I tell you what,

I cringe every time I hear a designer use the word “always” (which implies “rule”) because I just don’t believe it’s true.

For example, I recently heard a designer on TV say that you should “always have live plants in your room.” Now I’m not arguing about whether live plants are a good thing or a bad thing. I’m just saying that they are not a “must” an “always” or a “rule”. The reason they’re not is because you can have a successful room without them. You can also include them and your room still be an epic failure!

And while live plants do make for great photos they are often not very practical in a real life, everyday scenario. Those pretty, green things demand attention! So, while I agree that using live plants is a good “tip” for achieving maximum visual impact, I do not agree that you ALWAYS have to use that tip to create a successful room. Therefore, it’s not a RULE…and if you think it is, then just remember that rules are meant to be broken!

Now that we’ve cleared that up, here are the remaining 3 “rules” to round out the Top 5:

Rule #3: The closest thing you’ll get to a rule is a Principle of Design.

I will list and discuss these Principles in more depth in my next post.

Rule #4: The MOST important Principle of Design is BALANCE.

After we’ve defined all of the Principles, I’ll give you my take as to why “Balance” is the most important.

Rule #5 – The design of your space is always about you!

Yes I said, “always.” So I gave in and added a real, “always” rule. I just broke Rule #1, but hey – that’s OK, because I was just following Rule #2!

Seriously though, I hope you’re getting the point that in design there are certainly things you can and should do in your space, and I fully intend to address them through this blog. I just don’t want you getting too hung up on them!

Don’t go buy something black solely because you once heard someone say that “every room should have something black in it.”

Although I admit that I do like that tip – remember – it’s just a tip! Until next time!

REV-Up! -Kim

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The #1 Rule of Interior Design

I want you to pay very close attention here because you NEVER want to break this rule! This is the #1 Rule, THE biggest secret of Interior Design…

Rule #1: There are NO RULES!!!

Now before you write me off, please let me explain. The reason there are no rules is because every room, every project is different. What works in one space may or may not work in another. Not only that but there’s always more than one solution to creating a successful space. To me, the word “rule” means something that you must obey EVERY time, in EVERY situation. In design that’s just not possible. That’s why there are no rules.

For those of you who are sticklers for rules and just can’t fathom the thought of not having that kind of structure to guide you, then this rule is just for you…

Rule #2: Rules are meant to be broken!

In other words, if you are a very structured person that loves and needs rules, go ahead and feel free to break Rule #1 and create your own rules, or follow someone else’s. But maybe we should just call them “guidelines” — it’s easier to go against a guideline, they’re a little more lax…suggestions really. Seriously though, I want to reinforce the fact that there is not a single thing that you can do every time in every situation that will always work.

So that’s it – those are the rules. Easy enough right?!

Now you might be saying to yourself,

“Come on! That can’t be it. Without rules how can you bring order to chaos? And if there are no rules then why are designers on TV and in magazines always claiming there are?”

Well I’ll tell you why…in my next post. Plus I’ll add three more “rules” to round out the Top 5 Rules of Interior Design. Confused? Curious? Go check it out!

REV-Up! -Kim

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