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Tag: Principles of Design

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10 ESSENTIAL TIPS Uncategorized

#5 – It’s NOT About the Stuff. It’s what you DO with the Stuff.

Essential Interior Design Tip #5:

Interior Design is not all about the stuff. It’s what you DO with that stuff.

(Notice I added the word all. Because while it’s not all about the stuff, it is partially about the stuff. Let’s face it, you’ve got to have some stuff to design with!)

This has pretty much been my philosophy ever since I figured out that you can make almost any ordinary object sing if you put it in the right place. Any object can become something special when adding to the balance of a room.

Conversely, the most beautiful and beloved object you own can fall flat when not used properly either as a focal point or a contributor to the overall balance.

What Should You Do With the Stuff? 

In a previous post we talked about how in design there are no rules. But the closest things to rules are Principles and Elements of design. We explored the Principles in some depth, but we really didn’t get into the Elements.

So without going off on a tangent the Elements of design are: Pattern, color, texture, shape, line, and space.

Elements = the stuff!

The stuff provides your patterns, colors, textures, shapes, lines, and resulting space.

Principles = what you do with the stuff!

When the Principles are properly applied to your Elements (stuff) you create a Focal Point and Hierarchy. You create a concept or theme through Unity. You create interest through Variety and Contrast. You create Rhythm. You create proper Scale and Proportion. And MOST importantly you create Balance throughout your space.

  • When you use these Principles in a balanced and functional way to determine where to place your stuff, your room will be a design success.

Notice I added the word functional.  We haven’t really discussed this much. But in order for a room to be successful, it must be functional.

  • Functionality is the unspoken Principle of Design.

It’s such a given that it does not even warrant being listed as a Principle. So remember when creating your space that it must be usably functional as well as visually appealing.

And now for the good news…

Knowing that the success of your design does not hinge on the stuff is comforting as well as freeing. Knowing that success is more about what you do with that stuff should empower you and give you confidence to make your design decisions, especially if you are on a limited budget or feel that you are lacking in the “style” department.

Of course you could be someone who’s just oozing with style. Maybe people are always commenting on your excellent taste. If that’s the case – great! But I’m sure you’ve already figured out that good design is about much more than that.

Which leads us to our next tip…

Essential Interior Design Tip #4 – Don’t Rely On Your Awesome Sense of Style and Keen Eye for Color. 

 

 

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10 ESSENTIAL TIPS Uncategorized

#4 – Don’t Rely on Your Sense of Style and Eye for Color

Essential Interior Design Tip #4:

Don’t rely on your awesome sense of style and keen eye for color. Rely on the Principles and Elements of Design!

(Although I have no doubt that you do indeed possess wicked style and a killer eye for color, don’t think for a minute that’s all you need!)

The Principles and Elements of design are timeless and true. Never trendy. Never subject to change like your taste and preferences. If you’re not familiar with the Principles I wrote about them here and here. And I briefly talked about the Elements here.

Once you understand these Principles & Elements, combine them with your sense of style and eye for color and you’re GOLD!…unless of course you prefer silver!

But don’t forget, before you ever even think about going shopping you need to have a plan in place for how you’re going to apply these P’s & E’s. We will be discussing this more in our last 3 Tips.

But what if I don’t have an awesome sense of style, or any style for that matter?

Impossible! Everyone has their own unique style. Now whether or not it would be considered “awesome” just depends on who you talk to. Besides – who cares?! It’s your home. Your room. Your style. As long as you’re happy with it, that’s all that matters!

And if you’re wondering how to go about finding and defining your style…you’ve come to the right place! That’s the first step in REV’s whole design process! Want to know more about REVealing your own unique style?…then click here.

So stay tuned because this blog is just getting started! Up next…

Essential Interior Design Tip: Dream and Dream BIG!

Oh wait!…I thought of another tip that kind of goes along with #4…

BONUS TIP: Don’t Trust Your Memory or Instincts.  

  • Always be prepared.  Have your plans, samples, and tape measure with you at all times. You may think an item will match or fit, but guaranteed when you get it home it won’t! You’ve heard the saying “Measure twice. Cut once.” This is the design version!

It’s just an additional thought I had after starting this series and I didn’t want to make it “11 Essential Tips!”

 

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RULES of Interior Design Uncategorized

Wait A Minute…You Said There Are No Rules!

By this point you might be thinking: Wait a minute Kim!…

According to your own rules, there’s nothing that you ALWAYS have to do to make a room work. There are “no rules.” But now you’re saying that you ALWAYS have to use these Principles of Interior Design.

Wouldn’t that mean Principles are really just Rules?

No.  And here’s why…

Because a “rule” is a definitive action or non-action, like you must “always DO something” or you should “never DO something.”

The Principles of Interior Design are not actions, they’re feelings.

Feelings that are created through design. Feelings that can vary slightly or greatly between people and cultures. There are no set-in-stone rules for creating these feelings.

However there are several tools that are used in many different ways to evoke them.

These “tools” are better known as “elements” and there are infinite ways to incorporate and combine these elements in order to design a successful space. I’m sure that you are familiar with them, but just in case…

Elements of Interior Design:

Line, Space, Shape, Texture & Value, Color & Light

(We’ll revisit these Elements in more detail in future posts).

Another important tool in the design process, perhaps the most important tool, is the CONCEPT.

You see in a design project, all of the Principles will exist to some degree, but they will not exist equally. You must choose which ones to emphasize and which elements you will use to achieve that emphasis. All of your choices and design decisions should be determined by your concept, which simply put, is the main idea for your space.

When dealing with your personal home,

Your Concept = Your Style.

So the very first thing you should do BEFORE starting any design project is to determine your concept. Define your style!

I hope this all makes sense. What it really boils down to is that all well designed spaces have a sense of order to them. A purpose.

Order can only be achieved by emphasizing certain Principles, determined by your Concept or Style, using the Elements of Design.

The possibilities are endless! That is why I say there is nothing that you ALWAYS have to do, or should NEVER do.

Literally – There are NO RULES!!!

I hope you’ve enjoyed REV’s “Rules” of Interior Design series. Please check out our next series Design vs. Decoration…it’s a good one!

Or sign up with your email above to have new posts sent directly to your inbox. That way you won’t miss a thing! Thanks!

REV-Up! -Kim

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RULES of Interior Design Uncategorized

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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RULES of Interior Design Uncategorized

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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Uncategorized

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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