Principles and Elements of Interior Design

I have written on Interior Design previously. I wrote “The True Art of Successful Interior Design” in April of 2005. I just re-read it. Pretty good. I use words to describe the principles and elements of quality design. I gave written examples to illustrate along the way. That’s all fine but pictures would likely be more useful. Thus, in beginning my blog, I will incorporate two of the things I love to do – design and teach.

My clients know this about me, design and teach, so do my friends and family. Long term clients are quite a bit like family after a while. We get to know each other so well that when I refine, refine, and refine (which really means add to or edit), I smile when I find a piece I know one in the couple will love and other will completely dislike.
I was selecting art for clients the other day. I met with her to review them. I put a ringer in the selections – I knew she would love them and he would not. When she looked at the selections, she purposefully held up the art the former sentence described. She looked at me and smiled and I smiled back. “I love these. _______ would say he could do this scribble so why would he pay for them?” I laughed. “But you knew that didn’t you,” she said. I took them and said, “These go in this pile – the ‘not to show ______’ pile.” She enjoyed that I knew her but that I also knew it was a joint decision and that one would never fly. No worries, the ‘ones’ were in the selection I had for them. They chose my favorite two pieces. Sheer joy.

Another client could not describe what he wanted, or give words to his style when I started working with him. He is a fantastic man. You should hear him describe his home today. He speaks about his home with such elegance it makes me tear up. I didn’t drill him with lingo. He simply looked at some photos with me, told me what he liked and listened – he listened all the time – when we were speaking and when I spoke with others about his home. He listened so intently, he learned everything about the design process, the furnishings, and yes, even about the principles and elements. Now that’s what I call attentive! I wonder if he is still single. I have a girlfriend or two I’d like for him to meet.

I won’t reprint the whole article,“The True Art of Successful Interior Design.” You may read that any time.

For my blog though, I will revisit the principles and elements so we may have a common language when we discuss design as I know we will. I consider these the theory behind quality design. Will knowing these magically make you a good designer or decorator? No. What the theory, I believe, does is help give direction to the creative process. I think of it very much like the psychological theories I used as a therapist. Theory helps to organize and understand information; it helps to formulate hypotheses and structure interventions (or in this case, designs). Oh boy, she’s getting deep. Should I put on some boots? You can stop rolling your eyes now. I actually do believe my background helps me in this profession too, but yes, that is how I think about it. The theory doesn’t tell you what to do. It just informs you. Any who, I’ll use a picture to illustrate components of the principles and elements so hopefully the words and the pictures will jive with you and you’ll put them into practice. Just so you know, I will digress from this ‘serious’ topic from time to time. But for now, let’s get down to business.

Design Fundamentals
The Principles The fundamentals are known to most professionals as the principles of design. They are scale, proportion, rhythm, emphasis, balance, and harmony. These principles evaluate each element in a design (magnificent vs. mediocre – right vs. wrong). When you are making selections and / or arranging furnishings, keep these in mind.

Scale – the entire perspective. The objective with scale is for objects to be alike or harmonious in dimensions or mass.

Proportion – evaluates the relationship or ratio of parts to the whole.

Rhythm – speaks to the flow within a room and throughout your home.

Emphasis – is the important focal point(s) in a room.

Balance – is equilibrium though symmetry (mirror images from a center point), asymmetry (optically varying items from a central point to achieve balance), or radial (equilibrium based on the circle).

Harmony – is creating a feeling of suitability through unifying elements and objects and adding variety for interest and diversity. The objective is to create an agreeable, appealing whole that won’t tire in the long-run.

Design Elements
The elements discussed here are used by artisans of all types — painters, sculptors, photographers, interior designers, etc. They have been discovered and refined over the course of history and are considered elementary and critical to all fine-art. They are space, shape, form, mass, line, texture, pattern, light, and color.

Space – as humans, we need both large and small areas to please our psyche. Both, or the appearance of both, need to be in your home. There also needs to be a comfortable balance and proportion of positive, filled area, and negative, unfilled area. Traffic paths are negative space in a room yet functionally important.

Shape and Form – Shape is the two-dimensional outline while form is the three-dimensional configuration.

Mass – is the actual or optical density of an object.

Line – is used to create width and height, or the appearance of activity, movement, or flow. The psychological effect of line ranges from secure (horizontal line), free or expansive (vertical), action-oriented (angular) to soft and comforting (curved). The most pleasing effect will have a balanced mixture of lines with one taking the lead role. The dominant line will be chosen dependant upon what feeling or image you would like to portrait.

Texture – is the actual physical feel or surface appearance of a furnishing or treatment.

Pattern – is forms arranged in an orderly manner.

Light – is a critical element in all fine-art. General (overall lighting), task (focused lighting), and accent (highlight and sparkle-effect lighting) are important in residential design. Colors, textures, and patterns can be true or altered primarily dependant upon your artificial lighting.

Color – is the most personal and evocative element in design. We all have our favored and least favored color(s) and many people have associations to particular ones. Colors are considered warm (reds, yellows, and oranges), cool (blues, greens, and purples), or neutral (beiges, browns, black, grays, and whites).

Scale, the first principle defined, was the one that went out the window when overstuffed, large scale furniture was all the rage. Folks went out and bought truck loads – seriously - it took several trucks to move it all. Purchases were made without considering the actual scale / dimensions of the room where the furniture would live.

A caveat – as you visit my blog you will come to know I often do caveats – here is my first - I stand in awe or marketing sometimes. I am an interior designer and sometimes I see an ad for something I would usually find distasteful. But add a spin on it that I can relate to, and I’m half way to buying it. I sometimes have to shake my head to bring myself back to reality – it is some what like a deer and headlights I think. That is how I believe much of the overstuffed furniture ended up in places it shouldn’t have.

Can you use large pieces in small rooms – of course! As we go through some pictures, we’ll see how principles and elements made it not only work but be entirely pleasing to the eye.Let’s take a look at my family room. The footprint and dimensions are below. As you can see, it is not a very large room and it has quirks. One of the focal points is the fireplace. A second focal point is a media center we already had and did not want to replace. My goal was to comfortably seat as many folks as possible. It needed to be kid friendly, store blankets, pillows and magazines, manage drinks, and of course, be beautiful. I liked the idea of ottomans for comfort and storage but not so much for drink management. Trays on ottomans are good for food – but drinks – with young kids – not so much.

Here is what I came up with – I positioned the large media cabinet first and balanced it with a large L-shaped sectional such that both focal points (emphasis) can be seen (media and fireplace). I added two storage ottomans, a magazine holder, and an end table with task lighting. What about the drinks? I also built a 5” shelf just below the top of the entire sectional back so drinks may be placed behind the sectional. The shelf is out of sight from view. How did I come up with the depth of the shelf? I took several items and measured them (cereal bowl, coffee cup, and of course, the largest martini glass we own). Five inches could hold all of these items well without subtracting too much space from the room. I have software to aid all my planning – it is imperative to my work. I know most don’t have this readily available but there are free products you can use such as Smartdraw and Sketchup.

There is also graph paper, a ruler, and a pencil. Please, before you do any purchasing, take the time to draw it out. This will save costly mistakes.Here is the family room realized. Our family photo hangs over the fireplace. We all wore chocolate brown for the picture. Hey, I am a designer – that’s what I do.

The sectional was a very important choice – large (it balanced the large media cabinet on the opposing wall) but relatively clean in shape and form and moderately scaled. It needed to be. Something with more mass would have overpowered the room since is practically covers two walls in the space. The ottomans are in proportion with the sectional. I want all those that come into this room feel comfortable, at ease. The media cabinet already had the nice horizontal line I needed, so I added the horizontal lines of the sectional and ottomans. Even though there I plenty of furniture in the room (positive space), there is also ample negative space and clear traffic paths. I also used neutral color on the furniture and walls. The neutrals are shades of the same hue. The sectional has a soft texture devoid of pattern so it is quiet and comfortable.

So I had my main pieces – the largest pieces in the room. In harmony, there is unity and there is variety. I had unity covered with the lines, balance of the large pieces, and the neutral color. Now I needed variety. I took my color palette from art I already had and wanted to use in the room. I positioned them over the large portion of the sectional – a clear view from all angles. I pulled the green and red directly from the art down to the sectional with throw pillows, and then again down to the floor with a green area rug. I selected glass tiles with similar neutrals and the pop green. Now the room was developing. I had a nice rhythm from eye level (art) down to the sectional pillows, and down to the floor (top to bottom). I also had a nice rhythm (using color and pattern) going around the room (side to side) with the pillows as they are positioned all around the sectional with the green being picked up again in the tile. I also added variety with pattern and texture for interest. The pillows and area rug have both. As I did not want to room to be too sleepy, I angled (line - action oriented) the rug. The rug guides the eye to the adjoining sun room, which is a bright and sunny room compared to the family room.

For accessories, I added a tree to the left side of the media cabinet and a large vase with yucca sticks to the right side. These large accents are balanced via scale but add variety because they are different. Red vases sit on the mantel and in the corner on the shelf and the magazine holder, you guessed it, red – more side to side rhythm. Now for the ‘family part’ of the family room – pictures. Pictures, pictures, and more pictures of my daughter and one large family picture over the fireplace. The top of the media cabinet is lined with pictures on stands of Lauren from age 0 to 3. The short wall above the sectional has an arranged pattern of Lauren at age 5. All the pictures are the same size and are framed identically (unity); my daughter provides the variety with her many and sweet facial expressions.

One element we haven’t discussed – light. Light is a critical element in all designs. I could have designed the most magnificent family room, but if it is not properly illuminated, one may not be able to appreciate it (ok, magnificent – that’s a little grandiose but you get what I mean). Lighting is that critical and often overlooked. In this room, I have four recessed lights (general lighting), two pin lights over art on top of the media cabinet flanking the pictures (accent lighting), three tilted pin lights on the large family photo (accent lighting) and one portable lamp on the end table (task lighting). Layers. Layers of lighting to illuminate, to enhance, to focus, to sparkle.

Quick example of light –
Here is glass art I have on top of the media cabinet – accent light off - pretty:

Accent light on – oo la la – no camera tricks here – just me with my little Canon – no flash either time:
Does that help with understanding the principles and elements? Ok, maybe a little drawn out. My hope is that you now have some understanding of these factors and will recognize the language I will use from time to time when we talk about design.

Where did my pieces come from? Both the sectional and ottomans are from Zagaroli – a favorite vendor of mine. Ultrasuede covers the sectional cushions with the frame in chocolate leather. The ottomans are in chocolate leather with an Ultrasuede welt to marry the seating arrangement. Both materials are kid friendly and durable. I do not recall the brand of the media center – we bought it so long ago. Other pieces I used in the room for interest - the end table is from Worlds Away. I love the shape and form of this table. Mine is nickel plated (it comes in different finishes) with mirrored top and shelf; it is very versatile. The magazine holder and the climbing men are from Global Views. The throw pillows and drape fabric is from Robert Allen/Beacon Hill. The area rug is from Fiezy. The fireplace surround is done polished glass subway tile from Reflections at Dal Tile. The portable lamp is from Arteriors and the large floor vase is from Palecek.

A short story – early on I worked briefly with a head-strong client (I can relate to being head-strong – to a certain point). My client built a beautiful townhome and was very excited to furnish it. My client began this process by working with a designer in a very nice store. Then I was brought into the mix. A sectional and ottoman for the main seating area was already selected. I went to the store to look at them. They were enormous! ENORMOUS! I asked if the room had been drawn to scale with the sectional positioned. My client said, “The store designer did that.” Great! “May I see it?” What she showed me was a doodle – really, a doodle – not a scaled room drawing. I have never seen a store designer do that before or since. Usually they are very professional and wonderful to work with. Fortunately, I had measured the room. I stated for the record that the room and sectional were not drawn to scale and needed to be because I was grossly concerned that the very expensive sectional my client was determined to buy would simply not fit. My client looked perplexed. I asked to please, please let me draw it to scale for before ordering this custom piece. I bolded custom – you know why…. one cannot return a custom piece. I drew the room and sectional to scale. It did fit. However, there would not be any traffic path or ability to put anything else in the room what so ever as the sectional would consume the entire room. I drew several alternatives using the same line of furniture but with traffic paths, casegoods, lighting, etc. When I showed them to my client, I was fired. Oh dear. Did I mention my former client was head strong?? I do not know if the sectional was purchased. I truly hope it was not. That would have been a significantly costly mistake. This was years ago but I still think of that every time a see an overstuffed sectional.