How To Give a Room a Designer Feel

Have you ever wonder why a room planned by an interior designer feels so different?

What is the key that you are missing in your home?

Image credit: @Loloirugs on Instagram

A room should be planned in many aspects, such a function, style, color scheme, textures, lighting, just to name a few.

But, there are two very basic points to start with: scale and balance.

Scale

The scale is the relationship between the piece of furniture and the room.

The basic rules here are a big room needs big furniture while a small room needs small furniture.

Here are some examples of how the size of the piece impacts the whole room, for good or for not:

This table is too small for this big of a room

This looks like a nice sized table for this room

If you are redecorating a room at home, ask yourself if there is anything too big or too small for your room.

Balance

While checking the scale is quite simple, the balance gets more interesting.

Balance is the KEY.

Here are the steps to achieve balance in the room:

1. Divide the room into quarters, setting some middle lines.

2. Avoid blocking doors, openings or windows.

3. Start with placing your biggest piece (i.e. sofa in a living room, bed in your bedroom) based on the shape of the room.

4. Try placing this piece on the middle line.

5. Establish the axis of the room.

And this is where you get the touch of a designer: the eye should carry from the floor to the ceiling, to the opposite wall, getting another piece or architectural structure to balance on the other side.

Hopefully, a picture will help:

The sofa is in the middle of the back wall of the living room. The back window carries the eye to the ceiling, all the way to the opposite wall, where you find the artwork, and then get down to the fireplace. Great balance!

This room is pretty symmetrical, but there is lacking something on the right wall, over the sofa. Also, the side table on the left adds more visual weight on this side. Almost there!

The bed is placed in the middle of the back wall. The artwork carries your eye to the ceiling. The fan ties everything together. The dresser on the opposite wall balances the whole room out. Good!

Final note

You won't always work with a perfectly symmetrical room, which will make things easier.

Some rooms are harder than others, with openings, doors, stairs or fireplaces that are not centered. This can be a bigger challenge, but everything has a good fix.

Pictures source: Zillow