Create a Mood ~ Design a Room

What is the feeling of your room?

In spite of the actual size of your room, there are many room design techniques available to you in helping to create a sense of spaciousness or coziness - depending on your personal style. Enjoy these tips on ways to design a room with your personal style in mind.

You want it spacious...

You love the wide open spaces and want to bring the outside in. You may prefer a contemporary room design and think of your personal decorating style as "light and airy". Here are some tips on achieving that sense of spaciousness when you design a room.

Lighting

To create a feeling of largeness when designing a room, you will want to eliminate the shadows that tend to slice a room up into smaller spaces. Work on lighting the room with a soft, even light. Avoid ceiling lights as they tend to make the ceiling feel lower. Diffused, ambient lighting will tend to enlarge the design of the room.

Color

Soft colors and monochromatic color schemes are popular styles of room design. Use cream, beige, gray or cool pastels on your walls and floors to make them recede. The ceiling should always be the lightest color in the room, when designing.

Textures

Keep your surfaces free of heavy textures. Smoother surfaces tend to reflect more light and make the room feel larger. Avoid heavy textured flooring designs. Choose tile over patterned or textured carpeting when you design a room. Reflective and shiny surfaces such as mirror and chrome also can be used effectively in room design.

Patterns

Limit the use of patterns in the room design to create a more airy feeling. The idea is not to stop the eye as it travels across the room. A typical application of a pattern might be to reserve it for an accent piece; pillows and/or accessories might be a good design choice.

Furniture

Selection and placement of furniture in room design is crucial in defining the space. Keep the largest pieces against the walls whenever possible. Choose furniture colors that are the same or similar design to those selected for the walls and floors. Select pieces that stand off the floor on legs and are made of materials that reflect or let light through. And above all, use as few furniture pieces as possible in the room to avoid an over-crowding room design.

You want it cozy...

Your room, your nest. You want to be enveloped by it. Surrounded by its warmth and comforted by its inviting spaces. Here are some things to consider when creating more intimate room space.

Lighting

Design spaces through the use of directed light. The shadows that will result will help visually eliminate those areas. Lighting from the ceiling will seem to lower it. A reading lamp or down-shaded lamp will cast light only in its relative vicinity. Use incandescent rather than halogen or florescent lamps for a warmer glow, when designing a room.

Color

Choose strong colors for your walls and floor in your room. This room design technique will tend to bring them in closer towards one another. A dark floor with walls of brown or deep red, blue or green tones will help create the feeling of a smaller, cozier space.

Textures

Heavy, soft textures add warmth to a space. Faux fur or hand knitted throws on a sofa, plush pile carpeting and draperies are all textural elements to consider in room design. Use rougher textures for the hard elements in the room; iron instead of chrome, brick instead of glazed tiles.

Patterns

The use of pattern in a room can also lend a sense of coziness to the space. Oriental rugs and printed wallpapers, patterned upholstery fabrics - used alone or in combinations; the more patterns in a room, the smaller it will feel. The subject of mixing patterns in a room will be covered at some future time. Suffice it to say, care must be taken when combining patterns in the design of a room. The rule of thumb, especially in a smaller space is "Don't overdo it."

Furniture

Choose dark finishes and fabrics to create a sense of the piece being larger than it actually is. Heavy textured fabrics and large patterns will add a cozy feeling to a sofa or chair. Place pieces away from the wall and use tall pieces to divide and define smaller spaces within a room for greater intimacy.

More information on home design