A Misunderstood Profession: Interior Design
Define your career. If you are a doctor, you diagnose and treat peoples’ ailments. If you are a hairdresser, you cut, colour, perm, and style hair. If you are a police officer, you uphold the law, investigate crimes, and in general protect the citizens of the district in which you work. Most careers can be at least briefly described by almost anyone. If you have one of those careers, you are very lucky.
Before I entered the work force and opened my own design firm, I never would have imagined that I would be getting calls to mend curtains, remove stains from carpets, find out why one bulb in a chandelier will not work… I am an interior designer — I design interiors; but I can recommend a seamstress, carpet cleaning company, electrician… Then the dreaded question comes, “What do you mean you design interiors?”
Once-upon-a-time-ago I thought that to be an easy question to answer. Somehow, I now find it easier to explain to a child why the grass is green.
Rather than trying to define interior design, I have taken to explaining the process of designing an interior.
I analyze, ask questions, draw, review the budget, draw some more while asking more questions. Slowly, what started off as sketches develop into floor plans and other technical drawings. Some of the drawings get coloured in. I help my clients make informed decisions regarding the use of space, materials, products, colour, lighting, layout, construction methods, other professionals… The drawings/plans then go to contractors and specialty contractors. I review the submitted process with my clients — one submission is higher, but that is not necessarily bad because the others are each missing things. A contractor is selected, the contract signed and the work begins; I’ll be there routinely while the work is in progress. I basically act as a representative on my clients’ behalf, as well as a protector to my own design. Time schedules are reviewed frequently, problems that arise are handled in such a way that my clients may later know the solution but not the headache involved to understand and work out the problem. The work is wrapping up, only the finishing touches are left but I am already preparing a list of things that have to be finished, repaired or touched-up.
What had been a noisy, dirty, smelly construction site has now fallen quiet and already been cleaned. I walk around looking at and examining the full-size, real thing of all the drawings I had done weeks, if not months, ago. Back at the office, I edit the deficiency list started a few days before and send it to the contractor and clients. The job is soon completely finished, but my work is still not done.
My clients call, happy with the finished space. There are some last minute questions concerning maintenance of some of the new items, where to find certain decorative things and accessories that suddenly have importance, placement of these things, and so on.
About two months later those clients are likely to call again. The voice on the other end sounds either a bit annoyed or even slightly panicked. The tile grout is crack in one area on one wall. It’s probably just because everything has had the time to settle; I’ll come by to see it, then contact the contractor.
Define my career. I am an interior designer. I am an analyst, an artist, an educator, an interrogator, a project manager, a site supervisor, a purchaser, a space planner, a specifier, a decorator, a technician, a draftsperson, a troubleshooter…
But can I help a client plan an outdoor project? Can I design a cabana or gazebo for a client’s yard? Can I design custom furniture or lighting? Work with other professionals to provide technical drawings for things that do not fall into the scope of work of an interior designer? Work with clients and their real estate agent to help in the selection of the perfect home or commercial space to meet their needs? Provide consultation services to do-it-yourselfers? Handle the enlargement of a building? Work on new constructions as well as renovations? Plan the enlargement or relocation of a kitchen or washroom? Do I know the building code? Can I help obtain renovation permits from the municipality? Design spaces for use by people with physical disabilities?… Yes, and more.
In a rush, I sometimes describe interior design as the career that fills the gap between architect and decorator, but the accuracy in that statement is something even I have debated. So I am still left without a solid definition of my own career.
Principles of Interior Design
Whether you are working with existing furnishings and fabrics or “starting from scratch” with an empty room, you should always use the elements and principles of design as a guide in choosing everything. The elements are your tools or raw materials, much like paints are the basics to a painter. The elements of design include space, line, form, color, and texture. The principles of design relate to how you use these elements. The principles of design are balance, emphasis, rhythm, proportion and scale, and harmony and unity.
Principle #1: Balance
Visual equilibrium in a room is called balance. It gives a sense of repose and a feeling of completion. A well-balanced room gives careful consideration to the placement of objects according to their visual weight. The elements of line, form, color and texture all help determine an object’s visual weight, which is the amount of space it appears to occupy. Balance also refers to how and where you place the elements (line, form, color and texture) within a room. To maintain balance, try to distribute the elements throughout the room.
o Formal balance, often referred to as symmetrical balance, creates a mirror image effect.
o Informal balance uses different objects of the same visual weight to create equilibrium in a room. It is more subtle and spontaneous and gives a warmer, more casual feeling.
Principle #2: Emphasis
Emphasis is the focal point of the room. The focal point should be obvious as you enter the room; it is the area to which your eye is attracted. Whatever is featured, as the center of interest -a fireplace, artwork or a window treatment framing a beautiful view – must be sufficiently emphasized so that everything else leads the eye toward the featured area. You can add emphasis to a natural focal point or create one in a room through effective use of line, form, color and texture.
Principle #3: Rhythm
Rhythm supplies the discipline that controls the eye as is moves around a room. Rhythm helps the eye to move easily from one object to another and creates a harmony that tells the eye everything in the room belongs to a unified whole. Rhythm is created through repetition of line, form, color or texture. It can also be created through progression. Progressive rhythm is a gradual increasing or decreasing in size, direction or color.
Principle #4: Proportion and Scale
Size relationships in a room are defined by proportion and scale. Proportion refers to how the elements within an object relate to the object as a whole. Scale relates to the size of an object when compared with the size of the space in which it is located.
Principle #5: Harmony and Unity
A well-designed room is a unified whole that encompasses all the other elements and principles of design. Unity assures a sense of order. There is a consistency of sizes and shapes, a harmony of color and pattern. The ultimate goal of decorating is to create a room with unity and harmony and a sense of rhythm. Repeating the elements, balancing them throughout the room, and then adding a little variety so that the room has its own sense of personality accomplishes this. Too much unity can be boring; too much variety can cause a restless feeling. Juggling the elements and principles to get just the right mix is a key to good design.
Interior Design Tips For Smaller Living Rooms
Living room in every home generally has the largest volume. The simple reason behind this is a living room is considered as a “gateway” to all other internal spaces. But in case of an apartment block in crowded city, scarcity of space is an issue resulting in compact architectural planning. This gives rise to apartments with bare minimum spaces.
Whatever be the case we can make minor changes to internal design and presentation to create a look and feel of a bigger living room.
There is one very important thumb rule when it comes to playing with internal spaces. The more light you will allow to enter a room, the more it will be perceived as a big room as far as volume is concerned. Also if you use brighter color shades that will help a uniform and smooth reflection of light equally in all the corners of the living room, it will be easier and effortless transition from small to big
room perception.
There are certain points we can consider here.
1) Avoid using heavy furniture such as big stuff sofas, wardrobes or bookshelves that have closed shutters. Instead if you use sofas with sleek frame (like the one in bamboo furniture) this will create more transparency and will help in perception of more space. Also storage units such as TV unit, book shelves if kept open will reveal more wall surface behind them and reduce the “bulky” look.
In an interior space that is empty the perception of “small or big” is usually decided depending upon the dimensions of the space. The volume of the space defined by the boundaries of walls, floor and ceiling defines the space. The openings in the walls further help in reducing the bulkiness of the space. Next when the furniture fits in its place the importance or influence of the walls reduces and all
attention gets focused on the furniture facades.
That’s why it is necessary to use sleek furniture in smaller rooms, that will help in revealing the true nature of a space.
2) Allow more light to enter the living room by using light curtains. Instead of using heavy looking “valances” use simple and if possible semi transparent curtains that are just enough to reduce glare that might be caused because of direct sunlight.
3) Use brighter color schemes commonly known as “hot” color schemes. These create a very good transmission and reflection of natural as well as artificial light inside the living room.
There is one more different approach to defining the perception of the living room (or any interior space) and that’s the empty volume left behind after all the furniture and other accessories have been fitted. Because anything in our living world is always “relative”. The perceived volume is always relative to the empty volume that is normally used for circulation. The more empty volume you get, the bigger the room will look.
This also applies with transmission of light in all the spaces. The more you can get inside the room better it is for the healthy habitat inside the living room.
I hope this article was informative and will help you understand the concept of smaller and bigger perception of internal spaces.
Copyright Shrinivas Vaidya