Create Memorable Home Spaces With These Interior Design Concepts

by Ralph Trayfalgar

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Before you read this article, you might see interior design as this wonderful combination of tangible art and intangible magic. Many people will in fact agree that interior design is quite magical, as trying to do it yourself without an understanding of how or why certain designs work within a space can be very difficult.

But much like the magic you see performed on stage or elsewhere, the magic of interior design is all founded on concepts that have been well studied, researched, and understood. In this article, we will be peeking through the curtains and shedding light on the magic of interior design so you can be able to use this knowledge to sprinkle your own magic on the spaces in your own home.

Size, Space

One of the most important challenges to tackle when planning a design for a space is how much space you have available to work with in the first place. Unless the furniture you own is invisible, any and all of the objects you will be placing in a room will take up space. For example, although that sofa you saw looks and feels great, it could be way too big for the room you'll be placing it in, which will limit you not only in how freely you can move through the area but also in what other objects you can place in the space as the sofa dominates the room.

It is very important, then, that you carefully plan out the kinds of furniture and fixtures you will be placing in a space in order to maximise the functionality of the space while still leaving enough room for you and other people to move and interact freely within the space.

This challenge gains an additional layer of complexity if you live in a studio apartment, condo, or some other residence where space is at a premium. You would need to think outside the box to make efficient use of what little floor area you have; a good example is to smartly tuck away large furniture from storage shelves and cabinets to sofas and even entire beds in the wall to open the area back up for other purposes.

As a general rule, you would want to always keep the layout and size of the room in mind as you pick out your pieces to help you stay aware of how much space you have left, and leave as much free space as you can.

Light

Be sure to keep in mind what kind of lighting a space has while you pick our your pieces. This is important as different tones and strengths of light will interact with different colours and textures in different ways. For example, you might consider adding a large mirror to help reflect and spread light across a room. At the very least, of course, you would want to have a generous amount of lighting

Texture

As we've mentioned, different textures interact differently with different light sources, so it is important to be aware of what textures you have in a space. In addition, textures are also useful for adding visual interest to a certain area.

As an example, using textured stone tiles on a part of the wall helps it stand out from the rest and draws the eyes to that area. This is useful if you want to draw attention to a painting or other decoration.

Textures also help strengthen the thematic elements of a space, such as the use of wood and strategically placed plants to add an earthy touch.

Colour

Colour is likely one of the main reasons why many people have such trouble with interior design. This is because, as a designer, you basically have free reign over what colours you want to see in the space you're working on.

The range colours you have at your disposal are quite literally as broad as the eye can see, with even more ways that they can be mixed, matched, and put together. With all of these choices available to you with none of them entirely wrong, how would you go about selecting a colour scheme for your space?

Luckily, there are ways to apply a method to the madness – and one such method that we will tell you about is in fact quite easy to do. First, pick a bold, vivid colour like a deep red or a royal blue. This will be your theme colour. Next, pick a few more colours that would work well with your first colour, but these should be a bit more faded or neutral. These will be your supporting colours.

Your last step is to choose your fixtures that fit this colour scheme. The key to making this work is balance, making sure that there isn't too much of one or the other colour. A good idea would be to have your neutral supporting colours on larger furniture such as your upholstery and your surfaces, as this would create a sort of canvas that is easy on the eyes and also helps to make your bolder theme colours stand out more.

Taste

Like many other forms of artistic expression, interior design is only really limited by your own taste and creativity. There is nothing explicitly stopping you from choosing one design, colour, shape, or texture over another – and it is that lack of constraints and restrictions that at times makes interior design so difficult for those who are looking to dive into the deep end, and why great interior designers can make their work seem almost magical.

But as we've discussed throughout this article, there are many concepts that interior designers use to make their selection process easier and faster, and we hope that by reading this, you too can apply these ideas to help you find the colours, textures, shapes, lights, and forms that work best for the spaces in your home.