For most of us, the concept of interior design often seems complicated, abstract, or something that you have to just do as you go. Some of the top professionals in the industry, however, know that in order to create a design that is both practical and attractive, you have to use a solution-based approach to your design. So whether you are remodeling your own home, building a new one, or simply want to add some color and light to a drab room, this technique can help you realize exactly how you want your space to look and feel.
Solution: Tackle Your Design One Problem at a Time
If you are remodeling, chances are you have identified a problem with the current design of your building or room. Perhaps it is too dark, drafty, echoey, or cluttered. Begin your design by considering the problem that has led you to want to renovate in the first place. How can you lighten up this dark room? How can you make a draft feel more like a breeze? Your answers to these questions may at first feel rather non-specific - use light colors and curtains that make the windows more inviting - but these primary guidelines will help you determine the what, how, and why of the specific elements of your design later on.
It can help to draw small pictures of each solution as you go. When you are considering the lighting in your space, for example, draw a simple floor plan and place the lights where you want them throughout the area. This will help make sure that the light flows smoothly from room to room, and that you won't unintentionally end up with dark corners or a glare on your television. Consider reflective light as well; should you, for instance, place a mirror in a cozy corner or use a glossy paint finish on the walls? If you are building a new home, consider carefully where the windows will be placed so as to allow the most sunlight in areas where you want it.
Solution: Identify Specific Areas
A major mistake in any interior design scheme is to try to design one room at a time. Instead, target specific areas throughout the space. Even a one-room design is likely to have separate areas. Identify which parts of your design space will be used as children's areas, eating areas, entertainment areas, visitor areas, private areas, and so on. Some of these will overlap, which is fine. The goal is to create a design for each area, so that the tone of the visitor area will be harmonious throughout the living room, dining room, and outdoor living space. If you have kids, it can be helpful to designate a children's area in several different rooms, so that when their toys migrate onto the porch it can easily feel natural rather than like an intrusion in an adult space.
Solution: Consider the Feeling You Want to Evoke
When a visitor steps into your home for the first time, how do you want that person to feel? Like they have walked into a warm den or a cool garden-like home? Or merely underdressed in a vast and unnecessarily impressive house? Consider both the feeling that you want for the house as a whole, and for each individual area, then determine how you can create and maintain that feeling. The use of warm hues, lots of fabrics, and interesting textures can create a more intimate space, while cool colors and simple patterns invite visitors to relax and enjoy a breath of fresh air.
Solution: Put a Special Focus on Transitions
You will probably have a fairly clear idea of the tones, textures, and furniture styles that you will want by now. Before you start buying cushions and paints, however, think about the transitions that will have to be made throughout the space. Transitions should be either be smooth and pleasant, or in certain cases, abrupt. A poorly thought-out transition can feel awkward, no matter how well the space is designed.
The transition between outside and in is the first that visitors - and you, for that matter - will experience, so it should flow smoothly. Utilizing the area outside of your front door as an inviting living space can really help the transition flow, especially when certain design elements seem to seep outside from within. Choose one or two elements to create a visual link between areas to keep the flow smooth. If you want to feel like you are stepping into another world between areas, for instance from the public living rooms to the more private hallway that leads to your bedrooms, create a visual barrier between the two areas. Different colors and floor patterns can break up a space, while bead curtains, cloth hangings, and of course doors create a more definite barrier between areas.
Solution: Look at Individual Rooms
Without once trying to completely design one room by itself, you will likely already know what you want to do at this stage, for the most part. You may have even discovered some possibilities that you had never before considered, and thought of ways to make the most efficient use of your space. Now you can finally look at each room individually, and tweak the design scheme that you have created to fit each room. Just make sure that every decision you make goes in line with the solutions that you created in the first step, matches with the feeling that you want in the area(s) that each particular room occupies, and doesn't destroy the transitions you have created between areas.
When you follow these steps, this solution-based design system will help you design a space that is efficient, beautiful, and accomplishes everything you want it to. Even more, it will all seem to happen naturally, and you will understand the why behind every element of your design scheme.
