Design Essentials

chillibreeze writer — Girija Antin

We depend on the efficiency of the products, spaces and almost everything that we use. These, in turn depend on their particular design. There is a constant need to keep evolving, be it in the design of a tiny needle, clothing, the spaces we live in, the large buildings, magnificent bridges and so on. In this article, we will be discussing a few elements that form the basis for design, concentrating on primarily on the interior design of a home.

All of us want a comfortable home that will be admired by all. Each one of us has a certain idea about the look of our home, its decor and other details. Doing up a home by oneself can be quite intimidating, but not so with a little help. And when the deed is done successfully, the pleasure is immeasurable. There are many resources that can help you kick start the process. The easiest way, perhaps is to consult a professional. But, in case you cannot afford one, you can begin by looking up design magazines or visit furniture showrooms, to get an idea of what is available in the market. This will also give you an idea, of what you want for your home and the related expenses. There are ideas all around us, we only need to observe and recognize them.

While magazines and websites are great for inspiration, a better way to succeed would be to understand a few basic design elements. The challenge is to make our homes comfortable to live in and look great at the same time. Knowing the use of positive and negative spaces, the color wheel, understanding proportions and developing an aesthetic sense can make all the difference. Let’s now look into the rules of interior design...

Positive and negative spaces
We all know that a room will have certain fixed elements like windows and doors. Then it will have elements like furniture and other commodities that will designate this room, say, as a living room or bedroom. The space taken up by the furniture is called the positive space, while the space left for activities around these fixed assets is called the negative space. Negative space is not unused space or an undefined corner.

The basic purpose of these spaces is to determine the amount of space you need for a particular room. Designers use this to help them calculate the rough area of a room or decide on the appropriate furniture size for the space in question.

Proportion
Proportion is the relationship between the whole and its parts based on area, shape, and volume. The area constitutes the length and the breadth, shape is the form of the area (square, rectangular etc.) and volume includes the height, length and breadth of the room. The form and size of furniture and other elements in a room need to be in proportion to the form and volume of the room itself. Therefore, if you have a small standard size living room or bedroom, you need to buy furniture of the standard size too, or else, they will give the room a cramped or congested look and feel.

Color wheel
Talk about getting the house painted, and every one comes up with their favorite colors. So, most of us take the safe way out and end up having a multicolored home (not that there is anything wrong with that) or settle down for a single color with majority votes. While there is no perfect solution to pleasing everyone, you could definitely find the color wheel helpful in tying the colors together. What is a color wheel? It is a circular chart with primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) and secondary colors on it. Secondary colors are, ones that are achieved by mixing the primary colors with each other.

Color can help us change the mood of the whole space. You can give a room a warm and cozy feel, by mixing the warm colors, red and yellow to get shades of orange. On the contrary, if we need to create a soothing and cool feel in the room, we can use white and shades of blue and green.

The color wheel is a great way of experimenting with colors. It is also a fun family activity, especially for the kids. You can find a color wheel in most stores that sell paint, so no problem there. It is the easiest way to choose colors that are appropriate, to create a contrast, or match with another. If a room has odd forms or shapes or even columns jutting in here and there, it can be made interesting by playing with different colors.

Aesthetic sense
Broadly speaking, it is the ability to appreciate art and its various forms. Aesthetic sense is not something that only the artists or designers have in them, it can be developed. Developing an aesthetic sense will help you to picture the function and form of a particular element within a given frame. The more you learn, appreciate and observe different art forms, the more you will be able to use them together. It helps in balancing and composing your ideas and compositions.

Editor's note: Most articles submitted to Chillibreeze go through a selection process. Only 30 percent of submitted articles are accepted for publication on the Chillibreeze.com featured article list. All accepted articles are edited and proofread for glaring errors of punctuation and grammar. Sentence structure is changed in certain cases and sometimes, entire sections are rewritten. If you notice any errors that have slipped through the cracks, do let us know! (Email us at info at chillibreeze dot com).

Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in April, 2011. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.

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—About our writer:

Girija Antin has a bachelor's degree in Architecture and has worked for almost 6 years in the city of Bangalore. She has worked under various architects, on a number of projects involving, architectural planning, interior design and landscape architecture. Currently in the US, she is working as a freelance architect, graphic designer and writer. As for writing, she does not limit herself to design alone and enjoys writing on almost everything, including technical writing, travel articles and research oriented articles.

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