Posted
March 5, 2010 by
erin under
Design Elements Balance is VERY important in a great room design! It gives the person in the space a sense of calm and peace. There are two different types of balance:
Asymmetrical Balance and Symmetrical Balance.
Symmetrical Balance is very balanced and even in nature. It has a sense of symmetry and many times is much like a mirror image. If you take half the room and mirror it, it will look the exact same! Symmetrical balance is very easy to design and is great for a beginner!
Asymmetrical Balance is just that, asymmetrical. It uses different elements of design like color, texture, and size variations to appear balanced, even though it’s not a symmetrical mirror image. Asymmetrical balance is a little more difficult to balance out but can be done with a little practice.
Here are some examples and my explanations of how they are balanced:
This one is almost symmetrical, but not quite, therefore I’m labeling it Asymmetrical. The left side has three different similar colored objects (picture frame, small yellow vase, small yellow bowl) that balance out the two darker objects (green frame, pine cone) of the right side.
This is a great example of asymmetrical balance. In this photo the artwork on the mantle is not symmetrical. The white and black accessories, though they take up much more space than the orange arrangement, are balanced well. By choosing the white candlestick, it blends into the wall and feels less visually heavy than it really is. Even the furniture is asymmetrically balanced. The large white sofa balances well with the smaller, darker wood chairs and end table.
This (besides the little purple orchid) is a great example of symmetrical balance. It’s perfectly balanced between the matching end tables, lamps, and single pillow to add a nice focal point.
Great example of asymmetrical balance (and a great arrangement for a wall with a slanted ceiling line!) The large sculptures on the dresser on the left seem to balance that side well and are balanced well with the white lamp coming down into the space. The white lamp actually seems more visually heavy in the space because of the high contrast between the light lamp and the dark wall paint.
This is another great example of asymmetrically placed accessories on the mantle. Imagine the mantle with just the circular mirror and the two picture frames. It’s not balanced with just that! By adding the dark book holders and small accessories in front of the gray framed picture it’s visually balancing the darker frame and print.
Hope you enjoyed the lesson! (Click on the photo to be taken directly to the source. There are more examples of asymmetric vs. symmetrical design. It’s a lot easier to see symmetrical, but sometimes the asymmetrical designs can be less obvious.)
Tags: balance, Tutorial
Posted
February 17, 2010 by
erin under
Design Elements Yes, I know it’s not quite spring yet, but Pantone now has the Fall color trends available! Can I tell you how excited I am about them? By now you probably know that I LOVE color so the fact that the fall colors are not muted, but bright and bold make me giddy! Aren’t they just gorgeous?
If you twisted my arm to pick a favorite I’d have to say the living coral, oyster gray, and endive are some of my favorites. But the others aren’t far behind (except maybe the rose dust…not sure how I feel about it yet.) What is your favorite color?
Tags: color palette, trends
Posted
October 9, 2009 by
erin under
Design Elements I’ve always loved looking at glass! I even took a class on stained glass to see how it was done! Architectural glass is a great feature to add to your home! The architectural glass will withstand lots of abuse and is usually tempered, so that if it were to break, it would be in lots of small pieces, instead of lots of dangerous shards. Try using architectural glass as a divider wall, inset into office door, for a counter top, shower door, above your fireplace mantle, or any number of other uses! These are a few of my favorite glass patterns:
1. Countertop from Hirsch Glass Corporation
2. Divider Wall from Nathan Allan Glass Studio
3. Door Insert from UltraGlas
4. Partition from Galaxy Glass and Stone
Tags: glass, material
Posted
September 8, 2009 by
erin under
Design Elements I LOVE LOVE LOVE color! If my accountant husband was a little more of a risk taker my house would have lots of color, but right now our compromise is to have be neutral overall with accents of color. While it’s not my first choice I’ve found that in a way it also caters towards my need for changing out color fairly frequently. Case in Point: In the 5 years we lived at our last house, the kitchen was painted 4 different times! Our current neutral scheme keeps everything coordinated and then I can easily trade out a few pillows and accessories to make the space totally different. I’ve been thinking about which colors to go with this fall and checked the color forecast. I’m loving the palette this fall, especially the brownish greys. Based on the Pantone Team’s predictions here are the colors:
Which one is your favorite? I’m thinking the earthy scheme would work well this fall for me.
(And yes this is the fashion forecast but look for these colors to display themselves in interiors too!) This is also your way to be ahead and talk like the pros! Next year watch for these colors to be huge in interiors, as interior design follows closely behind fashion design.
Tags: color, trends
Posted
April 15, 2009 by
deb under
Design Elements,
Pretty Stuff 
Have you been over to visit Craftynest? This site offers so many wonderful ideas and DIY design for your home. I noticed these hemp pendant fixtures with a how to tutorial by Heika Dehart. Are they wonderful? I wish I had an excuse to make some of these right now.
{all images via Craftynest}
The site also showcases a recently refurbished trolley cart using wallpaper and sprucing up some ordinary ikea tables. An inspiring site that makes me want to go out and find something old and make it new to fit my home.
Tags: DIY, furniture, How to, ikea, pendant, Tutorial
