| DESIGN – the interplay between elements and principles, use of color, pattern and texture… |
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Principles of Good Design
What is good design? It's more than making rooms look good or translating someone's idea of style. Good design enhances the quality of your life. It uses a range of design details - line and balance, color and texture, lighting and architectural elements - to please your sense of touch and space while transforming rooms into special places.
| Good design must satisfy three criteria: |
| It functions well, serving the needs and requirements of its users. |
| It is made of quality, appropriate materials. |
| It is visually expressive. |
| Finding & Defining Your Style: |
| Style is defined in two ways: |
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| 1.The first is the identifying characteristics of a particular era (neoclassic, modern, colonial), country (Scandinavian, French, English), historic period (Arts and Crafts, Victorian), or designer or design school (Bauhaus, Chippendale, minimalism). These types of styles are most often interpreted through varying forms, motifs and colors. |
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| 2. The second definition of style is your personal preference for choosing colors, shapes, objects and textures and pulling them all together. You may have a favorite decorating style that is already evident elsewhere in your home. Perhaps in an heirloom Victorian dining table, a collection of colorful majolica, or Early American folk art wood carvings. |
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COLOR
What about color? Is color an important part of design?
Technically speaking, color is a beam of light that enters the eye and is processed by the brain. How the human eye sees and perceives a color is influenced by such factors as the amount of natural or artificial light available, surrounding colors, and even eyesight activity.
Color has three basic attributes: Hue, Value and Intensity. Hue refers to the purest form of color; one of six color families that include red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Value is the lightness or darkness of a particular color. Intensity is the brightness of a color.
Color has the ability to completely change the character of a room. Consider some color “tricks” in your home: Visually lower a tall ceiling by painting it a dark color, and raise a low one by painting it lighter than the walls. Shorten a long hallway by painting the end wall in a deep tone, or widen it by painting floors and ceiling darker than the walls.
When it comes to selecting room color, let the room’s function, lighting or materials guide you. For example, terra-cotta, sage green and buttery yellow create a comfortable and inviting ambiance, sometimes very appropriate for a kitchen. Cool shades of pale green and aqua work great in a bath because of their soothing, relaxing qualities. Consider the time of day that the room is most used, for example, choose the formal dining room wall color at dinner time, rather than at sunrise when the room isn’t generally being used.
For a color to have impact, it should be repeated two to three times throughout the room.
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INTERIOR DECORATING STYLE DESCRIPTIONS:
We have listed several interior styles, keeping in mind that there are many variations of each and personal interpretations of each. This is meant purely as a starting point, as you begin the remodeling process. Determining what look will be “right” for you, your family and home is a very important part of the process. We have described various items in each of these styles such as colors, window coverings, fireplaces, and accessories to help you visualize what these styles can be.
Interior Styles:
Americana
Traditional
Contemporary
French Country
Tuscan/Old World
Craftsman/Mission Style/Arts & Crafts
Victorian
Southwest
Additional Styles:
Eclectic
Tropical
Exterior Styles:
Cape Cod
Georgian Colonial
Victorian (Golthic/Italianate/Queen Anne)
Colonial Revival
Tudor Revival
Prairie Style
American Foursquare
Bungalow
Ranch (Split Level/Raised Ranch/Tri-Level)
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