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Article Fourteen: Principles of Design 101B - Emphasis
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Can you establish harmony and rhythm in parts of your home now? Our last Principle of Design in this series is emphasis. This quick reference guide, along with my other articles, will give you a new way of addressing that picture window when you enter a room.
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- Emphasis is creating a focal point in a room to capture our attention, such as an elaborate fireplace, a lovely painting or a breathtaking window view. It gives our eyes a reasonable place to rest and is immediately visible to everyone entering the room ensuring that we focus on what the designer wants us to notice. Emphasis should firmly establish the style and mood of a room. Other items can be positioned around it as support. To illustrate how emphasis works on our psyche, our eyes automatically look from place to place when we enter a room and focus briefly on each point before moving on. During that brief moment we recognize one central element (the focal point) and almost instinctively refer everything else in our field of view to our peripheral vision.
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Some rooms have a feature that's an obvious choice for the focal point, such as a picture window that showcases a beautiful view, or a magnificent fireplace. Others will require a little more work. You'll need to analyze the furniture and artwork in the room. Is there an overriding piece of furniture or a striking painting that calls for your attention? As you look about the room, consider where you can place this item so that the eye will be naturally drawn to it when one enters.
After you've placed your focal point in the right spot, other items can be positioned around it for emphasis. In a larger room you may want to create a secondary focal point, which works on a less dominant scale than the main focal point - but it still relates to it in some way. |
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Remember that these Principles of Design are guidelines and not hard rules. Knowing how and why these principles work can be greatly helpful to your decorating schemes, but don't leave out imagination and improvisation.
You'll be surprised how stunning your home becomes when you bring emphasis to each room. Find the focal point for each of the various rooms in your home today.
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Until next time, happy Home Staging and Styling.
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© 2021 |
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