You don't need an interior decorator to create a stunning home. When you understand the elements of home decor and how they fit together, your rooms can look as if they belong in the pages of a home interiors magazine.
There are a number of basic elements in home design. Among them are space, color and lighting. The furnishings and accessories you choose can set a mood and create an atmosphere.
Space
You may think of furniture as utilitarian things - places to sit, surfaces on which to place things, shelves to arrange and display your belongings. Furniture also serves other purposes in home decorating. It helps divide and define the space in your room.
One of the key principles of designing a room is balance. The easiest way to achieve balance in a room is to visually divide it into four equal segments, and choose furniture for each segment that has the same visual weight as in the other segments. For example, sofas generally have a lot of visual weight - they're large, solid pieces of furniture. If you place a sofa in one quarter of the room, you should balance it with pieces of furniture in the opposite half that have the same visual weight - another sofa, a pair of armchairs or a set of shelves that are about the same length as the sofa.
Color
Color is another way to divide and define space. The colors you choose help create a mood. Depending on the colors you choose, they can camouflage awkward room dimensions or enhance features that you want to emphasize. Light walls can make a room seem larger. Painting the ceiling a slightly darker shade can make a tall room seem to be more in proportion. Warm colors can make any room feel sunny and bright.
Of course, there are many more places to use color than just the walls and ceiling. Colored or patterned area rugs can help break up a large room and define areas within an open floor plan. Accessories and wall art can add a pop of color that brings everything together.
Lighting
Lighting is an important and often overlooked element in home decor. Some rooms have beautiful natural lighting - at least, during part of the day - but no room has perfect natural lighting all the time. That's where your artful hand comes into play. Task lighting, mood lighting and ambient lighting can all combine to turn a ho-hum room into a warm, inviting room where everyone feels at home.
Specialty Home Decor
Some homes have architectural details and features that seem to call for specialty home decor pieces. Ornate rooms - rooms with stunning woodwork and carved cornices - become stunning showplaces when you furnish them with medieval decor, for example. A plain room can become warm and homey when you outfit it with a portable fireplace.
Creating the ambience and mood you want in a room can be as simple as choosing the right pieces of home decor. Spend some time exploring websites that sell home decor items and furniture to find the look that you like.
Author Resource:
Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the world's MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web.
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