Decorating Living Space

• Some people seem to have a “natural flair

for decorating.”

• Anyone can learn to apply the basic

elements and principles of design to

create attractive living spaces.

Suggestions for Decorating

• Identify your needs and preferences – What is my major goal?

– What activities will take place in this space?

– What type of storage is needed?

– What look do I want to achieve?

• Evaluate your current space – What parts of the current design work well?

– What needs improvement?

– What do I want to keep?

• Consider your resources – How much money do I have to spend?

– What are some inexpensive changes I can make?

Elements of Design

• Space – The three dimensional area to design

• Line – The outline of the object or the obvious lines within it

– Line makes your eyes move

• Shape – Form or structure of solid objects

– May seem heavy or light

• Texture – The way an object’s surface looks and feels

• Color – Creates mood

Space—illusion of depth

Line

Leonardo da

Vinci used a

soft,

sensitive soft

line to create

a graceful

image.

Willem DeKooning has

created a very different

feeling by using a heavy,

gestural line

The woman's

face in the third

image is created

with a

mechanical line

creating an

emotionally-

detached feeling

Although the subject matter is

the same in all three works,

the differences in line quality

have created works with very

different impact

Shape

One conveys a sense of orderliness and confidence,

while the other communicates a sense of vulnerability

and uncertainty. The shapes of the objects that you

create or place in your images are positive shapes. The

spaces around these shapes are the negative spaces.

The shapes in this

image are clearly

defined

This ship's shape is barely discernable.

Color • The harmonious color combinations are

called color schemes – sometimes the

term 'color harmonies' is also used. Color

schemes remain harmonious regardless of

the rotation angle.

How Do Colors Make You Feel?

• Red: heat, love, draws attention Orange: associated with creativity Yellow: helps us concentrate Green: natural, calming Blue: calming, can be depressing Violet: symbolizes wealth Black: powerful White: innocent, can be cold

Color Terminology • Cool Colors—Blue, Green Purple

– Make rooms look larger

– Have a calming affect

• Warm Colors—Red, Orange, Yellow – Make rooms look smaller

– Make you feel active and awake

• Intensity—Brightness or darkness of a color

• Value—How light or dark the color is – Tints are lighter

– Shades are darker

– Medium tints show less dirt

– Neutral Colors - are shades of white, gray or beige. Most neutrals are tinted slightly with a warm or cool color. Neutral-colored walls provide a backdrop that does not compete with furnishings and accessories.

How are colors made?

Primary pigment colors - red, yellow and blue are the primary colors. All other colors are derived from these three hues. Secondary pigment colors - green, orange and purple are created by mixing the primary colors. Tertiary colors - yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green and yellow-green are the colors created by mixing a primary & a secondary color.

Monochromatic Color

Scheme

The monochromatic color scheme uses variations in lightness and saturation of a single color. This scheme looks clean and elegant. Monochromatic colors go well together, producing a soothing effect. The monochromatic scheme is very easy on the eyes, especially with blue or green hues.

Tips:

1. Use tints, shades, and tones of the key color to enhance the scheme. 2. Try the analogous scheme; it offers more nuances while retaining the simplicity and elegance of the monochromatic scheme.

The analogous color scheme

• uses colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel. One color is used as a dominant color while others are used to enrich the scheme.

• Pros: Easy to create

• Cons: Lacks color contrast.

• Tips: – 1. Avoid using too many hues in the analogous

scheme, because this may ruin the harmony.

– 2. Avoid combining warm and cool colors in this scheme.

The complementary

color scheme • Is made of two colors that are opposite each other on the color

wheel. This scheme looks best when you put a warm color against a cool color, for example, red versus green-blue.

• It is important to choose a dominant color and use its complementary color for accents.

• Pros: Stronger contrast than any other color scheme, and draws maximum attention.

• Cons: Harder to balance than monochromatic and analogous schemes.

• Tips:

• 1. For best results, place cool colors against warm ones, for example, blue versus orange. 2. If you use a warm color (red or yellow) as an accent, you can lighten the opposite cool colors to put more emphasis on the warm colors. 3. Avoid using lightened warm colors (e.g. browns or dull yellows).

The split complementary

scheme • uses a color and the two colors adjacent to its complementary. This

provides high contrast without the strong tension of the complementary scheme.

• Pros:

• offers more nuances than the complementary scheme while retaining strong visual contrast.

• Cons:

• harder to balance than monochromatic and analogous color schemes.

• Tips:

• 1. Use a single warm color against a range of cool colors to put an emphasis on the warm color (red versus blues and blue-greens, or orange versus blues and blue-violets). 2. Avoid using lighter warm colors (e.g. browns or dull yellows), because this may ruin the scheme.

The triadic color

scheme • uses three colors equally spaced around the

color wheel.

• Pros:

• offers high contrast while retaining harmony.

• Cons:

• not as contrasting as the complementary scheme.

• Tips:

• 1. Choose one color to be used in larger amounts than others. 2. If the colors look gaudy, try to subdue them.

The tetradic (double

complementary) scheme • is the richest of all the schemes because it uses four

colors arranged into two complementary color pairs. This scheme is hard to harmonize; if all four colors are used in equal amounts, the scheme may look unbalanced, so you should choose a color to be dominant or subdue the colors.

• Pros:

• offers more color variety than any other scheme.

• Cons:

• hardest scheme to balance.

• Tips:

• 1.If the scheme looks unbalanced, try to subdue one or more colors. 2. Avoid using pure colors in equal amounts.

Texture

Smooth textures are more formal

and rough textures are more

casual

Principles of Design

• Balance

• Emphasis

• Proportion

• Harmony

• Rhythm

• Scale

• Feeling of equal weight among parts

• Two types of balance

– Symmetrical—Both sides the same

– Asymmetrical—Both sides appear equal, but

are not the same

Balance

• Feeling of equal weight among parts

• Two types of balance

– Symmetrical—Both sides the same

– Asymmetrical—Both sides appear equal, but

are not the same

Emphasis

• Emphasis - "Center of Interest."

Proportion

• The way one part relates in size or shape

to another or to the whole. Proportion is

more pleasing in uneven portions

The proportion of

the rug is good in

relationship to the

size of the room and

the furniture.

Harmony

• The feeling that all parts belong together.

Not that they match, but that they have

something in common.

Rhythm

• The feeling of movement

Scale

• The overall size of an object or its size

compared to other objects.

A large room with large scale

furniture is pleasing to the

eye.

A smaller room needs smaller

scale furnishings.

Line

Now, look at the rectangles. The four

rectangles are the same size, but the

use of a vertical or horizontal line

within each rectangle creates an

illusion of varied size. When two or

more vertical or horizontal lines are

used, the spacing between the lines

will affect the illusion created.

Look at these example of optical

illusion:

Would you believe the vertical

lines are the same length? The

horizontal lines are the same

length also. The eye follows each

line until it meets a line that turns

downward or upward. The lines

look shorter when lines turn

downward and longer when lines

continue upward.

Backgrounds

• Walls – Walls define the areas, provide privacy and help

absorb noise

– Walls are usually painted or wallpapered

• Windows – Provide privacy and decoration

– Include curtains, drapes, shutters, shades and blinds

• Floors – Permanent floors include wood, ceramic, slate, and

brick

– Floors that are not permanent include carpet, rugs, and vinyl

Tips for Decorating Walls

• Hang decorations at eye-level

• Use an uneven number of items when creating a grouping

• Trace wall arrangements on newspaper before hanging on the wall

• When placing a single decoration over a piece of furniture make sure that it is in proportion to the furniture.

Furniture

• Furniture should be functional or meet

specific needs (storage, sitting, eating)

Furniture Styles

• Two basic types

– Traditional

– Contemporary

Choosing Furniture

• Consider second-hand furniture and

painting it.

• Consider needs and your budget

Furniture Arrangement

• Arrange on paper first

• Check traffic patterns (paths people will

use to get from one area or room to

another

• Avoid blocking your traffic pattern with

furniture

Accessories

• Lamps

• Plants

• Posters

• Books

• Baskets

• Pictures

• Pillows

• Etc.

Lighting

• General

– Overhead—provides enough light to move around the

room safely

• Task

– Focuses light where it is needed

– Should be slightly below eye level or ten inches

behind your shoulder

• Accent

– Intense beam aimed at a painting, sculpture, or other

object to create a dramatic effect

Assignment:

Identifying Color Schemes

• Collect samples showing rooms using 2 different color

schemes that we discussed in class

– One should be a magazine picture or a picture found

online

– One will be a picture of a room that you will color

(either on paper or digitally on your iPad in Notabilty)

• Cut out each picture & mount on construction paper

• Label each picture with the color scheme that it portrays

• Fill in a small blank color wheel to show the color

scheme and attach to each picture

• This is worth a major grade!