5 Tips to Approach Interior Design

Either you have moved into a new space or you are re-vamping an old space for a breath of fresh air. Exciting!...but can be daunting once you begin to actually put the furniture, carpet, artwork, lighting, and any other decor pieces in the room. What should go where? Follow these easy tips to make your design a breeze.

1. Hang Artwork at the Right Height.

The artwork at museums and galleries are hung so that the midline (center) of each piece is 57 inches to 60 inches from the floor (the average human eye level is 57 inches) --and we'll accept that as a rule of thumb. NOTE: There may be a tendency to hang art a little higher where the ceilings soar, but it needs to relate to human scale and not that of the structure. Uncertain? Snap a picture with your phone to provide a better sense of what needs to be adjusted or changed.

2. Create a Focal Point.

A movie has its primary characters (the star) and its secondary characters that accent the story. Flip this to decor and you've the same concept. Your focal point is the star of the room. It demands attention, but everything around it accents its contribution and part. Think: fireplace, large mirror, eye-catching headboard, dramatic artwork. In the photo above, the fire place is serving as a focal point. To highlight it, the secondary character are the tiles in the photo above, which are creating a tiled accent wall. Ceramic tile can be a great choice when picking an accent wall. There are even wood options of ceramic tile.

3. Place that Mirror, Mirror on the Wall.

Life is like a mirror: smile at it and it smiles back at you--but you can only smile at it if its the right height. Experts say that mirrors should be centered at about 57 inches high. This is an easy, strain-free eye level for most people. Place the mirror opposite a window to bounce more light and to create the illusion of more space. Accent mirrors are a great choice especially since they can tie in exquisitely with a floor by creating a sharp contrast. Think: dark luxury vinyl plank wood (or real!) with an ornate, golden framed mirror.

4. Follow the Color Equation.

You may have already read our previous post about how picking your floor before wall colors is important, so now we can move on to the colors! Hopefully you have picked the paint color last. Why? Because there are thousands of different colors with varying tints, tones and shades. Not to mention how different light sources change the tone. You want a color that will compliment all your decor. Once you've decided, the color equation follows a 60-30-10 rule. Paint 60% of the room a dominant color, 30% a secondary, and 10% an accent color. In a modern setting, this could equate to a dominant color, upholstery the secondary, and pillows or art the accent color.

5. Give Your Furniture some 'Personal Space.'

Finding your way through a crowd of people is never a fun endeavor -- so why create a similar experience in your own home? Resist over-filling a room and focus on the least amount of things that can still make it feel complete. This permits one to spend a bit more on a better quality piece, possibly even the focal point piece, to really enhance the room. It would be a shame to cover your beautiful flooring -- especially since the floors are one of thee largest canvasses in any room!

Happy Decorating!

If you find yourself at a standstill -- instead of looking around, look down. Maybe the difficulty in decorating is starting at the ground, AKA your floors!

New products continually hit the market, and we work to ensure that all new and popular flooring products are in our showroom to provide customers the best quality flooring available.