INTIMATE AND INFORMAL - LIVING ROOM

ELEMENTS

SPACE:

· The space feels intimate, comfy, and secure

· This is a small space, but the use of multiple seating pieces of furniture create a space that can be used by a lot of people at one time

· The diagonal lines in the walls and the open space towards the stairs reduce the height in the space and create a welcome and cozy feeling in the room

· The diagonal lines in the walls and the staircase separate the living room from the rest of the house

· Positive: sofa, accent chairs, ottoman, ottoman style tables, side tables and lamps, rug, mirror, throw pillows, decorations, furry throw

· Negative: wall, ceiling

· Lots of negative space on the wall allows you to rest your eyes

· The smooth walls and ceiling focus the attention on the furnishings in the room

LINE:

· The railing on the staircase has vertical lines that create a sense of direction downwards, leading the eyes into the living room

· Vertical - ottoman, side tables, stair railing in the background

· Horizontal – stairs in background, sofa and accent chairs

· Horizontal line in the ceiling lowers the ceiling

· Curved – table lamps, mirror – pleasing to view

· The curved lines in the table lamps add gracefulness to the room

· The curved lines in the mirror frame provide a sense of direction clockwise

SHAPE:

· This is one of those rooms that is a box with 3 walls, 1 open wall, and a ceiling

· The stairs in the background are aesthetically pleasing and add sophistication to the room

· The unique shape of the table lamps and mirror differ to the shape of the room creating visual interest

· The vertical bases of the seated ottoman legs, side table legs, and sofa legs are contrasting with the curved shapes in the sofa, accent chairs, ottoman tables, and seated ottoman

· Curvilinear – all the furniture except side tables

· The shapes in this room emphasize the rooms comfort and function

· Geometric – circles in table lamps and mirror

· Rectilinear – tray, side table, ottoman frame

COLOUR:

· The light green accent colour in the throw pillows and the seated ottoman stand out nicely next to the tan/light brown in the furniture, rug, and décor

· The light green accent colour complements the room

· The tan/light brown and the white blend nice together

· Dominant colour: white

· Secondary colour: tan/light brown

· Accent colour: light green

TEXTURE:

· Sensory texture – mirror frame, throw pillow, ottoman tables with buttons, seated ottoman, furry throw

· The table ottoman with the buttons evokes a desire to touch

· The texture in the ottoman table pulls the weight of the room towards it

· The smooth white wall offers textural contrast to the materials and furniture with texture such as the table ottomans, throw pillows, furry throw, rug, and accent chairs

· Soft pillows and soft furniture, smooth walls, textured materials/furniture with curved lines create softness

· The dark brown stairs contrast with the light colors in the living room

· The design and texture on the fabrics in the room give it a warm, informal, inviting, comfortable feeling

· This space is a bit heavy on the amount of furniture, but it balances out due to the distribution of the furniture

· Shiny metal details – mirror, table lamps, side tables, seated ottoman legs, decorations on the ottoman tables

LIGHT:

· Natural light - open space towards the stairs allow some natural light to enter the room

· Artificial light - two side table lamps

· Artificial light points upwards to create an intimate feeling in the evening

· Artificial light is practical; its main purpose is to light the room

· Metal vases on ottoman table and mirror on wall reflect some of the light

· Lack of more light creates a warm space

PATTERN:

· Pattern adds interest to this room

· Visual texture – throw pillows, accent chairs, rug

· Physical texture – mirror, table lamps, ottoman tables, one throw pillow, seated ottoman

PRINCIPLES:

BALANCE:

· Asymmetrical – balance in room is in weight of objects and how they are arranged

· Arrangement of furniture achieves harmony

· Creates a feeling of equal weight on both sides of the room even though the sides don’t look the same

· Heavy furniture is presented in light colours

· Smooth details and textured details are used together to balance out the room

· Room creates an informal, casual and relaxed feeling

· Throw pillows on accent chairs (symmetrical)

RHYTHM:

· Eye stays mostly at one level across the space: right to left to right to left…

· Repetition – there is repetition of design elements found in the twin ottoman tables, twin side tables, twin table lamps, pairs of throw pillows, twin accent chairs

· Alternation - there is a pattern of alternation (two of each thing as you move your eye from left to right: light green accent pillows, ottoman tables, white throw pillows, accent chairs) – aabbccdd

· Progression – on the tray on the ottoman table, the decorations are in a pattern of alternation; eyes move up from the circular decoration to the smaller vase to the larger vase - ascending in height

EMPHASIS:

· My eye is first attracted to the mirror

· The mirror creates drama in the room

· Other than the mirror, the designer has kept almost all the furniture and design elements at one eye level

· When you are in the space, emphasis is on the different patterns and textures throughout the room

· The buttoned ottoman tables are unique and memorable; the furry throw gives softness to the room; the furniture is cozy and complements each other

· This room looks like a social space to get together

PROPORTION AND SCALE:

· The size of the room is small, but the proportion of the furniture and the positioning of the furniture creates a space that can accommodate as many people as a much larger sized room

· There is also plenty of walking space between the furniture

· The room tries to follow the 60/30/10 COLOUR RULE – 60% white, 30% tan/light brown, 10% light green

· The distribution of the furniture creates balance in the space

HARMONY:

· This room has commonalities in shape, colour, and materials

· Shape - rounded corners in furniture complement one another; circular mirror complements circular table lamps

· Colour - light green throw pillows match seated ottoman

· Materials - brown metal used in mirror, table lamps, side tables, and legs of seated ottoman

· The design in this intimate and informal living room has achieved harmony