Today I’m sharing the seven interior design keys to a well-designed room. Regardless of budget, room size, or style these seven tips are essential to designing the room of your dreams! 

#1- Color Scheme

We always start with color for our own home and our clients! It is the foundational building block for the entire design. You can’t think about what to buy until you know what color you want. It not only dictates what you want to buy but how you want to feel in the space. And it’s more than paint! Your color palette is your fabrics, rugs, wood tones, lighting, everything! Are you going to have a lot of contrast? Like black and white? Or maybe you want to do navy and black? Your color palette will be the element that drives everything else you do. To get started, I recommend creating a mood board that incorporates the colors you love whether it’s a picture of a cup of coffee, fashion, travel photos, or anything else that catches your fancy! 

#2- Form 

Form is all about the shape of things! The form shapes the essence and feeling of a space. Right now, there are a lot more rounded shapes with soft edges. If you have a large sectional right in the middle of the room, you might want to soften it with a round coffee table. I like to think about how the shapes of things interact with each other. You should mix your shapes just like you mix your textures!

#3- Lighting

For me, I like to design a room around natural light. My husband Jack likes designing around evening light and using cool gadgets to design the lighting! It is fun to explore your lighting style and figure out what works for you!

#4- Lines 

For this, we’re talking about sightlines! It’s important to consider where your eye goes when you walk into a room. If there’s something that blocks your sightline, consider how you can create a more natural flow. The lines help make your space make sense and provide a kind of roadmap for the room!

#5- Purpose 

A room can have more than one purpose and it can have purposes for different days, events, or times in your life! Start by thinking about how you’re going to use the room and then what you need to make that vision come to life. Think short term, long term, everyday, special occasion, etc. 

#6- The Mix

A lot of times, I think we get honed in on one thing and we really need to mix it up! I like to play with different textures and tones and create contrast. Think about how you want it to feel and what would bring you joy when you walk into the room. Without the mix, it might feel too monotonous. You want cohesion but with a little something special! 

Interior Design Element #7- Style

I can’t design a room unless I know my client’s style. A lot of times people can’t articulate their style but they know things that they like when they see them and that’s okay! Your gut instinct can say a lot about your true style. Where do you like to hang out? Where do you buy your clothes? And most of the time, people are not all traditional or all modern. A lot of times there’s a bit of a mix. Finding out what your own mix is is fundamental to the design of your home. 

Which design element did you think was the most helpful? Let me know in the comments! 

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