INTERIOR DESIGN

ELEMENTS AND
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN
By Aneurine Mathews
ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN:
When used in varying manners and degrees, the elements create the
principles of design.
Designers incorporate and manipulate these elements, as well as
principles, to create a work of art that is compositionally sound and pleasing
to the viewer and artist alike.

Whether you are working with existing furnishings and fabrics or “starting
from scratch” with an empty room, Whether you have just bought your first
new home or are planning to redo an old home from scratch, we should
always use the elements and principles of design as a guide in choosing
everything.
The elements are your tools or raw materials, much like paints are the basics
to a painter.

•The elements of design include space, line, form, color, and texture.
•The principles of design relate to how we use these elements and are
balance, emphasis, rhythm, proportion and scale, and unity.
The elements of design are:
Line
Space
Form
Color
Texture
 COLOUR
•Color and color schemes are fundamental for
successful design.
•The use of color and different color
combinations shape the look and feel of the final
composition.
•More than any other element, color can make a
room beautiful.
• Color can set the mood.
• It can make a room warmer or cooler, larger or
smaller.
• It can hide unsightly features or call attention to
the center of interest.
• Even with the simplest furnishings, the proper
use of color can transform a room.

•A light, cheerful room can lift your spirits

•Color is one of the most powerful tools used in interior design.

•Color should be studied both psychologically and emotionally to be

understood and used correctly.

Know how to select colors under different lighting conditions.

• The amount of light also affects Color.

• Dim lighting reduces a color's value and diminishes its hue.

• High lighting levels can either intensify the hue or make the color appear
washed out.
•Whether the light is natural or artificial will have an effect on the final
perception of the Color.

• Color swatches should be tested in their actual location under the expected
lighting conditions before final decisions are made.

•The amount of area covered affects color.

•Variations may be negligible in a small color sample, but may be

overwhelming in the finished product, color intensifies as the area of color
increases.
Use color to advantage in planning a scheme for your room according to one
of these blendings:

•Monochromatic
is when one color is
used in shades, tints,
and tones.

•Complementary
is using two colors
opposite each other on
the color wheel, such as
red and green.

•Analogous
is when adjoining or
related colors are used,
such as yellow and
yellow-green.
 Yellow is lively
and happy
It is relentlessly
cheerful,
oppressive
Breezy and
spring-like

Red is passionate
Attracts our
attention
Speed’s up body
metabolism.
Green is calm and Blue is the colour of
natural sky and sea
Spring and fertility. Calming effect, quite
powerful
Dark green is
powerful colour Light blue-young &
sporty
Navy blue-dignified
and wealthy
 Brown is rich and
earthy
Light brown-rustic
and natural look
Dark brown-
diginifed

Purple is
sophisticated colour
associated with
royalty.
 Black is very stylish
Dramatic
appearance
Associated with
wealth and elegance
Creates illusion.
White is the colour of
purity, virginity
Innocence and peace
vivid colour like red have powerful
personalities as seen in picture
It is bright, contrasting & looks HOT
But human eye tires so quickly
tends to look a little tacky and causes
pain to the eye

Yellow-warn color scheme which

has been used.
Gives a warm and cozy feeling.
Cheerful looking colour and can
be used to stimulate conversation.

Blue-cool color which softens the

mood.
Helps to reduce tension with
meditative dream like mood
Sometimes annoyingly vague and
diffused creating a blurry
expression

Green –tranquil colour but

darker shades used to provide
contrast
Creates a lively environment.
Can be used in shopping malls
and snack bars
Cool colour with a pleasing
effect.
Shows a sense of royalty
and class
Appears sophisticated.

brown-a neutral colour.

warm earthy brown
which gives a formal
old fashioned look
but also very unified.

Unorthodox appearance.
Looks wealthy
With an elegant feel
Sometimes creates
illusion and is depressing

This interior appears pure

and calm.
Looks very sterile and
clean.
bland and boring.
•To make the space seem larger, we
should use soft, light, cool colors.
• Another way to visually expand our
customer's space is to keep the eye
moving.
•This is accomplished by using colors
with low contrast.
• If we want to make an area, or space
appear to be smaller and more confined,
we need to use patterns or dark, warm
colors or intense contrasting colors that
will make walls, etc., seem to advance
visually.

•If the problem is too much space,

divide the area into smaller segments
through furniture arrangement, the use
of screens, area rugs, and furniture
groupings. Use warm colors and heavy-
scale furniture.

SPACE
 PATTERN

•Pattern is the repetition of a

decorative motif on a surface.

• It is closely related to texture,

but individual elements of
pattern appear as individual
items and texture appears as an
overall tone.

•Pattern provides the spice in

decorating.

• As with using spices in

cooking, the interior designer
has to be careful with its use.
Scale and Proportion – These two design
principles go hand in hand, since both relate to size
and shape.

Proportion has to do with the ratio of one design

element to another, or one element to the whole.

Scale concerns itself with the size of one object

compared to another.
•Scale is important in the use of pattern.

• If a large print is used on a small object the pattern will get

lost.

•The skill of using proper pattern combinations is an

important one to cultivate.

•Be careful not to create an effect that is too busy.

•Use patterns that are in proportion to each other.

• A large floral would be out of proportion with a small

check
OVERVIEW:
•Researching the most appropriate elements and their
coexistence for the interior design project becomes much
easier when the following questions are asked:

•What type of improvement can the interior design

budget sustain? Remodeling for architectural detail?

•What quality or price point will the budget support?

•What is the feeling the room should portray to a guest or

occupant?

•What realistic level of maintenance can be supported?

•Does the element need a qualified installer or can it be done
easily?

•Is the style a trend or a classic style? An example would be a retro

1970's look or contemporary style respectively.

•What color scheme is in use? Can the old and new be combined
effectively?

•Is the layout conducive to traffic flow and ergonomics?

•Do patterns overtake the room creating a feeling of visual clutter?

•What textures would enhance the mood of the room?

•What style are the elements in the current room, and is that style
still acceptable?
•current issues and future directions
in the architectural and interior
design world have developed greater
synthesis with the fashion world.
• our private world and our physical
self are increasingly in tune (at least
aesthetically) with our public
existence and our living space.
•This new dynamic is changing the
way we define trends….because they
are no longer isolated.
•People are increasingly aware that
anything in their home makes a
statement about them.
•Design is all about re-enforcing
individuality now. Which means
there are no strict rules, other than
one – 'Reflect our individuality'.
PRACTICING WITH THE ELEMENTS

Now that we know the six Elements of Design ,

how can we better understand them and how can we make them work for?
Go through decorating magazines and find several pictures dealing with each of the
Elements we have discussed.
That is, find pictures dealing with: LINE:
Look for pictures in which "line"
is quite noticeable. you should
SPACE: be looking for good examples of
Look for pictures of small area rooms and large area vertical, horizontal diagonal and
rooms. curved lines.
FORM:

•Find pictures of objects of different shapes and

sizes in a room such as tables, lamps and sofas.

•Observe the harmony and balance of line and

scale.
TEXTURE:

•Look for pictures where texture is evident,

•Search out casual settings and formal settings.

•Are the casual settings more heavily textured

than the more formal settings?

PATTERN:
Browse through wallcovering books, upholstery
samples or magazine pictures looking for
examples of the use and mixing of patterns.
COLOUR:
Look for identical spaces using different colors, e.g. the same room painted in different
tones will illustrate the effect.

•Study the pictures that you have chosen

relating to the definitions presented above.

•Start observing these six elements in your

everyday travels and begin to understand
them better.

•Then start using them in your decorating

schemes.