A lot of
people wonder what makes a well-designed home different from, well, one that is
not. I have dwelled over this question for many years and have finally
concluded that there are 5 key design elements that each home needs. Each of
these 5 need to be blended together in balance to get that warm & nice feel
that some homes have. While making their home, most home owners usually consider
just 3 or 4 of these elements and most often than not find it difficult to
bring these together in unison.
To dwell
further into these elements let’s give you a glimpse into what goes on in a
designer’s brain as she does a recon of your home to create a visual in her
mind that finally leads to the design blueprint and the final output.
So …broadcasting
live, right from the studio in the designer’s mind…10…9…8…7…1..here goes.
What do I see…I see space, empty space, it
needs furniture. What theme should the furniture be in, how do I place it to
avoid clutter. There is a French window…cannot block that with furniture. The
light from the window is causing a shadow…light…how did I miss that.
Light, what’s the direction of the house, is
there enough natural light. The living room is well lit…can use dark colours
for wall finishes & furnishing. But not in the master bedroom…it hardly has
natural light, will use lighter shades in the bedroom. The living room will
need a false ceiling for the spotlights.
Big empty walls…maybe a painting, ledge, recess
or wallpaper on them…will need to highlight … more light points on the wall for
accent lighting.
Kids room, 10 years old, hmmm. Bunk bed here?
Maybe not, the kid will grow over it in another year. Hobbies? Ok, cricket
theme then. Avoid clutter - Place for school bag, books…space for lots of books
Parents room, what age? 70 plus – needs to be
elder friendly
I could go
on, but I guess this gives you a broad picture. If you were observing, each of
the five essential elements needed to design a home are mentioned in the
commentary above. Now that you are bleeding with desire to know what the 5
elements are … here goes
The Five
elements of good interior design
1. Furniture
2. Lighting
3. Painting/ Wall Finishes/ Floor
Finishes
4. Furnishing
5. Décor
But wait….
there is an elusive sixth element. An element that is most often overlooked in
the hunt for a good carpenter or readymade furniture. And that ladies &
gentlemen is - you. Yes …YOU - your lifestyle, age, habits, hobbies,
aspirations and needs. A good designer would weave each of the 5 elements
around YOU to create a space that you are most comfortable living in and proud of.
Each of the
5 elements is an independent field of study within Design. Take a simple
example of furniture – it includes the shape, material, colour, theme,
placement & size. In relation to YOU and your lifestyle one would add
height, comfort, kid & elder friendliness and more.
The field
of Lighting on the other hand includes how much total lighting is needed for
the space to ensure that the home is comfortable (ambient lighting), places
that will need more lighting or dimmable lights such as next to a study table
or a lamp at the end of a sofa set (Task Lighting) and spaces that need to be
emphasized with focus lights – such as wall paintings, décor items etc. (Accent
lighting)
Similarly
painting/ wall & floor textures – just entering some of the fancy tile
showrooms in Bangalore can send your head spinning with the volume and variety
of material and finishes on display. Natural lighting in the home as well as
the overall theme planned for the home play a key role in choosing the right
wall colours and textures.
Most folks
plan the furnishing and the décor right at the end by when budgets have
overshot the initial estimates and any expense seems heavy on the pocket. I
missed mentioning this earlier but balancing out the budgets to cover the last
mile details with zero budget creep is another trick that designers learn early
and something that DIY home designers need to imbibe.
Back to the
furnishing and décor. As the designer is
creating the interior blueprint in her mind, the furniture is resizing itself,
the walls creating the recesses and the spotlights aligning themselves to
accommodate the décor items. What I want to convey is that décor is a
forethought and not an afterthought. I remember this episode where we
re-arranged just 2 pieces of furniture and added some décor to a living room
and the output turned from ordinary to stunning.
So, in
summary, the next time you are out doing up your new home remember to look
beyond the furniture on how you want to play the 5 elements around your life
and lifestyle for that complete home
Signing off
Nandita
PS: An edited version of this article appeared in Deccan Herald on Mar 30, 2018. You can read it here https://goo.gl/6WQtsz
