11 RULES OF THUMB EVERY INTERIOR DESIGNER OUGHT TO KNOW: NUMBER 2 IS MOST IMPORTANT

Image by Mireia Pascual Molla from Pixabay By Michael Jumba

Just as other professions, interior design has its own rules of thumb that every interior designer ought to know and understand how to apply them during project implementation.

From my readings, I have come across several interior design rules of thumb. However, I will focus on the following namely locate where the focal point will be, consider the use of the room, think about population density and traffic, think about safety, use environmentally friendly products, think about the materials, think about cleaning and maintenance, mind the floor plan, consider artificial lighting, think about symmetry and get scale and proportion right.

a) Locate where your focal point will be

Before any interior designer implements any project, they ought to identify the architectural feature or element that will act as the focal point for the project. Once this is done, the interior designer can continue with the rest of the interior design project of course while considering the interior spatial plan.

b) Consider the use of the room

Before doing any work in any room, an interior designer has to know the purpose of the room. Usually, a lounge area or a living room will be designed very differently from let us say a bedroom. Therefore, knowledge of the purpose of a room is critical.

c) Think about population density and traffic

Before doing your interior design project, a designer must consider the number of people who will be using a room and the movement of these people in the room. Traffic ought to be assessed with regards to access, use and exit from a room.

d) Think about safety

When doing the interior design of a room, the designer ought to consider the safety of the users of the room. Safety in this regard refers to fire, electrocution, the structural integrity of the buildings, the fittings in the room do not pose as hazards among others. Other interior designers also consider safety with regard to a break-in of a house and so forth.

e) use environmentally friendly products

With the world paying more attention to environmental safety more than ever before, it has become necessary that the products an interior designer uses in their project do not pollute the interiors while degrading the exteriors. Some projects used in interior design could be having toxic substances that poison the users of a room slowly while cause pollution once released to the exterior environment. Other products require polluting processes for them to be manufactured.

f) Think about materials

Knowing which materials to use for a project is critical for an interior designer. This should enable them to calculate the budget of the project in addition to establishing whether the materials will be sourced from the local market or imported from abroad.

g) Think about cleaning and maintenance

Before doing any interior design project, it is always important to work from the end of the works in reverse to the beginning. Questions asked from the end are, How will the room be cleaned? How will the room be maintained?!

These ate important questions every interior designer need to answer when asked by a client.

h) Mind the floor plan

When doing a project, the interior designer needs to consider the floor plan. Otherwise, he/she will end up with a complete and highly polished project but with some interior design elements placed along the hallway. While this may work for aesthetics, it may be working against traffic and safety. Further, other finishes may end up looking odd because the furniture arrangement or focal point were done wrongly. It is therefore important that an interior designer ensures that their design blends with the floor plan.

i) Consider artificial lighting

In interior design, artificial lighting plays various important roles. Even though natural light could be sufficient in supply to the average individual, artificial light has been widely used to enhance interior designs. For example, artificial light has been used to illuminate wall paintings, influence the mood of a room, brighten dark areas where natural light can't reach among other functions. It is, therefore, necessary that an interior designer puts artificial lighting at the centre of their project.

j) Think about symmetry

This rule involves an interior designer ensuring that a sense of balance has been achieved within space in a room. A balanced room attracts the attention of individuals in it and looks more aesthetically appealing than one which was done minus balance. The reason why a balanced room draws more attention is that symmetrical design cues affect the subconscious mind of human beings thus influencing their mood.

k) Get scale and proportion right

A good interior designer must ensure that the scale and proportions on his or her project are right. In one of my earlier articles, I did explain in detail what proportion and scale are in interior design. Kindly click here to access the article.

Contact Jumbo Crafts Ltd for all your interior design solutions.