Home is where the heart is.
The heart makes for itself a sanctuary to feel content, happy and inspired. It takes a lot of work to build the kind of space that will turn into a haven away from the hustle of life. Everything you place in it, the play of light, the air and the ventilation and last but not the least, the colors you choose therein - there are many factors that make a house, a home.
A home’s interior has a significant impact on the mood and emotional well-being of its inhabitants.
The right design is that which is not just aesthetically pleasing but also, lets you be the best version of yourself.
Dark spaces wear you down and make you feel drained out. Bright ones energize and cheer you up.
Put more succinctly, from fabric to furniture, lighting to colors, texture to temperature, everything in a home needs to be a harmonious blend. It’s about how you interact with your spaces on a subconscious level.
Let’s help you with some tips to get you the home your heart desires.
How does interior design impact atmosphere and mood
Here are some notes from our interior design experts’ diaries:
1. Aesthetic Appeal
The aesthetic appeal of a home needs to vet all the senses. There has to be a perfect balance between what you choose for your home and the space that is available to you. Let’s break this down further into color schemes, furniture selection and placement and lastly, decor items:
Color aesthetics
Choose vibrant and energizing colors for your home.
Dark colors make you feel drained and also, make a space look a lot smaller than it actually is. Colors that reflect light make for a synergistic atmosphere - light around and light within.
Shades of yellow encourage socializing and communication. Green is a color that brings in calm. Red stands for energy but should be sparingly used. It is also associated with anxiety and hostility.
Furniture
When picking up furniture, consider form and function.
Comfortable couches and chairs are best for living rooms. To increase productivity, ergonomic desks and chairs are the pieces most suitable for offices.
Keep in mind the size and layout of the room. Make sure your choice of furniture doesn’t overwhelm your spaces.
Pay close attention to the traffic flow, too. You don’t want narrow and cluttered spaces, in high-traffic areas.
Invest in good quality wooden furniture and durable upholstery fabrics. Sturdy frames and some quality cushions will stand the test of time.
When you decide on a makeover, a fresh coat of polish, a different shade of paint, new cushion covers and slipcovers to mask the old upholstery, will work beautifully.
Accessories and accents
These not just add visual interest but also bring in the elements of color and texture. They help to create depth and dimension to your interiors.
While you take inspiration from different sources, remember that the accessories should reflect your personal style and design aesthetics. It is this reflection that will make your space unique.
You could mix traditional and modern accents. Choose to side with colors that are neutral and versatile like black, white, gray or blue.
Simple hacks like placing taller accents on side tables or grouping accessories in odd numbers or adding pop/ metallic accents, can liven things up.
Always hang wall art on eye level. Add pendant lights or scones and turn your home into a dreamy space. Decide on what character you’d like to give to your spaces and then, go about buying carpets/ rugs, lamp shades, sculptures, vases, window treatments and curtains, candles, greenery and floral arrangements.
2. Comfort and Functionality
Following the golden ration when redesigning a space is a perfect point of reference. It requires you to divide the room into thirds, roughly. This enables you to place the main attraction in two-thirds of the space.
The remaining one-third is used to place accents and accessories. This division helps you keep balances in your home.
When everything fits into its designated place, there is symmetry, comfort, convenience and an overall visual appeal. The concept of space is divided into positive and negative space which is simply filled and empty space, respectively.
The style you choose for your home will decide how much of the space will get utilized.
A good home will balance the filled and empty spaces to create a sense of roominess. An uncluttered space is comforting. It promotes a sense of well- being, reduces stress and fosters a positive mood.
3. Lighting
We can divide lights into three types, broadly - task lights, accent lights and mood lights.
There is no denying the fact that lighting has a crucial role to play in the vibes of a home. There is no substitute for natural light and in places that we fall short, arranging a few lighting fixtures is the second best option.
Invest in table lamps for study tables, scones for focus lighting in a corner or around a wall art and remote controlled mood lighting that lets you choose the color and vibrancy of a light fixture, depending on your mood/ aesthetics.
You can easily get the desired look - comforting or vibrant, cozy or festive, happy or pensive by just pressing a few buttons on the remote of your smart lights. You could choose your fixtures in upcycled/ recycled styles, handcrafted lights or those made out of natural fibers.
Strategic placing of lights ensures that no part of the home is oversaturated.
4. Texture and Materials
While space is all about the area available, form is about the shape of the room and the things you place in it. It could be soft, hard, curved or geometric depending upon the furniture and decor you use.
A room needs to appeal to the sense of touch, too. This is where texture comes in.
This can be incorporated with some detailed artwork or simply, by adding a few throw blankets.
Add another sensory experience to your home. Choose coarse, soft, silky furnishings.
Natural surfaces like wood and stone are pleasing to the eye and also offer a varied tactile experience. A harmonious blend of textures and materials given a unique character to your home.
5. Personalization and Expression
A home is an expression of who you are.
Interior design is all about allowing homeowners to express their personality interests and lifestyle preferences through decor choices, artwork and other personal trivia.
A place that reflects the homeowner’s identity, promotes feelings of warmth and positivity.
There can be niches in every room that speak of your choice - it could be the color on the walls, the artifacts on surfaces, the light you prefer, the upholstery you side with, the furniture you choose.
Everything in a home boils down to an expression of the self. This is how a home gets its character. When your personal tastes get an expression, there comes a feeling of belonging.
6. Organization and Clutter Control
When doing the interiors of your home, remember to take into account the space and the traffic flow which may vary from room to room.
Nonetheless, everything you put in your home has to seamlessly flow into each other, creating personalized spaces.
Make sure you don’t overwhelm your spaces. It is just as important to not clutter one corner or walkway or wall in your attempt to make it stand out as a reflection of your taste. Such arrangements will disturb the harmony of the room.
What needs to be done is taking due notice of the larger picture and ensuring that everything follows a theme.
If you choose modern, stay with ergonomic furniture and sparse accessorizing, for example. If you choose the more traditional approach, think of wood, stone, artifacts, variety in furnishings and so on.
7. Spatial Flow and Layout
A well- designed layout encourages natural flow of traffic and facilitates social interaction. It promotes a sense of openness, connectivity and harmony, enhancing the overall atmosphere and mood of the home.
A warm home allows people to move and interact within the space. Spatial flow is about making a home not just look good but feel good too.
A well-planned home ensures that each space is utilized to its potential feeling disjointed or crowded. This creating a natural progression through spaces enhances both functionality and aesthetics.
Seamless transitions are what makes every nook and cranny of a home just as comforting and beautiful.
Tips for creating effective atmosphere
In order to create the right atmosphere that alleviates your experience of home, there are just a few things that you need to keep in mind. Here are some ready reckoners:
- Lines - You may not be consciously aware but the elements in your home like furnishings, decor and architecture, create lines that bring coherence and a feeling of stability. It is these that make a room appear small or larger. You can vary the lines in your home but it is highly recommended that you make use of all - vertical, horizontal and dynamic lines as you go about doing each of your rooms.
- Space - Remember to use both the positive (filled) and negative (empty) spaces.This is important for a room to look functional and balanced.
- Colors - The right colors can change the way we see a room. They can bring back memories, make us experience varied emotions. Choosing the right color for your home is a desired skill for a homeowner.
- Form - The furniture or decor you choose for your home decides its form. It could be soft or hard or along geometric lines. Make sure not to lose the harmony of your home by mixing too many forms. It will make your home look cluttered.
- Light - Lights are mood-lifters. Choose them wisely to enhance the atmosphere of your home. There is a wide variety in the markets. Decide on your placements and the need of individual spaces before buying lighting fixtures.
- Texture and pattern - These bring in depth and add character. Think wall arts or more simply, some throws used for good measure, here and there.
Conclusion
Define clearly what you are looking for in each of your rooms. Try and make the atmosphere come together in a synergistic manner.
It is good to ideate with experts who can offer advice and solutions to ideas you have incubated. They give you a clear picture of what can be done or not. They also tell you about better alternatives and how to go about putting your vision together.
For all your interior designing needs, book a consultation with us. Speak to our experts and be on the way to building your dream home.
We are your one-stop solution for all things to do with building homes for positive lifestyles.
