When Scale Doesn't Matter

There are some rules to decorating, but if you peruse the high end magazines and projects of top notch designers working these days, you soon realize that rules are often disregarded.  Whether it's done for personal taste, dramatic impact, or simply to do something unique, rules in decorating are often made to be broken.  This is when decorating becomes art and in the hands of a real designer, it has incredible results.

Scale is one of those elements that can be toyed with to create real drama.  A large object in a small space or a small object in a large space can really command your eye and focus your attention.  If you want a relaxed, peaceful, calm interior, scaling something to fit the space is very appropriate.  However, if you want some drama or to create a really personal, artistic statement, try over or under scaling an object of importance in a space.

Dick Bories and Jim Shearron - Elle Decor

Doesn't that small, beautifully carved clock command attention in the vast expanse of all that white?

Patrick Printy - Elle Decor

The justaposition of the hefty brass candlestick on top of the tiny table arouses curiosity.

Susan Ferrier - House Beautiful

Is there any doubt that it's all about the chandelier?

Barry Dixon - House Beautiful

The large mirror makes a grand gesture. By comparison, the sconces are dwarfed, making the space seem even grander.

Steven Gambrel - Elle Decor

The vintage Italian light fixture is small in scale with the rest of the room.  That scale dynamic emphasizes it's importance.

Jim Hodgins - House Beautiful

That piece of art above, reaching from sconce to sconce and from the ceiling down past the top of the sofa creates a strong visual in this room and commands your attention.  Don't you feel you're in the presence of a real masterpiece?

Steven Gambrel - Elle Decor

What a strong, architectural presence the overscaled dentil moulding gives this room 

Amilee Wendt - ASID Showhouse 2011

I loved this light fixture Amilee Wendt chose for the study in the showhouse I was in last spring.  It was such a bold statement.

Jay Griffith - House Beautiful

Veranda

I love how dramatic this little lamp and table looks in the tall niche one would typically want to fill with art or stuff.

Anytime you break the rules, you must be careful it doesn't look like a mistake.  In the hands of masterful designers, breaking the rules can become art.

Pick Something

Some of the most successful interiors are developed by selecting one major element in a space and making it the star.  Everything else in the room plays a supporting role, remaining visually quiet. Like a choir with a soloist, a cast of actors in a movie with it's lead character, or a ballet troupe with a prima ballerina, not everyone or everything can shine all at once.  The more quiet the supporting parts, the more dramatic the outcome will be.

Ceiling - no showstopping, sculptural furnishings or colorful fabrics here....just that amazing ceiling.

Color - so rich you want to just wrap yourself up in it.

Pattern - the bed is almost non-existent, everything else plain.

Art - so dramatic, nothing else competes.

Vessel sink - with support from vanity top and walls.

Wall finish - the banquette is so neutral and unassuming by comparison.

Marble - details and cabinetry are all so simple.

Wallpaper - nothing else pretends to compete.

Sometimes it's best not to overwork everything in a space.  Let one thing stand alone and appreciate the plain-ness of the rest.

Same Color Walls and Mouldings

Suzanne Kasler, Kim Winkler - House Beautiful

Using the same color on walls and mouldings in interiors can be effective in doing many things.  Most importantly, it makes the lines or bands of contrast go away and a stronger, bolder, somewhat more contemporary look emerges.  Where contrasting moulding might have visually divided up the space above, it is now unified with one color statement.  Those beautiful, rich wood doors really stand out in this single color space.

Gwen Driscoll - Elle Decor

The graceful lines of the furniture and rich color in the artwork stand out in this interior.  The same color treament updates and modernizes the traditional furnishings.

Kay Douglass - House Beautiful

Painting the wall mouldings and door the same color as the walls simplifies the look in this dining room. The texture of the ceiling is allowed to be the star.

Barry Dixon - Traditional Home

The colorful artwork really stands out on the wall with mouldings subdued by a same color treatment.  

Barry Dixon - Traditional Home

The intricate carving in the mouldings above is actually more pronounced.  If they had been painted a contrasting color you would have noticed the banding or lines of the moulding, not the detail of the carving.

Barbara Westbrook - House Beautiful

Here the same color on the mouldings gives a bigger impact to the overall design.  That smokiness and romantic quality would have been destroyed with the crispness of white mouldings.

Elaine Griffin - Elle Decor

This color makes a bolder statement painted on walls, baseboards, and window trim and shutters.

Robert Goodwin - House Beautiful

The gilded antiques above are set against a simple backdrop that is not fussed with a contrasting moulding.

Kay Douglass - Veranda

Just gorgeous.  A simplified, modernized version of a traditional dining room.  It doesn't forget it's past, but is such a creative and dramatic reinvention.

While not appropriate in every situation, the same color used on walls, mouldings, and doors can add an updated, bolder look to a room.  The lines running around the room or "outlining" disappears and color envelopes the space.  The objects in the room become more visually pronounced and emphasized. What a great tool for instantly changing the look or feel in a room!

Window Treatments - Part 2, Blending with the Walls

Back to discussing window treatments! Window treatments that blend with the walls have a softening effect on a room.  Whether it's panels, valances, or shades, treatments of the same color or tone as the walls don't call attention to themselves.  Particularly in a light room, I think they have a way of attracting your eye to the view and not stopping your eye at the window.

The space above was a butler's pantry I did in a Showhouse in 2008 here in The Woodlands.  This home was located in the Garden District of this area and I wanted to relate it to the gardens outside. You see how the walls and Roman shade blend together to create a soft look and the lush garden is quite apparent.  The window treatment doesn't compete with the view.

Here's another project of mine where the sheer panels blend with the walls and envelope of the room, softening the bedroom and not competing with that beautiful view.  Your eye looks right through those window treatments.

These beautiful patterned sheers with a rope trim provide a gauzy, romantic softness at the French doors in my recent Showhouse room. They're kind of like an invitation to step out on to the balcony.

There are many other designers who also use this tool very successfully.

Martin Lawrence Bullard - Elle Decor

Ellen O'Neill - House Beautiful

Emily Robison - Elle Decor

Tracery Interiors - House Beautiful

Tobi Fairley

Kate McIntyer and Brad Huntzinger - Traditional Home

Elle Decor

Jason Bell - House Beautiful

Ginger Barber - House Beautiful

Frank Delledonne - House Beautiful

In dark rooms, same color window treatments also give a romantic, soft feel.  They sort of turn the room in on itself and have a cocooning affect.

Elle Decor

Nancy Price - House Beautiful

Alessandra Branca - House Beautiful

David Mann - House Beautiful

This is a great NYC view. Imagine if the designer had used some contrasting, colorful panels at the window instead of the same smoky gray.  It would've stopped your eye and not felt nearly as romantic.

Window treatments can add such personality to a room.  Next window treatment post will be about pattern at the windows!  Have a great weekend everyone.  I'm moving my daughter back to her college apartment.  Fun!

Patterns of Light

Zamzam Riad Boutique Hotel

It's not really about that orb floating inside the groin vault in this hotel in Marakech, is it?  It's about that exquisite pattern of light that the orb creates.  Magical.

Circa Lighting Blog - the shadows here align with the vaults in the ceiling

Selecting lighting for a space involves so many considerations.  How much wattage needs to come from a fixture? What type of bulbs?  What direction does it need to illuminate? How does it scale in the room?  What material and finish is best for the space? What about style?  These are just a few of the things designers have to consider when selecting lighting for a project. 

Zamzam Riad Boutique Hotel

Sometimes the pattern of light created by the fixture is an afterthought.....a reward after the fixture is installed.  Many times there is no way to see the fixture lit beforehand. There may not be a photograph of it lit and choosing one that is in stock and installed in a local showroom for a client to see live and in person is rare. So, when the fixture is flicked on just after it's installed and we're all looking up with an expectant smile, hoping it will do everything it's supposed to, and then.....

My bathroom fixture - Circa Lighting

I LOVE this moment.  The pattern of light created in that particular environment is always unique.  Color, texture, and objects in the room are all affected in a different way.

Zamzam Riad Boutique Hotel

Sconce by Two Hills Studio, Austin, TX

Sorry for the glare here, my job site photo!  Love the pattern on the ceiling though.

Very blurry shot of one of my master bath remodels in progress.  Moroccan fixture installed. I'll post the final shot soon!

Another Zamzam Riad photo - beautiful!

Patterns of light in a room add another layer to the overall depth and richness of a space.  It's not always about the beautiful fixture, but about the way it brings everything to life!