#1 White Rooms Always Look Bigger
As any graphic artist, or anyone that needs to know how people’s eyes move across a space, will tell you eyes tend to move from dark to light. It is uniformity in color that keeps your eye steady. Walls with different colors cause your eye to move between them and your mind to differentiate the distance between the walls. So whether you use light or dark color it is the uniformity that gives rooms a bigger feel. Keep in mind bigger isn’t always better. Different color walls may make a room seem smaller but that can convey an intimate yet livelier feel.
#2 Every Living Room Must Have At Least One:
Sofa, Chair And Coffee Table I don’t know if this is as much of a decorating requirement as it is a reflex. But you should hold back from that reflex and think about what the room is for. If it is a living room and primarily used for entertaining, you must take some time and think about how you like to entertain. For example sofas are a very efficient way of maximizing seating but if you only like to entertain in small groups you may not need that efficiency. You want that room to work for you.
#3 Sofas Always Go Against A Wall
If you do opt for the sofa don’t be afraid to be creative with how you place it in a room. A sofa is usually a large object and putting it against a wall can free up floor space. But it can also change the flow or feel of a room to angle it in a corner. Sometimes the best design ideas come from throwing out the practical efficient way of doing things.
#4 All Decor Color’s Must Match Perfectly
Your homes décor is like a painter’s canvas. You will want to decide on a pallet (set of colors) but that hardly means a few colors that match perfectly. It is usually smart to use similar tones but using different shades of the same colors will give a room a much more dynamic feel.
#5 All Ceilings Must Be White
White ceilings are the norm for the most part because of the way they help spread light around a room. There reflective quality helps illuminate the room more evenly. But if you look at it from a design perspective white isn’t always what will get you the effect you looking for. As I alluded to earlier the lightest color in a space will draw the eye. This means a white ceiling will tend to draw our attention up. Conversely with a darker colored ceiling our eyes can be drawn to other areas of a room’s décor. Whether you have a white ceiling or not is solely dependent on how you want peoples eyes to move across your room.
#6 White Shows Dirt
OK so that is not a myth. White does show dirt more than darker colors but don’t let that keeping you from using it. As I said before light colors are a great way to draws peoples eyes around an environment. There are many new fabrics, textiles and paints that are stain resistant and clean well. Of course I don’t think I will take this advice. I have two small boys who would test the stain resistant abilities of anything out there.
#7 Low Light Hides Dirt
Dim light in a room actually makes the room look dingier. If your décor is old and a little worn and you have limited funds to perk things up try adding lights. A bright room looks newer and cleaner. I know this sound counterintuitive and it would seem lighting your slightly worn room would exasperate the problem. Trust me and try it.
#8 Small Rooms Must Have Small Furniture
Fewer bigger pieces can be more effective and more efficient. I’m not talking about bigger furniture as in bulky furniture. A love seat and chair with thin arms and backs can seat more people than two chairs in as little or even less space. A day bed can add sitting or even stretching-out space, usually has thin arms and often has storage space underneath. Remember lots of small pieces can look cluttered which is exactly what a small room doesn’t need.
#9 You Pick Rugs Last When Decorating
This may also fall under the reflex not myth category but it is important we talk about it. The rug has to be understood to be the basis of your room design. Professional designers pick the area rug first to define the palette of colors for the room. As the basis of the room décor, the area rug needs to visually tie the other colors in the room together. Buying furniture and other furnishings and then trying to find a rug that has those colors is much tougher than doing it the other way around. The best procedure when decorating a room from scratch is to pick an area rug in the color array you like best and build the room décor around that.
#10 There Are Decorating Rules
So maybe this should have been the first and only myth. If you think there are rules and that if you break them everyone will laugh at you, you’re wrong. OK so maybe I don’t know your friends but you shouldn’t care what they think. Some of the best, most important, and highest paid decorators break the rules all the time. Be creative, have fun and remember your not breaking rules your starting new trends.