Does your house have a sense of ‘visual flow’? You must consider how you want to create a room that not only looks beautiful but feels cohesive as a whole. If you want your house to feel calm and connected, it is helpful to simplify and pair down accessories so your eyes have moments to rest. Try for a careful balance in a room so it has visual interest and comes to life through accessories or artwork, yet doesn’t overwhelm you with too many busy vignettes and accessories all in one space.
Of course, what feels cluttered or loud to one may feel perfect for someone else, and vice versa. If it feels right to you and you love it, then it’s right for your home and you should embrace it!
Start by evaluating the visual connection between your spaces. Choose a spot in your home from which to look around 360 degrees. Is there a sense of flow in flooring, colors, furniture, and accents? What stands out in a good or bad way? Here are three tips to help get your ‘visual flowing’ …
1) Remove objects of distraction. Identify and adjust anything that competes for visual attention. Simplifying your stuff gives your eyes places to rest and frees up the flow between rooms.
2) Plan your color choices. Select wall colors that offer pleasant contrasts or complements when viewed together. You can achieve a more subtle color flow between adjoining rooms by selecting the same paint for both spaces while adding white paint to lighten the effect in one of the rooms. (Test the ratio until you get a shade you like.) Or use subtly different tones from the same color palette.
3) Unite with an accent color. Lightly weave an accent color throughout the house in fabrics, curtains, rugs, ceramics, framed art, painted doors, and furniture.
Intentional decorating and getting a house to feel cohesive and pleasing to your own eye takes time. Adjustments often have to be made along the way to get things back to ‘the right flow.’ Obviously creating a home that works well together takes much longer than those ‘done in a day’ decorating shows!
Decorating your home isn’t about a rush to the finish line, but rather enjoying the process. Remember it’s OK to be patient!
Taken from: Simple Decorating: 50 Ways to Inspire Your Home. Copyright © 2017 by Melissa Michaels. Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon. www.harvesthousepublishers.com. Used by Permission.
About the author:
Melissa Michaels is the creator of The Inspired Room, voted the 2015 and 2014 Better Homes and Gardens Readers’ Favorite Decorating Blog. With creative, simple ideas for decorating and organizing the home, she inspires more than half a million women each month. Melissa is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Love the Home You Have, Make Room for What You Love, and The Inspired Room coffee table book. She and her husband live in Washington, where they planted a church in 2009.
