Behind the Scenes: Mastering the Art of Dramatic Statements While Keeping Your Entire Space Harmonious: A Guide to Achieving Impactful Moments
In the world of interior design, creating a balanced and visually appealing space is key. Designer Dan Lovatt, a graduate with 1st class honours in Interior Design from Teesside University, suggests using emphasis to tell a story within a room. This strategic approach adds depth to a space while maintaining a well-balanced environment.
To effectively use emphasis, Lovatt recommends establishing a strong focal point that immediately catches the viewer's eye. This focal point can be an oversized artwork, a statement piece of furniture, an accent wall, or a unique architectural feature. By anchoring the room with one dominant element, a clear visual hierarchy is created, allowing all other design elements to support and balance this emphasis without overwhelming the space.
Supporting strategies include balancing the focal point with complementary colours, textures, and patterns elsewhere in the room to maintain harmony. The use of scale and proportion thoughtfully ensures the emphasized element fits naturally with surrounding furnishings and the room’s size. A cohesive colour palette with a base tone and well-chosen accent colours unifies the space around the emphasis. Introducing texture and pattern variations subtly adds depth without competing with the main focal point. Balancing light and space enhances the emphasis, making focal points feel inviting and stand out without overpowering the room.
However, overusing emphasis can make a room feel chaotic or disjointed. The key principle is to create one commanding point of emphasis balanced with supporting elements, so the space feels stable but interesting, avoiding clutter or competition among design features.
Alex Alonso, the founder of Mr Alex Tate, shares a similar approach. He utilizes layers to create focal points within a space, and his signature style, called "modern Victorian," celebrates storytelling. In one of his projects, the guest bedroom featured heavy walls and drapery, but the eyes were drawn up to the less busy ceiling treatment.
Emphasis in interior design is a strategic way of focusing viewers on a specific feature or design component within a space. Evaluating a space in its simplest form helps in determining whether to elevate or work around the focal point in the design. For instance, in spaces lacking architectural features, supersized artworks, high gloss finishes, ceramic lighting, and patterned upholstery can add emphasis.
Dan Lovatt, the founder of Lovatt Studio, believes that a well-placed focal point adds character and identity to a space. He emphasizes that good design is about more than just pretty spaces, but creative solutions that help us live and feel better. Balance in interior design comes from restraint, allowing space to breathe, using neutral elements that support the focal point, and ensuring the eye has moments of rest.
By using emphasis strategically, interior designers can create visually appealing spaces that tell a story, guide the viewer's eye purposefully, and add drama and interest to the space.
- In the world of interior design, designer Dan Lovatt encourages using emphasis to create a focal point that immediately catches the viewer's eye and adds depth to a living room, for instance, by using an oversized artwork or a statement piece of furniture.
- Balancing the focal point with complementary colors, textures, and patterns elsewhere in the room helps maintain harmony, such as by introducing texture and pattern variations subtly or by using a cohesive color palette with a base tone and well-chosen accent colors.
- Alex Alonso, the founder of Mr Alex Tate, also utilizes layers to create focal points within a space, and his signature style, "modern Victorian," celebrates storytelling, as seen in one of his projects where the guest bedroom's heavy walls and drapery drew the eyes up to the less busy ceiling treatment.
- Dan Lovatt, the founder of Lovatt Studio, believes that a well-placed focal point adds character and identity to a space, and he emphasizes that good design is about more than just pretty spaces but creative solutions that help us live and feel better.
- In spaces lacking architectural features, emphasis can be added using elements like supersized artworks, high gloss finishes, ceramic lighting, or patterned upholstery.
- By using emphasis strategically, interior designers can create visually appealing spaces that guide the viewer's eye purposefully, tell a story, and add drama and interest to the space, while balancing light and space to enhance the focal points and ensure the room feels stable but interesting.
