Mastering Interior Design: Elements, Principles, and Techniques

1. Interior Design 1

2. What is Interior Design? • Interior Design is the planning and decorating of the space inside a building. An interior designer creates an environment suited to the people who live there by the use of architectural features, furniture and decorative techniques.

3. Good Decorating is made up of many factors. • Taste • Value • Style • Individuality • Comfort • Convenience

4. What is Good Taste? • Suitability of objects and the manner in which they are blended.

5. How do you acquire good taste? • Learn the principles and elements of design. Apply them repeatedly until they become second nature to you. • Observe good design in magazines, books, sample homes, historic homes, etc. • Practice analyzing good room designs to see if they have followed the principles and elements of design. • Learn about accessories and how they project taste. • Be discriminating – don’t follow fads. • Good taste is not determined by cost. Taste is a sense of what is appropriate to your way of life.

6. Types of Design Structural and Decorative.

7. Structural Design • “Form follows Function”: the function (purpose) of the object dictates the form it takes. Example: chair, table, bed. Enrichment comes from the material or the decorative design that is chosen.

8. Decorative Design • Naturalistic • Stylistic • Geometric • Abstract

9. Naturalistic – the motif is reproduced from nature in its natural form – birds, flowers, etc.

10. Stylistic – Motif is from nature but is adapted and does not appear as it would in real life.

11. Geometric – nature is not necessarily the source – based on shapes, plaids, stripes, checkers

12. Abstract – based on shapes but is less formal or rigid. Has “stylized geometric” shapes but no pattern.

13. Characteristics of Good Design • Function • Construction • Aesthetics (Beauty)

14. Function • Usefulness, convenience, and organization. • Good design makes a product or room better or easier to use. • Considers the needs of the people using the item. • Accommodates the ages, sizes and physical abilities of the user. • Provides easy access for all people and eliminates barriers.

15. Construction ( includes materials and structure) • Materials are the different kinds of fabrics, woods, metals, plastics or stones, used to build products used in a room • Materials need to be chosen to support the function of a room • When selecting materials: consider design , function, quality, initial cost, maintenance, and long-term cost of repair and replacement.

16. Aesthetics ( Beauty) • Pleasing appearance or effect. • Communicates a message or stimulates an emotion. • Personalized design reflects the aesthetics a person wants to express in a room. • Beauty is difficult to define because each person has their own personal taste. • Good aesthetic design is pleasing to many people.

17. Construction, Function and Aesthetics all must be considered to create a successful design