Incorporate Furniture Scale Into a Design Plan
Scale is another aspect of design to consider. Scale refers to the relative size of furniture, rooms, buildings and the people using the space. It's why an antique armoire looks better in historic houses with tall ceilings than it does in a modern house with an 8-ft. ceiling. Keep all furnishings consistent in scale to each other, the occupants, the room, and the building of which they are a part. When the time comes to purchase furnishings, keep the arrangement simple and use only as many pieces as are needed. Overdone or overcrowded rooms can be very unappealing and difficult to live in. Furnishings used together should be similar in scale to achieve harmony. A small end-table with long, thin legs will look out of place beside a large sofa. The scale of furnishings must suit the room. Huge overstuffed chairs are out of scale with a small room and make it seem smaller. The size of furniture must be right for the comfort of those who use it most. For example, some tables do not have knee room for long-legged people. Some chairs are too long in the seat from front to back for shorter people. Lamps should be large enough for the tables and chairs with which they are used. If the lamps seem too small, larger shades may help. Pictures and mirrors should be large enough for the furniture under them or the wall on which they hang. Try grouping several small pictures, or frame them with larger mats to make them look more important. Sometimes the table may be too small for the picture or mirror above it. Try making the table seem larger and more important by using plants around it. Draperies and curtains should not be too skimpy for the height and the width of the window. An abundance of inexpensive material is better than an insufficient amount of costly material. Rugs should be large enough for the floor area. Floor coverings laid wall-to-wall, or nearly so, unify a room and make it seem more spacious.
Published by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
|
|