People looking to purchase a home spend more time looking at the living room in a three-bedroom house, than any other room – 1.5 times longer than the kitchen to be exact. Seeing as a living room is one of the most lived-in spaces in a home, it can be considered the focal point of any house. And, in interior design, balance is all about a focal point. A focal point is whatever your eyes automatically jump to when you enter a room, and by incorporating unique and decorative design techniques into your living space, you can effectively create a balanced and harmonious space to live in.
Identifying the focal point
In more traditional homes, the focal point is usually the fireplace as it is large and can be a great unique design aspect to an otherwise modern home. Fireplaces are also generally positioned in a place that is ideal for bringing people together to cozy up around it, but if your home doesn’t have a fireplace then the focal point is likely another area that still entices people to gather around. Sometimes a home will feature natural focal points within the room such as wood beam ceilings, exposed brick walls or even a large, beautiful bay window. These are great, as they make your work easy in identifying where you will begin to create balance from.
Naturally, new additions or changes to your interior (or exterior) will require you to consider the financial side of things. For any major renovations, most homeowners rely on a home improvement loan, which allows them to fund their projects without any financial hiccups. A great advantage of a home improvement loan is that it can be paid back in installments, or monthly payments.
Accentuating the main attraction
Even though your guest’s eyes will naturally be drawn towards the focal point, the idea is to help draw even more visual interest towards it by adding furniture or artwork that accentuates it. If the focal point is the exposed brick walls, add tall, slim wooden shelves on the sides of the wall with bright colored modern art pieces on them to ensure people take notice. If your home is one that lacks a focal point, you can make your own by adding vibrant, decorative wallpaper to one wall or by creating a complete photo wall that contrasts a more laid-back vibe on the other sides of the room.
Adding Balance by Continuing the Theme
If you are going to make a large golden sunbeam mirror your focal point on one of the walls in the living room, then the idea is to pepper in some other accent items that add to the theme without stealing the focal point’s thunder. In this case, you could place a golden candlestick on the coffee table below the mirror and maybe even include a similar gold-colored throw to drape over one of the chairs. This helps you create balance and tie in the theme without distracting from the main attraction.
Style Creates Balance
Designing a well-balanced living room is about a lot more than equilibrium. Decide on a style that suits you first and then take into account the existing (or non-existent) focal point in your space. With both of these in mind, you will be able to add balance to a space that absolutely needs it, as it will be the space in which you and your friends and family gather around to live in harmony and share experiences for many years to come.
