Benefits of Interior Design

Interior show a variation of materials ranging from the simplest to the more costly, and emphasize the fact that the individual and charm of the room do not depend upon the cost of one's belongings, but upon the beauty of their form, color and texture and the way in which they are arranged. It also shows the difference between the expression of the formality and informality; between the social and the domestic spirit in art and the difference between masculine, feminine and impersonal qualities in design. The very close interrelation of the aesthetic and the practical in this work should serve to increase the people's enjoyment of art, and at the same time enable him to bring beauty in his surroundings.

When we choose an object to be put into our house, we are doing two things. We are gratifying some need or desire, and we are through the qualities possessed by this object, unconsciously stating our personality to everyone with the power and insight to interpret the meaning behind our choice. Our home, our clothes, our pictures, and furniture all mutely proclaim to the world just what sort of a person we really are. They tell of our interest, and they prove or disprove our sincerity. They display our imagination or lack of it. We should, therefore, make a definite effort through knowledge and appreciation gained there from, to express in our choices our best personal qualities.

Mere belongings have tremendous influence in forming character. It would take an unusually strong character to remain true to high ideals of truth and sincerity if dishonesty where the keynote of the home surroundings. Such things as wall paper and metal made to stimulate wood; too shiny fabrics imitating costly damasks-- all these would be avoided if their significance were understood.

Unfortunately, quality in things is more or less intangible—as difficult to define as personality in individual—but the outstanding features can be classified and recognized. W with the eyes open one quickly reaches the point where every picture, every piece of furniture or drapery pattern speaks its note of social grace or friendly domesticity, vigor and fineness.

The curtain rose, let us say, upon a living room; before anyone comes on stage the audience formed a very definite idea of the kind of the people who would be at home in that room and, if the stage decorator understood his craft, the people would prove to be just about what was expected. If a stage setting shows a living room with glaring lights, florid wallpaper and rugs, showy lace curtains and over decorated lamps, one expects the people who live there to come on the stage in flashy clothes and using a great deal of common, unpicturesque slang. Suppose, however, that the setting shows a room with soft and mellow lights, yellow walls, rugs with subdued and harmonious coloring, thin white glass curtains with attractive chintz over curtains at the windows, well-designed furniture, with some comfortable chairs, in front of an open fire, plenty of books, flowers, a few good pictures and decorative objects that catch the light and create points of interest. The audience would expect the people who live in this room to be tastefully dressed, well bred and charming.

It would be interesting if everyone would ask' “What would my home express if it were shown on the stage?” One would then stand off in a detached and impersonal way and judges every detail. He has the choice of pictures expressed qualities to be approved or regretted? Have the lamps, vases, candlesticks and other decorative objects been chosen for their beautiful shape and color and refinement of decoration or are they over ornamented? Are these decorative objects placed where they are needed-- to relieve a bare spot, to create interesting shapes and spots of color or to balance some other objects? Or, on the other hand, are they put up for show purpose? Are they so numerous that they do not enhance one another or the object on which they are placed, but add to the confusion of an over decorated room? Does the furniture express the kind of person its owner would like to be? If the result is not entirely satisfactory, it would be a good plan to find out just what is the matter.

Furniture, hangings, pictures and decorative objects may suggest either a masculine quality, a feminine quality, or they may be intermediate. Usually the same things would not be chosen to furnish a bedroom for a very feminine girl, a man's room and a guest room. While it is undesirable to have the girls room look weak, a femine quality will result from the selection of a little lighter type of furnishing—a slightly smaller, finer pattern in the drapery materials and a little more grace in the lines of the furniture and the other objects. Then colors in a femine room should be somewhat different from those in a man's room. They should not be lacking in character but the colors many will be lighter and the textures' finer. A man's room needs not to be dark or heavy to be masculine in quality, but it should have no appearance of “daintiness”; it ought to be more solid than a woman's room and somewhere a forceful note of contrasting color would be found. A guest room should be intermediate—that is, just between the masculine and feminine so that either a man or a woman will feel at home in it. A transitional quality should be present, which may be achieved by selecting furnishings neither very small nor very large, and colors neither dainty nor heavy.