The line between ‘just enough’ and ‘way too much’ is very thin. When designing a room it only takes the inclusion of one too many elements to completely throw off the balance and energy of the room. This is especially difficult when designing a ‘high contrast’ room where many different elements end up competing within the same space. There’s definitely a point where enough is enough. Designer Emily Henderson found that point when helping a client design a living room.
The homeowner had created a mood board that showed off her ideal energy for the living room. It was clear from the mood board that the room was going to be loud and difficult to balance. The homeowner was also trying to work in some of the items that she already owned, like her couches and her black and white striped curtains. The client was also set on using a palm-themed wallpaper that brought a lot of character to the space. Oh, and the original plan was to use lots of pink accents and even a pink Oriental rug. To summarize, that’s a buys, palm wallpaper with black and white striped curtains, and a pink Oriental rug. Clearly there were going to need to be some changes because even just one of those items might be enough to throw off the balance of the room’s design.
Emily bought extra sets of curtains and rugs so that she and the client could check out multiple options and combinations. She also drafted several mock-ups to give the homeowner an idea of what each finished space might look like. These were helpful, but ultimately even the best mock up can look wrong when applied to the actual room. The original look with all of the big elements was instantly all wrong. The room felt cluttered and the eye had nothing to rest on. It was a room on overdrive. After trying several different combinations of pink Oriental rug, solid light mint rug, black and white curtains, and sheer white curtains. After seeing all the different choices it was clear that a simpler design with fewer elements would create the best energy for the space without being overwhelming. Palm wallpaper, solid mint rug, and white sheer curtains.
High contrast design can be very fun and also be very high energy. But it can also easily become a busy, eye-straining mess. Take a look at all the photos in the article below to see how Emily managed to stay true to the mood board but in a way that wasn’t over-designed.
Read the full article here: The Danger of ‘High Contrast’