Focal points are a very important concept in interior design, and when you are decorating a room, you always need to take them into account. But a lot of people don’t know what a focal point is or how they can use them to improve the rooms in their own home. If you haven’t thought much about focal points before, this quick guide will tell you everything you need to know.
What Is A Focal Point?
A focal point in interior design refers to something that catches the eye when we first walk into a room. The eye is drawn to a specific point in the room, and so everything is built around it. This can be a piece of statement furniture, a piece of wall art, or an elaborate light fitting. There is no rule about what can and can’t be a focal point, as long as it is dramatic enough to immediately draw the eye when a person enters the room. It’s important that you think about the focal points in a room and use them as the basis for your decorating decisions.
How Many Focal Points Does A Room Have?
The short answer to this question is, as many as you like. There is no rule that says you can only have one focal point. In a living room, for example, coffee tables are often a focal point. They sit in the centre of the room and they are often large statement pieces. However, you may also have a fireplace and low hanging light fixture that comes down over the coffee table. These are all focal points that draw the eye into the centre of the room and away from the walls. They complement one another well, so the room will look good. But you do need to be careful about having too many focal points, especially in a small room, because things will start to look crowded and messy.
If you like rules and you want to make sure that you don’t go overboard, stick to the rule of 3; no more than 3 focal points in any one space, and preferably just 2 in smaller rooms.
How Do You Decide What Your Focal Points Are?
A lot of people don’t know where to start when finding focal points, but it’s easier than you think. The first thing to consider is how many open walls you have in the room. Once you eliminate any walls with doors or closets, that usually only leaves a few. If you are using wall art or a TV as a focal point, you only have a couple of options to choose from.
The next thing to consider is the practicality of the room. If the room is primarily going to be used for watching TV, that will be your main focal point. Some rooms will have multiple uses, and so they have multiple focal points. One of the biggest mistakes that people make is using the window as a sole focal point. That’s fine during the day, but the window is not a very good focal point when the sun goes down, so it’s important that you have others as well.
These are the basics of using focal points in home decor, but there are no strict rules so it’s important that you learn to experiment.
Nb. Collaborative post.
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