Understanding Harmony in Interior Design | BoCo (2024)

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Harmony in interior design creates likeness, fit, and repetition amidst the décor, furniture, and fixtures in your rooms. BoCo Interior Designs shows you how to arrange the pieces of a room to fit together through color, style, texture, and theme. The result is an interior atmosphere of balance, comfort, and leisure. Clear the clutter, enjoy the calm, and learn to create harmony in the spaces you love.

In the Upstate and need interior design help? Call or text BoCo Interior Designs at (864) 556-3922, or email Jenny & Grace atbocointeriordesigns@gmail.com. Or click “Get Started” for a complimentary estimate.

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Using Color

Color is the foundational component of harmonious interiors. Color harmony creates visual balance within a space through the complimentary combination, placement, and framing of tints, tones, and shades. An aesthetically pleasing palette will result in a natural equilibrium that feels welcoming. Unless your goal is a monochromatic room, it is important not to overwhelm any space with one color—or too many shades of the same color. The 60-30-10 rule guides interior designers' color choices (consciously or subliminally), in that 60% of a space is often devoted to a primary color, usually the color of the walls. The secondary color then takes up 30% of the space and complements the primary color by providing contrast. Finally, 10% of the space becomes an accent color that can draw the eye, create visual interest, and stand out. Of course, the goal of a color rule isn’t to design a room by percentages but to give designers a framework for color harmony.

What Color Makes a Room Look Bigger?

Using Texture

A room has harmonic texture when the visceral appearance and physical feeling of an interior space are welcoming to the touch. The tactile blend of smooth, coarse, fluffy, bristly, and glossy materials creates an environment of interesting contrast. Textures stem from furniture, fabrics, flooring, ceilings, wall treatments, decor items, and fixtures, and provoke depth and dimension to a space. The interplay of light with textures helps define how large or small a space feels. Strategically place furnishings with reflective textures where you want to create more light, and darker, heavier textures where you want to absorb more light. Also, avoid using just one type of finish or organic material, opting to diversify textures for vases, containers, and frameworks for plants, flowers, and art. Harmony results when you curate a variety of textures that intrigue the senses without feeling out-of-place.

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How to Incorporate Harmony in Your Interiors

Here are some simple ways to incorporate harmony into your home:

1. Start with a color palette

Having a blended color palette is the best way to play with harmony. Use various shades and tones to your core palette. Don’t veer too far away from each other as that won’t really lean into the sameness that you’re looking for. Remember the 60-30-10 rule.

2. Lean into textures

Textures are your best place to have fun. Lean into steel, stone, wood, and all the elements that you can think of. White washing walls is a unique way to start with a neutral color palette, while also playing with texture. Want to try something bold? Lime washing is another trend that gives you an immediate technique for establishing unmatched textures.

3. Play with form

Striking the right balance of geometric, organic, and abstract forms is important to harmonizing any room. Start by considering the function of the room: formal vs comfortable vs creative. Then, curate a mix of furnishings that are weighted by the primary form, and introduce secondary forms for variety and energy.

4. Add the unexpected

One unexpected piece is always fun. A unique light fixture, an accented wall or chair, an oversized plant, or a remarkable piece of artwork can excite any room. For example, if you have a higher contrast room (like an all-white room), a unique black light fixture or brass light fixture will make the room pop while not breaking the harmony that you’re seeking to achieve.

5. Step back and survey

Harmony isn’t always easy to define but you’ll know it on a first-glance. Take a step back and survey the room. What’s the first impression someone might have when they step into the room? If it’s not feeling as harmonious as it could be, play with your elements, and make some changes.

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