top of page
Writer's pictureMelissa Walsh

My Best Design Tip for Pinpointing What's Wrong with a Room

Have you ever decorated a room and knew something was off or wasn't working but you just couldn't figure out what it was? I have an inside secret on an easy way to help you identify it. The answer is to take a picture of the room! When you look at the photo, you will be able to identify more clearly what you will need to address. Seeing the room in the 2-dimensional form will help you to see a new perspective and will give you clues to identifying the problem. Here are a few things I often notice after I have photographed a space:


One thing that could become really obvious to you is perhaps the room is imbalanced in some way. For example, you may have too many dark colours in one area and other areas may be so light and airy that it creates a big contrast.

Being off-balance is one thing that could interrupt the flow of your room, or maybe you have too much clutter or too many accessories. This can make the room feel heavy. Here is an Accessorizing Tip: A common mistake people make is that they buy items that are too small when accessorizing their home, and they wonder why it doesn’t look like the magazine photos do. Using larger, more impactful pieces will cause them to stand out and have more significance. For example: Perhaps the bookcase has too many small items so they just disappear and become insignificant. Placing larger items on the bookcase will make a bigger statement.


Another thing you may notice in your photo is that the carpet could be way too small, resulting in too much hardwood exposed in the room and the furniture not being properly grounded in the space.

Taking a photo helps you see what is not working. Even the professionals use this trick when styling a room, and photographers use it to see how they need to adjust the positioning of an item or scale back some accessories to make the space stand out more and create more impact. Sometimes during the design process, I reference the before picture with the client and they are normally shocked with how the room looked photographed and how they missed so many issues they never noticed before and can’t believe how long they lived with it. Seeing a picture in 2D helps to identify the issues. Try this approach and let me know how it helps you to identify the areas that do not work, and how this tip has managed to improve your space. If you'd like to stay in touch and be notified whenever I post my next Design Tip, CLICK HERE. Melissa Walsh Melissa Walsh Interiors Inc. #designtips #designhacks #interiordesigntip

63 views0 comments

Comments


bottom of page