Interior Design Masterclass: Ultimate Essentials & Insider Techniques | Charlotte Kwok | Skillshare
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Interior Design Masterclass: Ultimate Essentials & Insider Techniques

teacher avatar Charlotte Kwok, Interior Designer, Realtor and Cat Mom!

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Lessons in This Class

    • 1.

      Course Introduction

      1:11

    • 2.

      Course Overview

      0:31

    • 3.

      SECTION 1: THE PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

      0:31

    • 4.

      Symmetrical, Asymmetrical, and Radial Balance

      2:27

    • 5.

      Emphasis, Proportion, and Contrast

      2:36

    • 6.

      Rhythm and Harmony

      1:32

    • 7.

      SECTION 2: COLOR THEORY

      0:33

    • 8.

      Types of Color and Properties

      2:22

    • 9.

      Color Schemes: Analogus

      1:48

    • 10.

      Color Schemes: Complimentary

      1:12

    • 11.

      Color Schemes: Split Complimentary

      1:19

    • 12.

      Color Schemes: Monochromatic

      1:15

    • 13.

      SECTION 3: LIGHTING DESIGN

      0:34

    • 14.

      The 4 Types of Lighting

      3:05

    • 15.

      What are Lumens?

      1:24

    • 16.

      Light Temperature

      1:40

    • 17.

      SECTION 4: HOW TO SELECT PAINT & SHEENS

      0:35

    • 18.

      How Light Affects Paint

      2:56

    • 19.

      Undertones & Lightening Paint

      1:16

    • 20.

      Paint Sheens

      0:58

    • 21.

      Paint Test First

      0:21

    • 22.

      SECTION 5: FURNITURE, ART & DRAPERY

      0:27

    • 23.

      How to: Furniture Layouts

      3:21

    • 24.

      How to: Hang Art

      1:49

    • 25.

      How to: Hang Drapery

      2:35

    • 26.

      How to: Drapery Fullness

      2:31

    • 27.

      SECTION 6: FLORALS & GREENERY

      0:36

    • 28.

      Short Vases

      2:25

    • 29.

      Tall Vases

      1:53

    • 30.

      Proportions of Arrangements

      1:21

    • 31.

      BONUS SECTION: LIVING LUXURIOUSLY ON A BUDGET

      0:19

    • 32.

      Tip 1

      1:21

    • 33.

      Tip 2 and 3

      1:13

    • 34.

      Tip 4

      1:13

    • 35.

      Class Project & Conclusion

      0:33

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About This Class

Want to go beyond your Pinterest board and learn straight from an Interior Designer?

This course covers Essential Design Theory and Specific Industry Skills that will take your designs to the next level.

This 1-hour course is divided into 5 sections + a bonus section; the lessons are filled with examples that demystify abstract concepts and walk you through how to apply useful design techniques in your own home.

What you'll take away from this course:

  • The Design Principles and how to use them
  • Color Theory and how to apply Color to Interior Spaces
  • How to elevate your home with Lighting Design
  • How to Select Paint Colors and Sheens
  • How to arrange Furniture, Artwork and hang Drapery
  • Bonus: How to live Luxuriously on a Budget

Don't worry - Whether you are a design enthusiast, a stay at home parent, or a busy professional - this course was created for students from all levels.

Meet Your Teacher

Teacher Profile Image

Charlotte Kwok

Interior Designer, Realtor and Cat Mom!

Teacher

Hello, I'm Charlotte!

I'm a Realtor and Interior Designer from Toronto, Canada.

See full profile

Level: All Levels

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Transcripts

1. Course Introduction: Hi. Thank you for joining me today in our course interior design Masterclass. I'm so glad you're here. My name is Vokey. I'm an interior designer from Toronto, Canada, and I've had the privilege to design luxury homes for my clients over the past few years. I've learned a few things along the way, and I want to share my knowledge with you so you can create a beautiful home for yourself too. Well, first off, what is an interior designer? What is that profession? And what do we do into your design is the art and science of creating functional and aesthetically pleasing spaces that enhance the human experience. Designers are essentially problem solvers. We take our technical knowledge as well as our creativity to create functional solutions that our clients can enjoy. While I can teach you the more technical aspects of my career, such as building code, acoustics, life safety as well as designing for the less abled. We will talk about the decoration and styling aspects of my job, as well as talk about core design principles and theory. 2. Course Overview: our course is created for beginners who are passionate about interior design. By the end of this course, you will have learned core design principles and theory as well as industry knowledge, such as how to choose paint colors, lighting design, how to decorate your home with furniture, artwork and drapery, as well as how to elevate your home with florals and greenery. I've also included a bonus section that will teach you how to create a luxurious home on a budget. 3. SECTION 1: THE PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN: welcome to our for a section. The principles of design design principles are the building blocks of every design. Their balance, emphasis, scale contrast, rhythm and harmony. Understanding our design principles is the first step to creating an aesthetically pleasing space. We're going to explore how these work by looking at interior spaces as well as how you can apply them in your home. 4. Symmetrical, Asymmetrical, and Radial Balance: Our first design principle is balance. There are actually three types of balance. The first type is symmetrical balance, meaning that if we visually divided a room in 1/2 the elements on the left side would be identical or similar to the right side. Pierre symmetry evokes a very formal feeling, so it's best for rooms such as dining rooms or formal living rooms. In this lobby, space symmetry creates the grand, luxurious feeling. We can also create symmetrical balance with elements that are different as long as the visual weight balances on both sides. We have a sofa on one side and two armchairs on the other, but the visual weight balances because the chairs together or almost the same size as the sofa. This living room was a lot more approachable and casual compared to the one before. When designing your own space, take a look at the existing architectural features in the room to see what makes sense. In this example, there's a statement fireplace that center to the room, so it's the right solution to create a symmetrical layout around it. The next type of balance is asymmetrical balance, which means that the two sides are different, but balance is still achieved. This one is the most complicated to design but creates an effortless modern look. In this image. We have a substantial sectional sofa on the left side and two leggy armchairs with a side table on the right side. This composition is able to balance out because the chairs are actually darker, whereas the sofa is light. The fireplace in the corner is also on the same side as the chairs, which adds visual weight to the right side when working with your own space. An easy way to create asymmetrical balance is to place one big element on one side and several smaller elements on the other side. The third and last type of balance is radio balance. This has to do with arranging the elements of the room in a circular formation. When designers create radio balance, the elements are visually radiating outward from a center point, been creating radio balance at home. The easiest way is to start with a large circular rug and build your furniture layout around the shape. Place around coffee table in the middle with an interesting sculpture or floral arrangement . This will be your Centrepoint as well as your focal point 5. Emphasis, Proportion, and Contrast: next up, we have the principle of emphasis, which has to do with using specific techniques to draw attention to an element, thus creating a focal point. The ways we can create emphasis are contrast, isolation and placement of our design elements. The biggest focal point in this image is the vase on the right with the dry flowers. This is emphasis. By contrast, no other object has something inside it. You may have also noticed the little clay pot on the bottom left. That one is a perfect example of emphasis by isolation. The third object you noticed is a square art piece on the wall. Things that are placed in the middle are usually focal points by default. That is called emphasis by placement. Our third principle is proportion. Proportion has to do with the relationship between elements, typically in terms of size or quantity. In design. Good proportions means that the elements make sense together, or the ratio between their height and with is harmonious. We also don't really pay attention to proportion until it's off. But acorn. This open shelving image looks very proportional because none of the objects are so big that they touch the top of the shelf. That would make us feel very uncomfortable, wouldn't it? The objects were also not so small that there's to much negative space. When we look at the objects individually, you can also tell that they're heightened with ray. Shoes are all around the same except the object on the ground, which is there to create emphasis. Number four contrast. This one is my favorite design principle, without contrast, designs or bland and lacked personality to create contrast, We mix opposite elements together to create visual interest. There are many ways you can create contrast in a space. If we look at this example immediately, you'll see that they've got a few colors happening. The green shower tile, the gray marble flooring, the wood vanity and the brass plumbing fixtures. The designer also added pink accessories and lavender. How about contrast in materials the cool hard tile, the grainy wood and the shiny brass with the white countertop? And also, did you notice the soft fringy linen towel? When designing a space, keep in mind how you can implement contrast between the elements. The easiest way is to incorporate objects with different textures, sizes and colors into your home 6. Rhythm and Harmony: our fifth principle is rhythm. You've heard a rhythm in music. Rhythm and music is a repeated pattern of sound that creates movement in the musical piece . Rhythm and design is about repeating. Elements are arranging them in sequence to create visual movement. It's easy to apply rhythm in your own home. Do you have a long hallway? Think about repeating a few of the same pendants along the ceiling or a row of framed art on the wall that lead you down the hallway or a pattern runner with repeating shapes. In the left example, the designer also implemented an architectural detail, which are these wooden beams to create rhythm by repetition. At last we come to number six harmony, which is achieved when our design is balanced and pleasing to the eye. Think about harmony as putting all of the previous principles we learned about together. Let's take a look at this example. I can see asymmetrical balance in the black shape of the painting, which speaks to the little objects on the consul behind the sofa. I can see emphasis. What stands out to me are again the black shape in the art, the bust, sculpture and the greenery. The proportions of all of our objects are also very good. Nothing is out of proportion, and lastly, there's a healthy amount of contrast in texture, color and materials. When you finished your design, take a step back and look at what you've achieved. When everything is in the right place, you've created harmony. 7. SECTION 2: COLOR THEORY: thanks for joining me in section two of our course color theory. Color theory is the art and science of how humans perceive color as designers. Understanding colors is one of the most important aspect of decorating a home. Did you know the colors have a psychological effect? They can affect our mood as well as our productivity. In this section, we will look at color theory, how to combine colors and how to apply color in your home. Let's get into it. 8. Types of Color and Properties: This is the color wheel. You've probably seen this before. It looks complicated, but it really isn't. We'll break it down the color wheels divided into three types of colors. We'll start with primary colors, which are red, blue and yellow. All colors are created or derived by mixing the primary colors. This also means that bright blue and yellow cannot be created by mixing other colors. Now, if we mixed red and yellow, we'll get orange. If we mix red and blue, we get violet. If we mix blue and yellow will get green. We call these secondary colors. What if we mixed primary colors with secondary colors? Well, that creates tertiary colors. These next three terms are important to know tint, shade and tone. By adding these to our colors on the color wheel, we get an entire spectrum of colors. Tent means to add white to a hue. You just means a specific color. In the color spectrum, the more white you add, the lighter the hue becomes on the closer against to being white. Shade is the add black to a hue. Shading will dark in a hue until it becomes black tone. Is that great? to a hue, which tells the color, making it less vibrant and saturated. We want to keep these concepts in mind for later, when we discuss how to choose paint colors, another property of color that will need to know its value value refers to the relative lightness or darkness of hue. The key word here is relative because our I can really only perceive lightness or darkness when it's compared to something else. Yellow inherently has a higher value than blue, so that's why we find it very hard to read yellow text against white paper. Every color has a different value, and a really easy way to visualize lists is to turn a color image to black and white. Because then it's really easy to tell which colors are higher in value and which are lower now when we want to tend to hew, will add white to it and thus increasing its value. When we add shade to a here we had black to it, which decreases it's value when designing our home. We not only want to vary the tents, tones and shades we use, but the value as well. This creates contrast, which is one of our design principles 9. Color Schemes: Analogus : Now let's learn how to combine colors. Today. We'll look at some basic color schemes that are found in the color wheel as well as breakdown how you can apply these schemes to your designs. The first is the analogous scheme, which is created from colors that are directly adjacent each other on the color wheel. In this example, the scheme is red violets, which is magenta, violet and blue Violet. As you can see, this creates a very vibrant design, and if that's what you like, totally run with it. But let me show you how you can incorporate an analogous scheme in a more subtle way. This is a mood board I created in the analogous scheme. I started with choosing green, blue and blue green off my colors. If just using the pure colors is too bold and vibrant for you, but you still want to incorporate color, take advantage of tints, tones and shades of these colors, as well as making sure there's a difference and value as we talked about previously. This will be much more harmonious and easy on the eye notice that repaired low value teal. Other chairs with a low value would table. They look very harmonious together. I also incorporated brighter tints that are found in the light fixtures and the rug. Another chip you can try is incorporating the color you like in something found in nature, so it feels less deliberate. In this case, I chose green succulents in a trough as a decorative piece on the table. Notice that was just a few items have created a combination of many varying textures that add interest to the design. Another chairs, a wool rug, a grainy wood table, smooth metal light fixtures and textural succulents. Always keep in mind for your own home, how you can play with juxtaposing textures and materials. 10. Color Schemes: Complimentary: Next we have the complementary scheme, complimentary schemes, air created by using any two colors on the color wheel that are directly opposite one another. This creates of super dramatic look, let me show you how I created a design using a complementary scheme. This is a living room mood board based on blue and orange. Again, we're not going to use the pure blue or pure orange, but shades and tones of these colors. I started with a blue velvet sofa that I love, and this is quite vibrant. Then I added a bluish gray rug that visually tones down the blue that I added in orange chairs, not a bright orange, but a shade of orange so it isn't competing with the blue. The next thing I added is the pearl side table beside the sofa. Burl is a wood material that naturally has an orangey tone. Remember the chip of incorporating colors from nature. Next, I finish up the rest of the space by adding in a table lamp of for bench, a side table, floor lamp and coffee table and friends. As a designer, I'm telling you, that is absolutely okay. To mix metals to is fine, but I probably wouldn't do three 11. Color Schemes: Split Complimentary: next, we have a split complementary scheme. If complementary is too strong for you, split complementary lets you create a colorful room that it's more harmonious but still allows you to play. With contrast. Split complementary means a hue, plus the Hughes that are beside the one that is opposite. So if yellow and violent or complementary, we would choose the two Hughes beside Violet to pair with yellow. This mood board is created with blue, violet, orange and yellow, similar to our analogous scheme were working with three colors, but one of them is on the opposite side of the other two on the color wheel. I'm going to teach you a trick here to make this scheme work for you. Opposite colors can be very strong, so choose one of them to be your base. I chose orange for my design. I then included many elements in this room that are tints, tones and shades of orange in various textures and patterns. So what have essentially done is turned orange into a neutral. As you can see, there is orange and lamps, the bench, the rug, the chair and even the pale orange eBay age as the wallpaper. Another thing I did in this design is brought in more yellow tones through breast metal finishes 12. Color Schemes: Monochromatic: now the last type of scheme you need to know is the monochromatic scheme. Mono means one and chromatic means having to do with color. Monochromatic has to do with the scheme that is made up of tints and shades of only one Hugh. There is a common misconception that monochromatic means black and white. So now you know that any color can be the base of a monochromatic scheme. Let's take a look at an example, shall we? For our last mood board, I've made a few tweaks to the previous one to create our monochromatic mood board. Monochromatic color schemes, maybe a popular preference for many of you watching the scores. So let me offer a few tips to really make this look sophisticated to make your monochromatic home interesting. Think about how you can add in different patterns and textures into the mix. In this room, we have an Orangeman launch, tonal fabric, bed frame, a pattern cushion as well as velvet cushions are glossy lacquer finished table lamps contrast with all of the mat materials that are in this space. And lastly, we want to think about the tactile aspect of our design, the touch and feel. So I've mixed woods, metals, fabrics and first, to really create a layered setting 13. SECTION 3: LIGHTING DESIGN: welcome the Section three lighting. Letting is one of my favorite topics. My mentor, who has designed many luxury retail stores all around the world. He has always said that lighting is 90% of a project. I think that it's so true for those who are not trained in a tier design, lighting can sometimes be an overlooked topic. Let me tell you that great lighting makes an average design look better, and bad lighting makes a good design look terrible. 14. The 4 Types of Lighting: now lighting is divided into four different types. Ambient task, accent and decorative. Each of these are important in their own way, and the key to an amazing looking interior space is knowing how to layer these. The first type of lighting will be talking about is ambient lighting. It really just means general illumination. When we talk about layering light, think of ambient lighting as our base layer. Any room should start with a good base of ambient lighting that creates enough brightness to see well fixtures that are used for ambient light or typically recessed fixtures such as pot lights or ceiling fixtures like chandeliers and flush mounts. If you just stop here, you'll have a room that has no dimension to it. Everything will just look kind of flat because this is only our base layer. Task lighting is pretty self explanatory. Its job is to help you complete a certain task. If you're working at a desk, you may need a directional desk lamp to read papers or you have allowed share that you like to do some casual reading on. You want a floor lamp that is tall, it on the chair and pointing light downward to eliminate the book or a newspaper you're trying to read. If you read in bed, there are spotlight. You can get to help you with that as well. Another type of task lighting is under cabinet lighting. It not only helps you see what you're doing on the countertop, but usually also doubles as a beautiful accent lighting, which will get into in a minute. Vanity lights such as this mirror with a built in led ease, illuminate your face from the front rather than from above, like a pot light. This mitigates any harsh shadows, so you can clearly see what you're doing when applying makeup or try to pop that pimple, the next type of lighting will be looking at is accent lighting. Designers use accent lighting to highlight certain areas. Whether it is the wall, the floor, a staircase or a special piece of artwork. Accent lighting allows us to draw focus to areas we want the viewer to appreciate. This may come in the form of cove lights, as you can see in the first photo adjustable track lights or sconces and pot lights that are aimed at paintings, photographs or sculptures. This is the type of lighting that tends to get overlooked, but they at an incredible layer to any space. This is the next layer we want to add to our ambient lighting to create the mood we want in a room. Last but not least, we have decorative lighting. Think about it as jewelry for the home. Decorative lighting is there to look pretty and should not be used as the only source of light to illuminate a room. Most of the time, if you only use decorative lighting, it is not gonna be enough illumination for the room. Another thing to consider is a type of light they cast because sometimes decorative lighting is made with crystal or colored glass. Or maybe it's a lantern that doesn't have a shade. They might cast very bizarre shadows that we don't want. So we counter act that by installing pot lights as our base first 15. What are Lumens?: now about your thinking. Well, how do I know how bright my room should be? How much light do I need? The answer to that question is lumens. Lumens is the measure of the brightness of the light source. Well, we shouldn't get lumens confused with Watts, which is actually a measure of electrical power. Here's what I mean for an incandescent bowl to produce 1500 lumens off light. It requires 100 watts for an led bow to do the same thing and produced 1500 lumens. It only requires around 16 watts. To find out how many lumens you need in a room, take the square footage of your room and multiply it by these numbers on the chart that represent lumens per square foot. To get the recommended number of lumens needed in that room, the mountain lumens needed goes up. If you're using the space for a task, or being able to see what you're doing is an important factor. This is just a rough guy for you and not a rule, because some people may prefer brighter bedrooms and others, for example. Also, you may need to adjust this if you have double headed ceilings, such as an open living area. But going from eight feet to 10 feet ceilings shouldn't make an enormous difference. When you're shopping for light bulbs, just check the package to see how many lumens that the led provides and just added up according to what your room needs. 16. Light Temperature: We've only discussed the types of lighting and the amount of lumens we need for a room, but we haven't discussed light temperature. This is really important now. Light temperature is measured in Tell Vince instead of Celsius or Fahrenheit incandescent bulbs. Castlight. That is typically about 2700 K Casting an orangey tone and fluorescent bulbs are about 5000 K casting a blue tone when you buy led lighting, they usually come in a few standard options, such as 2700 or 3000 or 4000 K And if you're retrofitting an existing light fixture now, there are smart bulbs that are connected to your phone with an app that lets you adjust from 2000 all the way to 5000 k Remember the lower the light temperature, the warmer the light, the higher the late temperature. The bluer light temperature is important because it will enhance the moon we're trying to create. But if done incorrectly, it will do just the opposite. This affects how your paint colors will also look, but we will talk about that in the next section. Warm light helps us to relax, wind down and feel cozy. Cool a helps us filmer focused and energized. For example, if you're designing a basement spot that is meant for relaxing, you're probably gonna want to choose a light temperature between 2700 k and 3500 k However , if you're designing an office, you're gonna want to choose ah higher light temperatures such as the 4000 or the five thousands to encourage productivity, and it also psychologically mimic state light. 17. SECTION 4: HOW TO SELECT PAINT & SHEENS: we're now at section for how to choose paint colors, and she's This is an exciting topic in this section. We will dive into the process which designers use to choose paint colors. And trust me, there are a lot of considerations that go behind just choosing a paint. But don't worry. We'll make it easy to understand. We actually won't get into what color to paint your house, because color can be a very personal thing. Everyone is John two different colors and some people are only drawn to neutrals. Now, when you're ready, let's get right into it. 18. How Light Affects Paint: The first thing we need to understand even before we get into paint is how light effects color. We discussed artificial light in the previous section, but what about sunlight? As you can see in the two photos here, the paint color is the same. But look how differently look crazy, right? Let's take a look at how the different directions as a north, south, east and west should inform you in your decision and choosing a pink color. Rooms that are self facing east facing in the morning and west facing in the evening will get a healthy amount of direct sun exposure. You'll get a bright warm light until around noon, when the sun is at its highest, making a light quite blue but still very strong. We'll need to take the type of light as balls when we are using the room into consideration . When choosing a paint color, let's say the room that you're thinking about painting is a home office that faces east. Since you'll be using it during the day, the room will get lots of bright sun exposure. You may want to counteract that by painting the walls darker and perhaps even using a cool colors such as blue. Remember that warm light will enhance warm colors such as red, yellow and orange, so it may be too exciting and stimulating in a room where you want to get concentrated and get work done. Rooms are faced north, east in the evening and west in the morning are not getting direct sun exposure. The results is that the room gets cool late, and this can create a somber feeling. If you're someone who likes to sleep in the O. The upside to having a bedroom that faces north or west is that you won't get bright sun rays coming in the room in the morning. Let's look at another example. Let's say you have a dining room that you're looking to paint, but it faces north so it doesn't get direct sunlight. You really want to warm it up, but you don't want to use a red, orange or even a brown. Go for a cool color with a warm undertone such as blue green. This color was one of my favorites to use for the calming but happy effect it creates. It looks great, paired with yellows or even pinks. Okay, what about the rooms that don't get any light at all or rooms that are only used in the evening. Remember the last section where we learned about light temperature. Low light temperatures create a warm light. If you want to create a warm, cozy mood, choose colors with warm undertones and make sure that your lighting is 3000 K or below. Higher temperatures create white or blue light. Use lighting with a higher temperature in rooms where you don't need a cozy mood. But seeing accurate colors is important. And when choosing your paint colors, just remember about warm colors will get washed out, and cool lights and cool colors will look even cooler. 19. Undertones & Lightening Paint: when working with a neutral color such as white, beige and gray undertones are key. War mutuals will have red, yellow and orange undertones in it, whereas cool neutrals have blue, green or purple undertones. That really isn't such a thing as 100% neutral with no undertone whatsoever. Every neutral color typically leans a warm or cool. Keep that in mind when choosing a paint. Because, as we learned previously, the direction where the light is coming from into the room will really dictate if you need to use a warm or cool neutral. Did you know that you can request any paint to be lightened or darkened at the paint store ? Let's look at Kendall charcoal. A cult favorite. A close cousin of Kendall charcoal is Chelsea Gray, which is also very popular months designers. However, if you lightened Kendall charcoal by 25% you can clearly see that it actually doesn't become equivalent to Chelsea Gray. That's because they have different undertones. Kendall Charcoal has a bluish purple undertone, whereas Chelsea Gray has more of a green undertone. So there's a color you really love, but it just happens to be too light or too dark for you. Ask your pain technician to lighten or darken it, rather than choosing a different paint altogether. 20. Paint Sheens: knowing the types of paint Sheen's available on the market, as well as where to use them can save you. Tons of headache later on the sheet of a paint refers to how glossy or how much light it reflects. There are many sheens on the market, ranging from Matt to hike loss. Different companies may call their genes different names, so just keep that in mind. Most of the time you'll paint your walls and flat paint or eggshell, depending on the durability you need. The more sheen, the more durable. But the more imperfections it'll show. Semigloss finishes are typically found on kitchen cabinets, doors and Millwork trim, such as crown molding and window casing. High gloss is seldomly used, but sometimes it is used on an accent, furniture piece or a statement ceiling. Applying high gloss finishes is probably best left to the professionals because of your surface is not completely smooth and properly prepared. Every little bump or ding will show 21. Paint Test First: If there's just the one take away from our section on how to choose paint, it is toe. Always. Always test your paint on the wall before committing to it. I highly recommend painting a few color swatches of the colors that you like on the wall and coming back to it a few times throughout the day to see how they look because sunlight does change. 22. SECTION 5: FURNITURE, ART & DRAPERY: Welcome to Section five decoration. This section is packed with industry knowledge that will teach you how to arrange furniture , artwork and incorporate drapery in your home. We've incorporated some key guidelines and rules that you should know when arranging these design elements. Well, look at spacing, sizing proportion and alignments. Let's get right in. 23. How to: Furniture Layouts: Let's take a look at this open living dining space will break down How to plan a good arrangement of furniture because we have to. Activity zones will need a rug that delineates the dining area from the living area. We could use one rug per area, and that would be fine. But my personal preference is to not place rugs under dining tables as its not very practical before determining the rug size that will need will first have to arrange our furniture with the proper spacing. In this layout, I have a sofa, the faces two armchairs. When placing my coffee table, I want to make sure that there's around 18 inches of spacing so the guests have enough leg room but are not sitting so far that they can't reach over and put down a drink of they need Teoh. So now we have our furniture laid out. I've determined that I need a 12 by 12 Rug. 12 by 12 is a custom size, but because of budget, we will purchase a rug from retail. We're gonna go with a nine by 12 drug where just the front legs of the sofa would sit on the rug. The basic design rule about Rose is that at minimum, the front legs of all of your seating should be sitting on the rug. Now, the next thing I'm gonna make sure is at the top of our coffee table is the same height as a seat height of our sofa and chairs. Ah, common mistake is buying a coffee table that's too high or too low. And the last thing we're going to be mindful of is making sure that all of our seeding elements have the same seat height. Imagine having a conversation where the person you're talking to is sitting higher or lower than you. Very awkward, isn't it? Okay, let's take a look at the dining area. I'm going to place our dining tables, such as there is a minimum of 36 inches, or three feet from the edge of the table to the wall behind it. In our case, we have a sofa and a buffet on both sides instead of walls. I also wanna have around 24 inches between each dining chair, measured from mid point to midpoint. Let's look at a bedroom example when buying a rug for a bedroom Ideally, we want to look for one that is as wide as the outside edge of the night stance, so they align. Ideally, the length should be such that when we've placed all the furniture on it, there will be around two feet of rock from the edge of the bed. Sometimes we can't get a rug that long without going custom, so it's OK for the night stands to not sit on the rug at all. What we'll do is place the rug around 4 to 6 inches in front of the night stands in order to get that two feet from the edge of the bed. We don't want to have the rug lie too far from the night stand, though, so that it looks like there's no relationship between them. And now. Same thing is before we want to make sure that the top of our night stands are the same height as a top of the mattress. When it's placed on the bed frame, let's look at an elevation, shall we, As you can see in this example, are night stands are aligned with the top of the mattress, so that's good. Our table answer also around the same height as the top of the bed frame, creating that relationship because of the existing windows, I chose wider night stands so that their center to the windows, the top of the artwork also aligns to the top of the windows, work with the existing architecture and create these visual relationships through aligning your design elements. Keeping this in mind will help you create a beautifully proportion space. 24. How to: Hang Art: Let's talk about hanging art when deciding on hanging artwork. There are three important things to consider. Proportion, proximity and alignment. Number one proportion of our art in relation to its surroundings. Whether it's a single painting, a trip, tick or gallery is really important. If we're hanging art above a sofa or bed or a dresser, we want the overall with to be around 2/3 or 4/5 of the wits of the furniture. Number two is proximity. We also want to hang the art around 68 inches above the top of the furniture piece, so it isn't too far. Proximity helps to establish a relationship between the design elements. Number three is alignment. Obviously, we want to center the art to the furniture. That is the first thing to consider, and if we have multiple artworks, will look at special alignment guidelines. It's pretty straightforward if you're just hanging a few frames that are all the same size in this case, be a liner frames vertically and horizontally, like the first example. It gets a bit different if you want to do a more very sort of gallery wall, which are the next two examples. The first way you can do a random sized gallery wall is to align the four corner frames on their outer edges so it creates an invisible rectangular border. The rest of the frames don't all have to be at the edge, but try to arrange the artwork so that there is about the same amount of negative space throughout the other way. You can hang a gallery while is to create two invisible axes, center to your furniture and arranger artwork around the axes. The key to a nice looking gallery while is to create that random collage e feel, but still haven't look a logical and organized. 25. How to: Hang Drapery: No, let's talk about drapery. Often, people ask our Draper's important. Some choose to forgo draperies altogether, and some are unsure whether they are worth the investment. Well, let me tell you there, Ah, 100% worth your investment. Imagine this scenario. You are getting dressed for an important interview. Would you go to your interview with just a button up shirt, pants and shoes? Well, drapery is like the power blazer. Without it, you can still go to your interview, but you really won't look very put together. Draperies are finishing touch. They add a luxurious and textural layer to every interior. And when done right, they can actually make your ceilings look taller, too. Before we talk about best practices, let's look at what not to do. Here are a few common mistakes that I see people make when hanging. Drapery number one, you've installed your raw the same with us. Your window. The result of this is when the curtains air hung and opened there, covering a lot of the window, thereby making it look smaller. Number two, you've installed your curtain rod just above the top of the window. Another no go. This makes your window look short. Number three, You've hung curtains that cut off the window sill, now 99.9% of the time. There's really no reason to ever by these types of currents. Let's look at some best practices now, shall we? What a difference. The first rule is to hang your curtain rod close through the ceiling. Unless you're ceilings, air double hided than this rule may or may not apply. It really depends on where your windows are installed. So under normal circumstances, you would hang the wrong just under your crown molding. If you have it, or just a few inches below the ceiling, you can also hang it right at the stealing. If installing a modern track, you would definitely, and so it right at the ceiling so it disappears. The next consideration is our overhang, also called the stack of the curtain. When the curtains are drawn open, stack refers to the width of the curtains folded together. You'll want to account for that with when determining the length of your rod. This is not a strict rule, but typically designers at around 8 to 12 inches to each side of the window to account for the stack. We don't want our curtains to cover our beautiful when no one drawn open. If you are doing wall to wall curtains like the right photo, you'll need to calculate Stack based on the entire width of the wall. 26. How to: Drapery Fullness: In this slide, we have two different images of drapery. Which one looks better? I think most of us would agree that the one on the right does in the right image, the draperies installed right under the crown molding, creating an elongated look in the left image. The drapes air hung just above the window, making it look very unimpressive. Did you notice any other difference between the two images? If you guessed that the drapery fullness is different, you're absolutely correct. Drapery. Fullness is the answer to the question. How much drapery do I need when measuring for curtains? It isn't so simple as just going to any store and buying a pair of curtains for each window . We need to calculate our drapery fullness, which means the with the fabric needed to cover your window one times or 100%. Fullness is just enough fabric to cover the window once it doesn't look so good. So typically, designers specify two or 2.5 times, sometimes even three times fullness. Let's look at this example together. We want to specify draperies that are double with or 200% fullness. We're gonna measure our window, including the frame. This one is 76 inches wide. We have 12 inches of stack per side, 76 plus 24 gives us ah 100 inches, but we want to 100% fullness, so we'll need 200 inches of curtains in total, which is just 100 inches per curtain now, because curtain panels are made out of fabrics that are typically 54 inches wide. Will need to double that up, and that makes 108 inches per side always round up. It's very easy to find single with or 54 inch white curtains on the market. But what if we need double with curtains? We could get ours custom made. We could so to single with currents together if we know how to. But we can also purchase double with curtains retail. I'm on bed bath and Beyond Website. They happen to sell double with curtains, so we're gonna take a look at this example. So first we pick our height. These numbers refer to typical ceiling heights such a seven feet, which is 84 inches, 95 inches, which is just under eight feet, 108 inches, which is nine feet in 120 inches, which is 10 feet. Then if we scroll down, we'll see in the details that each panel is 108 inches wide, which is double with, as they indicated. 27. SECTION 6: FLORALS & GREENERY: you made it to section six all about greenery and florals for your home. Adding flowers and greenery can be a great way to elevate your home without being a huge investment. Well, I'm not a florist, and I can teach you how to take care of your plants. I can teach you how to use these from an interior decorating perspective. In this section, we will look at types of bases how to properly proportion your arrangements as well. Look at a few types of florals and greenery that will be easy to incorporate in your own home. 28. Short Vases: Let's first group are vases by short and tall. When we discuss short bases, I am talking about one center as wide as their tall or wider than their tall First up on the left, we have a basic short cylinder, which is a very timeless and easy to work with. This shape looks best with domed flowers such as hydrangeas and peonies or flowers that you would use in a tight punch, like roses and tulips. Next, we have the wind mouth tip of eights, and that allows you to create very widespread freeform style branch arrangements like this . Third up, we have narrow mouth typefaces, which create a more tightly arranged composition. But we'll also look at how toe work with this. What is actually more important than the species of flowers we Jews is the shape we're trying to create with our arrangements. With short bases, we either want to create a circle or an inverted triangular shape. Here are some examples of what you can do with the cylinder type faces, and they do come in other variations, such as this figure shaped or rectangular shape. I know spheres aren't cylinders, but when I talk about cylinders. I mean the type of face where the mouth is the same size as the base. Like I mentioned, peonies, hydrangea, rose as well as tulips and roses are excellent choices for this type of face. This creates a shorter, tighter arrangement that looks great on a coffee table, vanity or night stand. Next up, we have the wide mouth face. You could go either way and create a freeform arrangement with stiffened, lengthy branches such as the Left example or an arrangement with a tight, full cluster of greenery, such as this baby's breath in the right. Example. If you have a narrow mouth face, try to choose sort of a flimsier branch that is thinner and last Bridget so they can drip very naturally over the vase. The left example is an arrangement of all of branches. You could also do something asymmetrical, like the example on the right, and just have a single delicate branch or flower stem daintily bowing in one direction. With the left example, you can create a substantial looking arrangement that looks awesome on a large kitchen island or a dining table. The version on the right is small and dainty and would look great on a console or night stand 29. Tall Vases: Now let's look at tall vases. What I mean by tall vases are ones that are taller than they are wide. We have our cylinder type ones with a flared mouth or a wide mouth and ones with narrow mouth, such as the bottleneck type of aces. And like with our short basis, we also want to consider the inverted triangular shape when creating our arrangements. Tall cylinder vases look great, used with very sculptural looking branches, such as the Manzanita branch on the left or, if you like, a softer boho look. You can use a few sprigs of pampas grass, and for a very dramatic look, you can create an ample and branch E composition like the cherry blossoms in the right image with tall and wine mouth faces. It typically looks good too great. A short wide dome with our flowers and greenery. We're kind of talking about a sort of mushroom shape. In the left example, we have a full cluster of tulips overflowing in this beautiful hour glass ceramic face. The middle arrangement is kind of similar to the left and on the right. We have a more rustic arrangement of Fars in a pitcher paired with eucalyptus stems draping over the picture. Here's a tip. If you aren't using a picture as your base for farmhouse, look Draper branch or two on the opposite side of the handle to create that asymmetrical balance. Lastly, we have tall, narrow mouth phases. Unlike a wide mouth face, you can't create a spread e looking type of arrangement. So to create that inverted triangle, opt for a branch or stem that has a larger flower like magnolias or foe orchid and just raped um in one direction, like the left and middle. Examples. If you're not into flowers, you can also do a single or two philodendron stems that has a large leaf. 30. Proportions of Arrangements: the key to creating interesting arrangements is paying attention to proportion, one of the design principles that we learned in the first section. So what I mean by that is the ratio of the height or width of the vase to the height and width of the arrangement. The left photo was a really nicely made arrangement. The overall with is around three times the width of the base, and the height of the arrangement is around twice as tall as the base. This is good now. The arrangement on the right looks very weak and not very dynamic. That is because you can see that the ratios air around 1 to 1, maybe 1 to 1.5. We don't want that. These proportions air not strict rules to follow. Depending on the botanical you're working with, just use your eye and play around with the arrangement to see what looks good. Let's take a look at these other two examples. We've got an excellent arrangement on the left. There's a nice and dramatic inverted triangle here and a proportion off 123 height wise and with wise on the right, the proportions are not 1 to 2 or 123 height wise. But this arrangement still looks really good because with wise, the ratio is 1 to 3. So this is showing you that you can style a tall vase. Both ways either make the overall arrangement very tall or very wide. 31. BONUS SECTION: LIVING LUXURIOUSLY ON A BUDGET: thank you for making it through all six of our sections. I'm so proud of you. We've now made it to our bonus section where I will talk about four practical tips on how you can create a luxurious home on a budget. Let's get right into it. 32. Tip 1: Here's my first tip by meaningful art. Buying generic art is a sure far away to make a home look cheap. Generic and Taqi. If you want your home to look more high end, invest in art that is meaningful to you and tells a story. You don't need to rush the Fila walls with artwork and decorative items. It's not always about getting expensive paintings. Collecting art is a hobby that takes many years and requires a personal connection to the peace. This is the home of fashion designer Michael Cores. His home is a beautiful example of a life well lived through the objects and art he has collected over the years, and they each have a special meaning or story behind them. For example, he purchased this photograph of a model wearing only a boa constrictor and a bracelet later to have found the exact bracelet that was warned for the photo shoot in Miami. Just by chance but a fascinating story. This is my client's home. The yellow painting on the right belonged to her late mother, who was an avid art collector. Yes, a piece of art or photographs should complement the space that is in, but it should not exist to match everything else around it, as if it is a secondary accessory. Remember that art is meant to be a focal point. 33. Tip 2 and 3: tip number two a line a line, a line. This tip doesn't have to be expensive to execute. You just need a paying attention to the details. If you're working on a bathroom Renno, you can center the tile in your shower and install your plumbing fixtures right along this line. Center the floor child, too, if it makes sense to center everything. If you have a large piece of artwork that has a door nearby aligned the top of it with the doorframe as we talked about before. We also want to align our furniture whenever possible. Creating these visual relationships will really show that you've intentionally arranged your design elements with the purpose taking time to do this will instantly elevate your space. Repeat after me. TVs are not focal points. We don't want to pay attention to them unless you're watching them. Because TV's air off most of the day they do not look great against a white wall or a built in. They really should be in front of something dark. And the most cost effective way is the paint that wall black. Another best practice is to hang your TV on the wall and integrate the wiring inside the wall to make it look a seamless as possible 34. Tip 4: The last tip I want to share with you is to invest in comfort. I give the same recommendation to all of my clients and friends, and it is this investing the pieces that you spend the most time in. I'm talking about your living room seating, your sofa and lamb shares. Choose seating with durable construction. Look for kiln dried wood frames and foam wrapped cushions that are topped with a down or feather earlier. The other item I encourage you to invest in is your mattress human. Spend 1/3 of their life sleeping, and a mattress can seriously impact the other 2/3 of your waking life, your productivity mood and overall health Jews. A mattress may with natural materials, if possible. That also accommodates the position of sleep you prefer on. Let's take it one step further and think about your bed linens. Breathe ability is the number one consideration. Look for natural materials such as cotton, tensile silk or linen that effectively regulate temperature to give you a good night's sleep. Did you know that being hot can cause nightmares? Remember that luxury? It's not only about a look, but it is also about the little things in life that elevate your comfort 35. Class Project & Conclusion: we've finally come to the end of our interior design masterclass. I hope you all found this course fun and informative. Are you ready to take on your own interior design projects? When you are, go ahead and down Will the cheat sheet? I created this cheat she with helpful resources charts and diagrams that are based on the topics we already covered in this course printed out and use it as a guide for your next project. Thank you so much again for learning with me today. And I hope to see some of your projects uploaded to our class by