Tips for Decorating Large Spaces
Turn a Large Room into a Warm and Inviting Space with Design Tricks
Dec 1, 2008
For the past several years homes were built with bigger is better as the motto. The problem is it’s not always easy to decorate a large space and not make it feel over stuffed with furniture and other odds and ends or, on the other end of the spectrum, to have it so empty that it feels like a gymnasium.
What Does the Room Do
The key is to look at these rooms in the way they were designed, as multipurpose areas where several activities can happen at once while the family is still together. Look at your large space and determine what its function is. Think of it as a couple or a few smaller rooms rather than one big open space and begin your design plan with this in mind, smaller rooms that simply don’t have walls.
How Will Your Room Do It
Once you’ve determined what your room’s (or area’s) function is then you’ll need to figure out how the room is best going to fulfill its purpose. Do you need a game table in one area for the kids to play and draw? What about a viewing area for movies or your favorite family TV viewing? Add the key furniture pieces you will need to your design plan. Keep the space you’ve relegated to each zone in mind and buy just the size for that area, nothing huge.
Create Walls for Your Room
Of course you don’t want to literally build walls, that would ruin the effect of your open concept home, but find a way to divide the space with area rugs, plants, ceiling treatments or furniture arrangements. Define each space as you had in your mind, letting people see that the large room actually has several unique functions.
Group Furniture and Objects Together
Since you did not buy huge pieces you have smaller or medium sized pieces which will need a little unity to make them look at home. Keep your furniture together, the smaller pieces will stand united and make that region particularly defined. Leave space between room divisions for easy passage and as a clear separation.
When you’re finished you’ll find that you’ve taking an oversized room and tackled it in a piecemeal manner, making it more functional and useful. Once you recognize the purposes of the room its easier to decorate in a way that makes the space seem cohesive yet multifunctional.
