What are the principles of interior design?

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An educated Interior Designer will always rely on important underlying ‘laws’, required in a system of thought, when designing an interior space. These are known as the Interior Design Principles, this system is used as a template by all designers in creating their designs. There are five principles; balance, rhythm, scale and proportion, emphasis and harmony. We can now look into these five areas, summarising them. The first of the five principles is Balance. When looking at balance, there are three styles; radial, symmetrical and asymmetrical. Firstly, radial symmetry is when all the design of a room is radiated around a centre point. An example of this is a spiral staircase. Secondly, we have symmetrical balance. This can be found usually in more traditional interiors. When looking into a mirror you notice the human form is also symmetrical, making a symmetrical environment a very comfortable one. This environment also creates a focal point fairly easily, since the eye will be drawn to the mirror always in the middle of a symmetrical room, very easily. Designers appreciate that symmetry is usually very easy to create in a room, and therefore some try to steer away from it so not to make the room monotonous. These designers may use asymmetrical balance, especially when designing more contemporary rooms. It creates a more informal feel to a room, the term ‘active balance’ is used, when referring to a room with an asymmetrical balance. This type of design works well next to nature as we notice that nature is never usually symmetrical; since both are asymmetrical, both work well together. The second of the five principles is Rhythm. A Rhythm is a regularly recurring pattern. When trying to relate this to Interior Design, repetition, transition, progression and contrast, are four themes that need to be thought about. When all these instruments are
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