If a space is to be compelling and distinctive it must not respect the norm in all aspects. A few ‘rules’ need to be broken, if all is conventional there can be no impact. The trick to creating impact is to construct an element of surprise. However, I’m not a fan of creating impact for it’s own sake, it must serve the purpose of delighting rather than to shock, it is all a question of balance, if too many rules are broken, there is sensory overload and emotional chaos can result. Carefully chosen statements against a backdrop of the habitual will illicit an elegant drama rather than a soap opera! Here are a few ways this can be achieved, the underlying rule is to fashion a little of the unexpected…
The Colour pop
The oldest designer trick in the book and the simplest way to create impact is with colour. I’ve spoken before discovering ways to be bold with colour and this is a tried and tested method. It works with either a dark or a light backdrop, the key though is to use a really strong colour ‘pop’ to pull it off.
Library -Shaun clarkson/ photo Graham Atkins-Hughs, Bathroom - Blog, Inside is beautiful
Large scale pattern
A large scale pattern or a mural, can create fabulous impact. I know there is a bit of a craze at the moment for clashing patterns and colour, this of course does create impact in itself, but for me, this starts moving into the realm of crazy and busy and the individual patterns lose their impact. I prefer, as in these examples, to keep everything else fairly quiet and let the main design do the talking.
Hallway, wallpaper by Timerous Beasties, Bedroom, muralswallpaper.co.uk
The fifth wall
Somewhere along the line, someone decided that all ceilings should be white and frankly there is nothing much less inspiring let alone impactful than a white ceiling! This is an old and very odd rule, which definitely needs to be outlawed. Instead, treat it as your fifth wall and paint it out in the same colour to create an infinite space and bring the interest into the room or take your inspiration from the stately homes of days gone by and highlight it with a wonderful patterned wallpaper or create a glamorous gilded ceiling as in this gorgeous example.
Images sourced Pinterest
Marvellous metallics
Nothing creates an ooh quite like full on metallics. Whether that be a luxe stand alone copper tub or a glamorous wallpaper and nobody does metallic wallpaper quite like De Gournay, ooh…
Hallway, wallpaper by De Gournay, Bathroom, westcountryshutters.co.uk
Scale it up
There is an automatic tendency to choose within the scale of the room and its contents, but if everything is around the same size there will be no point of difference for the eye and this will equal underwhelming!
It can be a little scary to move outside of the comfort zone and choose in the opposite way your brain has been conditioned to think, but the results are well worth the leap of faith. Imagine how much less impact these two rooms would look if those lights were small and those paintings were all around the same size?
Never under estimate the power of scale in a room.
images source Pinterest
Feature your feature
Sometimes more can be more and creating a feature of a feature can add extra punch. I love the clever way this art has been dual purposed as feature headboard and if a piece of art is not quite cutting it on its own why not frame within a frame to scale it up.
images sourced Pinterest
Quirky touches
Finally, add quirky touches by thinking outside of the box and using furniture and furnishings in unconventional ways. This will add a little fun and humour and ultimately personality to your room, giving it that all important relaxed lived-in luxe feel.
images sources Pinterest
Remember…if everything is as you expect, all will be as expected and there will be no impact, so be brave and as they say…
Go BIG or Go home…
Best wishes,
