How to Create Your Room’s Focal Point
Do you find that you are not sure where to place the sofa or your favorite chairs? Could it be that you have opposing focal points? What I mean is perhaps you have a fireplace and you want to be able to enjoy the fireplace while also watching TV? So, you’ll need the furniture to face both of them.
Or perhaps you have a beautiful view in one direction but you want the furniture to be comfortable around your fireplace in another. These are very typical challenges that I find when working with my clients. That’s why I know you have them too.
Here are 3 tips for creating a perfect focal point in your room.
1. Choose Your Main Focal Point
If you want to place your TV over your fireplace, consider the height of the mantle itself. And then think about where the TV will end up sitting on the wall.
You always want to think about comfort first. This includes strain on your neck and your eyeballs. If the TV is too high when you are sitting down.
A good rule of thumb for TV viewing is to have the center of the TV in a direct horizontal line to your eyeballs when you are sitting down. Make sense? If you’re seated on a sofa and the sofa seat is roughly 18” off the floor, and then you add the distance from the seat to your eyeballs, you’ll usually arrive at around 40”-45” off the floor. This means your TV if placed over a fireplace mantle may be much higher than is comfortable to watch. Make sense?
Sometimes, it just isn’t a perfect world. You might have to place the TV elsewhere and you will then have to decide which is going to be your main focal point for the furniture.
2. Decorate a Shelving Unit
If you have built-in shelving for your TV, dress up the back wall of the unit with wallcovering or a paint treatment to make it really special You may even want to add outlets for small table lamps for accent lighting. Learn more about choosing the perfect accessories for your home here!
3. Organize in Odd Numbers
Group accessories or artwork in odd numbers and place similar items together. Have you ever noticed that a floral arrangement uses odd numbers of flowers? This is because the eye and brain want to make sense of what they are “seeing” and can’t do the math when there isn’t an easy answer.
Close your eyes for a moment. Think of a triangle. Now… think of a square. Can you feel how your brain keeps searching the triangle for an end? But the square feels complete? As a result, a triangle is much more interesting to view. So, when you are arranging your accessories, keep this trick in mind. Group your items in this way and they will become much more interesting to the viewer. A perfect ample of this is designing a gallery wall, click here to learn about arranging wall art.
For more tips on accessorizing, download my e-guide called Baker’s Dozen: Rules for Accessorizing Your Home. Get it here!
