| If you've ever walked into a room and felt | | | | found the right ones, the change was dramatic. Of |
| immediately uncomfortable, it's probably because | | | | course, I also added new accessories, bedding, and |
| something was out of proportion. Often when rooms | | | | shutters on the windows. |
| aren't designed right, the effect is a kind of | | | | Size no-no's |
| discomfort that you can't put your finger on. The | | | | Could you be committing a scale or sizing sin? It's |
| problem could be with scale. This interior design | | | | possible. There are some areas where it's more |
| principle is one of the founding guidelines to creating a | | | | noticeable than others. On the too-small side, light |
| room that "works," as designers often say. | | | | fixtures, bedside tables, little pictures and artwork, |
| Understanding scale | | | | and micro-accessories top the list. When these items |
| Scale is a word that refers to how the sizes of | | | | are too small, the room feels annoying to you. On |
| furnishings and windows, for example, are sized in | | | | the too-large size side, sofas and chairs are usually |
| relationship to the room. Today's homes often have | | | | the culprits. For a while, furniture manufacturers were |
| much larger proportions than homes built even ten | | | | making sofas and chairs with enormous arms. |
| years ago. So, small two-inch trim around doorways | | | | Thankfully, this trend slowed stopped. When items |
| or a tiny side table next to a beefy sofa would look | | | | are too large, you feel claustrophobic and hemmed in. |
| silly in a six thousand square foot house. A good | | | | My own no-no's |
| example of this is the nursery tale of Goldilocks and | | | | Interestingly, the pictures I hung above my bed after |
| the Three Bears. Even Goldilocks knew to keep going | | | | moving into our home bothered me, too. My eye |
| to the right bed and the right chair so she'd be more | | | | was always drawn to them when I walked into the |
| comfortable. Too many houses suffer from | | | | room because they were too small and out of scale. |
| Goldilocks Syndrome - either something is too big or | | | | Notice the pictures above the bed from both |
| too small or they have a hard time getting the size | | | | photographs. They show what a difference changing |
| "just right." But when size, or scale, is correct, the | | | | the scale of the accessories in the room can make. |
| room feels good. Learning some of the basics of | | | | Now, I'm comfortable in the room and don't |
| scale and proportion will help you keep you from | | | | immediately look at anything when I walk in. And, |
| feeling like Alice in Wonderland in your own home. | | | | that's your cue, too. If you find that your eye is |
| My scale dilemma | | | | drawn to some part of your room or house, chances |
| My home was a good example of scale problems. | | | | are it's because something about it is "off." Take a |
| Because I like to take "before" pictures, I snapped a | | | | photograph and you might just see with a picture |
| few of them around the house right after we | | | | what your eyes can't tell you. The camera never lies, |
| moved in. I'd planned on replacing the nightstand | | | | as the saying goes, and it tells the honest truth |
| tables and dresser at some point, but when I saw | | | | about your home, too. It's also the fastest way to |
| the pictures of the furniture in the room, the scale of | | | | identify whether the items in your room are the |
| the nightstands looked comical. After taking the | | | | correct scale for the room. Whether it's clothing or |
| picture of my bedroom, I made it my priority to | | | | furniture, correct size means a good fit and greater |
| scout out some new nightstands and dresser. Once I | | | | comfort overall. |