Infloormation

One key to a well-designed room is a balance of hard and soft surfaces. In our last blog post we looked at what happens with too many hard surfaces. But on the other hand, too much softness can create a room with no definition.

Carpet is a good flooring choice for traditional spaces, and rugs are a natural complement. That provides a rich source of softness. Add in a few overstuffed chairs and a couch, a bevy of pillows and throws, and before you know it your room loses dimension in a cloud of softness. Traditional curved tables and cushioned dining chairs add to the general squishiness of the space.

Now this type of room can be very comfortable and livable. Just a few hard-surface choices, however, will sharpen the design and provide the positive contrast needed to showcase the softer elements.

Consider adding some glass or metallic accessories with clean straight lines. Using wood shutters or shades adds a nice hard surface, and the shades still allow you to add curtains. Another option is to do some editing – maybe removing a few pillows or an ottoman. Space between soft things gives the walls a chance to become hard-surface elements in a space.