“Art Principles Applied to Home Furnishing and

Decoration”

The home should satisfy the needs of all the family members by its comfort, charm and, beauty. Although boys and girls may have little to say about their present homes, they will have to select furnishing for their own homes in the future.

In decorating and furnishing a home, we must first consider the effect of the whole area. The principles of art- harmony, proportion, rhythm, emphasis, and balance- are all used to make the home charming and beautiful.

The Designs of the Rooms

Making the home a lovely and livable place is really not hard if we keep in mind that it is more of the problem of design.

Lines, as elements of design, are the first to be considered. The line patterns of a home are made by the proportions of the rooms, that is, the relation of heights of walls to their lengths and widths, the placing of doors and windows, the paneling, moldings, and other details that create areas and shapes inside the rooms.

If the original lines pattern is not wholly satisfactory, much can be done to modify it. The apparent height of the room can be lowered or raised by altering the moldings. In short, the lines in a room are basic considerations before one can do any decorating of the rooms.

Using Color Value in the Home

As in a dress, color is the element of design that is first noticed. Color is the element that gives an instant impression.

The choice of colors for the walls and floors and the background of the home is considered in decorating a room.

The ceiling, like the sky, may be very light.

The walls may be somewhat darker, like vegetation.

The floor or floor covering, like the earth, may be the darkest part of the room.

An artist expresses the difference in lightness and darkness of the sky, trees, and ground, and applies this principle in planning the decoration of a room. Some modern homes have their ceilings darker than the walls. This may not be pleasing if the ceiling is low because a dark color makes the ceiling appear to be lower. Ceiling color that is contrasting with that of the walls is also used in modern homes. If the ceiling color is repeated in the walls or rug, the effect is pleasing.

In most Philippine homes, the floor is varnished or shellacked without staining. This is especially so if fine-grained hardwood is used.

Some rooms in the house may have a generally lighter value than the other rooms. But whether the value of a room is light or dark, the value of the floors, walls, and ceiling should differ. A girl’s bedroom usually more pleasing if it is light in color values.

Using Colors in RoomsThe size of the room, the purpose for

which it is to be used, and the amount and direction of outside light should be considered in deciding what colors to use and how much of these colors are pleasing for a particular room.

An impersonal color will generally satisfy the members of the family when used in the living room. A more decided color may make a suitable background for the dining room.

If a room is rarely used and only for short durations, it can be painted with a more striking color combination as in the hallways , porches, entrance areas, and play rooms, because people don’t stay their long.

For a room that is used very often, colors like sunny gray, dirty white and tan, that are neither too warm nor too dark, may be used. Intense colors used in large areas may be tiring to the eyes and nerves.

If the room is too much exposed to sunlight, we may use colors like green, a dull blue-green, or other colors with low values.

On the other hand, when a room is rather dark, a warm color such as yellow or yellow-orange may be used. Such colors may be high in value but should not be too bright or intense.

Generally, in planning the colors of a room, we should remember that dull or gray colors are best for all large areas such as the walls and floors. On the other hand ,brilliant orange, red, blue, or green may be successfully used on small areas. Pictures, vases, lamp vases, and other small articles may be brightly colored. A small room may be made to appear larger by the use of light colors in the walls.

Some Philippine homes use figure- painted walls made by roller painting. Since a wall is a background, it should be flat and should present solid surfaces. If figured walls are desired, however, the design must be conventional or naturalistic. A conventional design is one that does not follow nature too closely.

A naturalistic design is one that closely imitates nature.

Also, even if the design is conventional, the colors in the design should not be too contrasting; neither should the design be too large. Large- patterned figures on the walls seem to fill up a room and make a room look smaller.

Most of our homes have walls painted plainly. Dull and semi-glossy walls make a more attractive background for the living room, dining room, and bedroom. Plain walls provide more striking contrast with the drapes and the furniture in the room.

Furnishing and Decorating the Home

Furnishings include almost anything in the house except the bare walls, floors and the electric and plumbing fixtures. Furnishings are therefore necessary to make the activities in the house possible. In addition, they give convenience and comfort. The kinds, quantity, and quality of the furnishings in the house depend upon the activities of the family and the amount of money that it can spend.

Furnishings may be classified as essential and non-essential. Essential furnishings are for sleeping, cooking, eating, cleaning, washing and other activities which are necessary to make the activities for daily living possible. The non-essential furnishings are for secondary activities like sewing, reading, listening to music and the like, the absence of which does not affect activities for daily living.Good taste is expressed in the selection and arrangement of home furnishings in such a way that they are beautiful as well as useful. The other furnishings of the home are furniture, curtains, flower arrangements, pictures, accessories, substitutes for pictures, and picture plants. They should be simple and useful as well as attractive.

Thank You!!!

Prepared by:Joycee H. Gamgam BEED

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