Scaling and proportion
Posted by Gillian Jones on 22/03/2016
This week we’re talking about scale and proportion, in keeping with our series of blogs on interiors. After you’ve decided on how you’re going to make your room come together, and after you’ve bought the furniture, the drapes, the accessories and decided on the colours, you’ve then got to make it all come together. If it doesn’t, then your home could quickly end up looking cluttered or strangely out of scale or proportion with how you wanted it to look.
The story of scale
The scale of a room can have an enormous impact, it’s not just the furniture or the accessories, or the colours even, if you take each one in isolation. It’s about the relationship between them, and how one or two or more objects can work together. If a sofa or a chair is out of proportion with any other pieces it shares space with, then it may look odd or out of place. If it doesn’t work, then it could impact on other parts of the room.
Proportions and interactions…
Proportion of course is about interactions rather than size, it’s about objects interacting with each other within the space they’re in, about how they look and feel when you see them. This isn’t necessarily something you can always get right first time, and for some it can be an endless battle to make sure that everything in a room is in proportion. Sometimes it’s something you have to have a real feel for, and for those that have an eye for detail are perhaps the ones who understand proportion best and make the best interior designers.
What's good enough for the Greeks is good enough for me…
The Greeks had a rule they adhered to when designing their buildings and this was the "two- thirds to one thirds rule." This is a popular way of measuring scale and making sure everything is in proportion. Interior designers use it make sure a room is balanced in terms of textures, colours and patterns and of course it works with furniture too.
If it’s good enough for the Greeks then of course it’s good enough for us, and it helps to avoid rugs, tables or sofas from being too big for the room, and helping you to balance furniture with colour. But how does the Golden rule of measuring work then?
The Golden two thirds to one third rule
This mathematical wonder sequence actually occurs in nature and accounts for the proportions of the human body as well as musical sequence formations and other things. It should make everything appear more aesthetically pleasing, and if you’re an interior designer then you may have learnt something about it when learning about design. Use the ratio of 2:3 if you’re not keen on the idea of standing on your freshly laid carpet making intricate mathematical measurements in your head till you have a headache.
Divide and conquer…
Look at the room you’ve chosen to furnish and decorate and then divide it into two sections, the first should be two thirds of what will be the main area for furniture (whether it’s breakfast, dining, conservatory etc.). The second part is a third of the room for secondary use, like extra seating or perhaps a storage area, you get the general idea.
If you’re mixing antique/vintage along with contemporary furniture and accessories, then attention to scale and proportion are crucial. So try this when your redecorating or refurnishing a room and use it as your guide.