Decorating Styles for Room Balance

Balance is what makes a room feel right when you enter it. In Feng Shui, for instance, balance is achieved when yin and yang are in harmony--when more fluid, yielding energy equals the harder, more insistent energy in a space. The balance of a room depends on qualities such as furniture placement, use of color and the scale of pieces, both in relation to each other and to the size of the room. Does this Spark an idea?

Symmetry/Asymmetry

One way to achieve balance is to design the room with symmetry. Move a sofa to the center of a seating arrangement and flank it with matching end tables and lamps. Split two matching chairs and place them on either side of the coffee table. Hang a horizontal painting over the sofa in a low-ceilinged room; opt for a large, vertical painting in a high-ceilinged room. If the room has a fireplace, group the furniture around it.

Or balance a deliberate lack of symmetry with a careful mix of styles and materials--a rattan loveseat can face a clear acrylic coffee table with two carved African wood stools placed on one side and a small chaise cushioned with a strong zebra-print pattern across from them. One end of the sofa gets a sturdy bamboo floor lamp with a paper shade. At the other end, a long paper cylinder lamp hangs from the ceiling. An asymmetrical look is interesting but it requires a good eye and a strong design sense.

Scale and Proportion

An ornate Gothic sofa of dark carved wood set in a room with white Barcelona chairs is going to be a hard look to pull off. And a small room will have trouble absorbing the large high-backed chairs, tall cabinets and grand piano that would look at home in a parlor floor salon. The furniture should be selected to suit the size of the room and the pieces should relate to each other. Eclectic is fine if the small room gets an upright piano, a low stretch of cabinet along one wall topped by a flat-screen TV, a love seat covered in faded velvet and two unmatched chairs, similar in size and upholstered in simple patterns that pick up the color of the velvet. An antique armoire and a single slipper chair balance a queen-sized bed. Don't mix heavy and flimsy pieces and don't use pieces that are too big or too dainty for the size of the room.

Color and Contrast

Color is an effective tool for creating balance in a room. A studio with multiple purposes is pulled together with an all-white treatment. White bedding, wall paint, curtains, tables, accessories and closed cabinets give a sense of space and harmony. A white floor bounces even more light around the room and clear plastic and glass touches don't interrupt the visual unity. A bedroom done in shades of blues with a dark carpet, light walls, chambray bedspread with denim throw pillows and curtains can handle a few red or bright yellow touches in a beanbag chair or a slim desktop. A dining room dominated by a pale, natural wood table and cream-colored walls becomes a gallery when the dining chairs are a mix of primary colors--modern chairs covered in leather or reclaimed wooden chairs painted in glossy hues--and a vivid, unframed, painted canvas stretches along one wall.