Design principles to make your home stylish and comfortable

Design principles are individual concepts and elements that come together to make good design. You don't necessarily have to address all of these individual principles, but incorporating three of four into every room of your home will ultimately make it look, feel and function better for everyone who lives there. If you want to improve your quality of life at home, let these design elements guide your shopping and decorating choices.

Color

From affecting your mood to setting the right tone, color can really have an impact on your home's design. Whether it's wall paint, accent pillows or a shower curtain, taking some time to consider color will help you make the right choice. There are a few different ways to choose colors for good design. Personal preference is always important, of course, but using these techniques can help make sure everything you choose fits well together. Color theory, a basic design concept defined by the color wheel, is one way of approaching color design for your home. If you don't want to dig into that level of design concept, don't worry. You can still curate aesthetically pleasing color arrangements by choosing colors in a similar shade. For example, if you want to decorate your living room in neutrals, stick to white, beige and gray, perhaps with a few accent pops from bright accessories in your favorite color.

Space

Intelligent use of space is another design principle that can impact how comfortable you feel in your home. This concept has to do with where you choose to place large items of furniture, and how you arrange smaller items around those main pieces. Starting with larger items first allows you to define an overall scale for the room. For example, if you choose a large table that takes up most of the space in your home's dining area, any other furniture items you place in the room should be comparatively small in order to make better use of space. It's easier to choose the right items for your space when you know the dimensions of the room and look into product dimensions before buying. You might even want to create a diagram of the room you're furnishing so you can make sure to avoid crowding it.

Texture

Different textures can change the look and feel of a room. A velvet sofa, for example, will likely make your living room seem more luxurious and glamorous than a sofa upholstered with a less-plush material like cotton canvas. In addition to thinking about style, you should make sure the various fabric textures you choose for a room work well together. For example, a plush, smooth fabric like velvet will do best with accent pillows made from other soft fabrics, like chenille or satin. Mixing too many different textures in one room can create a busy feeling as well. Try to avoid putting too many contrasting textures in the same space.

Style

Another way to make sure your home looks consistent and doesn't feel too busy is to make sure you stick with a unifying style for each room. For example, if you want to buy a sleek, modern couch that uses straight, angular lines, stick with that same basic design format for the other furniture in your lounge area. You don't necessarily have to decorate every single room in your house in the same style, but it is generally best to keep the style similar from room to room, especially in common spaces like the dining room, living room and kitchen. Individual bedrooms can be more reflective of each occupant's personal tastes.

Comfort

Yes, comfort is an important part of design. After all, you want your house to be welcoming and pleasant to be in, right? Comfort is about more than just finding the softest pillows and the coziest couch. More subtle, technical things can also impact how well a room functions, which in turn can make a space feel cramped. You can even cause neck strain if your TV is installed at the wrong angle, or leave yourself vulnerable to sleep disruption if your bed is improperly oriented to a window. Taking measurements and finding out whether the furniture you're considering will fit into a given room, for example, can impact how comfortable you feel. So don't be surprised if your design education includes a little bit of math.