We hope you’re enjoying our series of posts with easy ways to give your home that luxurious feel without having to remortgage it to do so.
If you missed the first and second parts, you can read them here on our blog:
Part 1: Design a Luxurious Home without Breaking the Bank
Part2: Luxurious Interior Design through Simplicity and Cohesion
In this latest post, you’ll find five more top tips to help you turn your house spaces into home spaces. This time, we’re going to get a little sneaky…
11. Deceive with light
You can use light and colour to trick the eye into believing all sorts of things. For example, you can make people believe they are seeing a colour that isn’t there.
Here’s a famous example.
In this picture, square A is the same shade of grey as square B.
No, we’re not kidding. It really is.
OK, we sense you might need some convincing. Who could blame you? We didn’t believe it either to begin with.
Here is the proof:
Square A looks darker because it is surrounded by lighter squares. The reverse goes for square B. On top of which, the notion of shadow also plays a role, making you believe B is actually lighter than it is. You might even think the solid grey bars change shade in the middle. They don’t.
You can use this in your interior design choices. If you surround a colour with darker ones (or darker shades of the same colour), it will appear brighter. And vice versa.
It means you can use one shade of a colour, but trick the eye into believing it is seeing more.
12. Deceive with contrast
There is more fun to be had with light and contrast. The two circles in this image are the same size, even though at first glance, they might seem to be different sizes. By using this effect, you can create dynamism in your spaces using similarly sized objects.
Also, in the image above, our eyes are drawn through the black square, as if the white circle is a hole to peer through. It encourages the eye to see ‘further’. On the other hand, the black circle seems to be suspended in front of the white background. It encourages the eye to stop.
The white circle is like a spotlight; the black circle is like a full stop. Both create a false sense of depth.
13. Deceive with shapes
Isn’t this fun?
Here’s another one. The orange circles in this image are the same size.
Yet the circle on the left looks smaller than the one on the right. You’ve probably figured out why. It’s the surrounding circles. On the left they are not only bigger, but also further away. On the right, it’s the opposite.
The illusions in points 11, 12 and 13 are all about context. Our eyes and brains combine to take the visual information they are given to create an image in our heads. Sometimes, we are deceived by the context and are tricked into seeing things differently from how they are in reality.
Our eyes can also be deceived when our brains invent a context.
Remember that dress? You know the one. This one:
Some people see a white dress with golden bands. Others see a blue dress with black, or sometimes brown, bands. Neither side can understand why the other isn’t seeing what they see.
By the way, the dress is actually blue and black. That’s not us saying so. It’s the original dressmaker Roman Originals, who did not have a white and gold dress at the time the picture was taken and went viral.
But why do some people see a white and gold dress? We’re not sure, but one suggested reason has to do with whether our brain thinks the dress is illuminated by artificial indoor light, which is often yellowish, or natural light, which is often blue. And to make things even more mind boggling, if your brain thinks the light is blue, you’ll see the dress as being white.
Colour is weird. And that’s official.
14. Soften corners
Corners are key parts of any room, but are often overlooked. They frequently become places where redundant things are put. ‘Stick it in the corner’, is a phrase you’ll often hear when people don’t know what to do with something.
This often results in clutter and an untidy feel to a room.
Instead, use corners to create a sense of height by placing a tall object there. It could be a piece of art, or something on a pedestal, or a slender plant in a pot. This way, corners go from being an afterthought to playing a main role in giving your room character.
15. Mix old and new
There are a number of advantages to mixing old and new in your rooms.
Firstly, doing so can bring a relaxed sense of chic to the room. For instance, having an antique piece or two in a modern setting adds interest and timeless elegance.
But it doesn’t have to be an antique. You can bring a fading piece of furniture like a cabinet back to life by repainting, repairing and changing the handles. In fact, whole businesses have sprung up doing just that, because many consumers today are keen to reduce waste by extending the life of secondhand or ‘pre-loved’ items.
As well as that, a refurbished piece can feel so brand new and fresh, it can transform the space it was in before it was given a makeover. You’d think the whole room had been upgraded.
Photo by svklimkin from Pixabay
