The last article of this series discusses effective interiors. Effective interiors are those that have staying power, the capacity to last many years longer than the prevailing fads, and provide comfort, enjoyment and easy maintenance. A lifetime spent in the field of decoration has convinced me that the most successful interior schemes are those which do not attempt to be dramatic. High drama is not a good daily diet for a person or a family.
FOREGROUND
Flooring is the only component of the foreground. A well-designed and planned flooring with good material will become a good starting point of an interior. A good foreground can be created without the use of expensive material. For instance, ordinary marble with dark color marble border or mirror finish, or ceramics tile with contrasting coloured the inserts which could be square or triangular.
BACKDROP OR BACKGROUND
An interior is incomplete without a proper background and the major role players are walls, windows and curtains. A fine finished wall with soft colours and a few paintings or pictures can make one feel at home. See to it that the frames fixed on the wall are the same scale as the wall size and the colours in the picture quite close to the background colour.
Avoid picture light as it might make the wall more dramatic and give it an art gallery look.
Doors and windows should be in natural colours. A wood frame window would be an ideal choice. There is no other single ingredient which gives more finish to a room than drapes or curtains. When it comes to curtaining your windows there are no hard and fast rules, the same curtain helps to enhance a view or can shut out an unattractive sight.
LIGHTING
We use our eyes much more than nature intended us to. Our day begins at dawn and does not end at dusk. But with proper lighting, we use our eyes round the clock.
Every room needs general illumination as well as specific lighting for different type of activities like studying or reading while lying down. Proper care taken at the start can save sizeable cost and energy.
GENERAL
Using plants, flowers, sculptures and material in their natural state looks marvellous.
All colours are good and it all depends on how you use them. Bold and bright colours can be used in smaller proportions. And adequate and well-planned storage can make life very easy.
-Bharat Gandhi
(The writer is an architect, designer
and Vaastu expert. He can be con-
tacted on 3898990/4421)
