by Rachelle de Bretagne

Created on: June 12, 2009   Last Updated: June 25, 2009

Finding the focal point of a room is easier than you might imagine. What interior designers do to establish a focal point is decide which feature of a room is the one which draws the eye to it. Often home-owners are disappointed when they actually realize that the natural focal point of a room may be one which is not desirable. This can make or break the whole layout of the room, and it vital to successful decorating practice that you maximise the room presentation by recognition of those areas which act as focal points. Once you understand how to use focal points and to distinguish where they are, this also helps you to attract the eye of visitors to those areas you want to emphasize, making the presentation of your home effective and stylish.

*Finding the focal point.

*Deciding on what needs to be the focal point

*Using natural elements of a room as a focal point.

*How window dressings affect visual effectiveness.

*Creating a focal point where none exists.

*Using that focal point to best effect.

Finding the focal point.

It does not matter which room of the home you wish to decorate. Each will have a focal point, although the clarity may send mixed messages to visitors. The way to find the focal point in a room is to enter the room and to see what immediately hits the eye. It can be startling to find that the family room focus is the television, the kitchen's focal point is the pile of dirty dishes, and the bedroom focal point is hideous curtains which overdress a window. Even in rooms as small as bathrooms, something will attract the eye, and here it may not be the item you wish to show your visitors.

Being honest is the first step to finding the focal point. If you live within a space for a long time, you become accustomed to seeing the same clutter. You take for granted your surroundings, though purposely enter a room and examine what your eye in drawn to, and this is indeed the focal point of the room in question.

Deciding what needs to be the focal point.

Having established what visitors see when they enter your room, you are prepared to start the design process. This assessment has to be honest to work. This is why designers are so successful with the work they do because they are looking from a more neutral stance. If you find that the existing focal point is not how you wish to present the room, an alternative will have to be created to draw the eye of the beholder away from those areas you consider to be less desirable.

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