Feng shui is a concept that has been around for over 3,500 years, focused on balancing indoor spaces for the natural world to benefit your chi or life force. To some, this might sound a little too mystical, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t significant benefits to treating your interior design layout with care. Being considerate with your choices for furniture, decor and permanent installations, in the service of creating the right flow for your home, can do wonders for your daily routines and even your mental wellbeing.
This article will offer some tips and tricks for creating an interior flow that you feel most at home in, offering advice for alterations big and small.
Assess your vision for the flow
It’s important to create something of a story within your home, rather than letting every room be a disparate scene with no sense of logic or cohesion. It’s not just about how you physically move through the space; it’s also about the way you experience it visually and emotionally.
Core concepts for making flow interiors feel more comfortable and natural include:
- Choosing a core palette for your colour psychology with 3-5 main colours across rooms
- Set a primary interior design style, whether that’s more bohemian or minimalistic
- Keeping your flooring consistent wherever possible
With these major pillars kept in mind, you should be able to embrace the other elements of flow with increased ease.
Understanding how to move through the space
Beyond the visual, flow interior design does need to be focused on your practical experience, going through your home. Pathways need to be intuitive, without getting in the way of your natural choices while walking about the house. Everything from your hallway furniture to your internal doors needs to be chosen with practicality in mind.
Some smart principles include:
- Arranging furniture to support your natural circulation through the house
- Leaving at least 30-36 inches of walking space between the larger pieces of furniture
- Area rugs, lighting and ceiling treatments can be used to define zones in open spaces without the need for any walls
You don’t want your home to feel like a maze; you want the walk from your bedroom to the kitchen to the coffee table to suit your instincts.
Interior design flow for your eyes
Now that you’ve considered your overarching vision and the practical direction of your interior layout, you need to incorporate elements that will capture the attention of your eyes. Life is about much more than being utilitarian; you want to bring in elements that keep your spirits up and inspire you throughout the days.
Some visual flow elements to keep in mind include:
- Using lighter tones near transitional sections, along with darkening more enclosed zones as a visual guide for movement
- Repeating materials across rooms to tie them together, even if their colours differ
- Using focal points like art, plants or standout furniture to draw the eyes in when people enter the room
- Using connected accents, such as matching textile colours, matching trims or using the same frame styles for art across the house
Help your eyes to move through your home as naturally as possible with these principles.
Keeping these guidelines in mind
Interior design flow is easy enough to master when you take these guidelines into consideration. Don’t get caught up in abrupt transitions, oversized furniture and jarring accents. Mastering consistency, even as spaces are different in form and function, will help you to flow through the property physically, visually and emotionally with more comfort and confidence.
And remember, have fun and experiment! It’s your home and you can try whatever you want with it.
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