The sense of flow in a house is an imaginary force that can create unity and relaxation in an area. It promotes a peaceful and happy atmosphere, and is especially essential for areas of high stress. The home office or the master bedroom, for example, are areas you want to feel calm and focused in, not strung out and tired.

When imagining the flow of a room, stand at the entrance and look into the room. Pretend that a river is running through the door and into the room. Where would the water go? Trace the path with your eyes of how it would circle around the furniture and continue throughout the room.

The two problems that create bad flow are cluttered spaces and empty spaces. In a cluttered space, the flow is trapped and cannot continue throughout the room. In an empty space, it simply stops because there is nothing to move it forward. The flow can also be thought of as the path a viewer’s eye takes through the room, and will follow the same rules about where it stops or gets stuck.

To remedy bad flow, space the furniture apart so the eye has a resting place between pieces but still has a new object to move on to after a few seconds. Lead the viewer’s eye around the room without being too direct. A few empty spaces won’t hurt, but try to avoid placing them in areas that serve as focal points. The empty spaces should typically be found between small groups of furniture and accessories.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 11:36 am and is filed under Latest design trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.