Articles on Design

Maximize the Positive, Minimize the Negative

Platinum #7, March 2000
by Susan Dearborn

Some rooms have no architectural integrity; many have an awkward shape. Ceilings can be too low, too high or sloping. A space may also be too small or even too large for its intended use. Instead of being overwhelmed and giving into a room’s defects, try to minimize the problem area and maximize the positive as you have learned to do with your physical attributes via your wardrobe.

Ceiling and baseboard moldings add interest to any room including bathrooms, and allow paint or wallpaper to make a more definite statement in a room and permit clearer lines. Moldings come in many sizes and styles. You may also wish to add a chair-rail molding and/or picture box molding. The interior of the picture box molding can be papered or painted a complimentary or contrasting color. Below the chair-rail a panel molding can be treated in the same manner as the picture box (with a contrast or coordinate paint).

If a room has an awkward shape – long and narrow or an alcove – wall-to-wall carpet with an open pattern will create the illusion of more open space (as pictured). Place larger pieces of furniture on the narrow wall and don’t be afraid to put a substantial size piece in the alcove.

If your ceilings are low, a striped wallpaper or vertical strié will add height. Another hint is to group pictures of various sizes high on your wall to draw your eye upward. The ceiling in an older building may actually be too high for a small room. Studio apartments often have this problem. These rooms usually have ceiling moldings that can be painted several shades deeper than the wall color to create the illusion of lowering the ceiling. Again, a grouping of various sizes pictures arranged in a more horizontal pattern will alleviate the feeling of height. Sloping ceilings and dormer roof lines should be painted or papered as your wall is to minimize the sloped effect (as in the pictured space).

Small rooms need to think big. A small room papered in a small print will look smaller. A very large patterned paper may lose its repeat so try an open flowing mid-size design. Master plan your furnishing so they don’t look crowded but are of sufficient size to give the space presence. The alcove pictured is small, irregular and has a sloping wall. The patterned carpet opens the space up, while the antique campaign desk set on a diagonal creates the illusion of more size.

If a room is very large you may have difficulty creating a feeling of warmth and making the room work the way you want it to. Several seating groups may work with an ottoman used for connecting these conversational clusters. In my former home, the large Victorian living room had two seating areas at opposite ends of the room. Each area worked beautifully for six people or a large group, but was awkward when entertaining eight people. I linked the two areas with a large clover-shaped ottoman in the center of the room, allowing two people to sit and converse with either group.

The key to effective design is to address your space by deciding upon its intended usage, then assess its strong and weak points – maximize the positive and minimize the negative!

Return to article index