Design School Fridays

I thought I would start teaching an element or principle of Interior design every Friday. I am hoping that someone might learn from it. These principles and elements are used by interior designer's everyday to achieve great design. Today were talking Emphasis.
Emphasis is the domination in the room, or let's say the focal point. It's the first thing that catches your eye.
When designing a room look around and see areas that naturally stand out, an amazing fireplace, beautiful architectural windows, a great piece of artwork, a bright sofa, a stunning bed, a gorgeous wall treatment. You want to create centers of interest or focal points. Chose your area of emphasis and downplay the other areas around it, you don't want everything in the room to stick out.
Here's some great examples of emphasis being used well in a room.

In this room the wallpaper draws your first attention, it's the show stopper in the room, the bed comes second then the lamps. Notice how everything else is pretty neutral to allow your eye to focus on this stunning wall.

This back wall creates a dramatic focal point, the brass swing armed sconces mixed with the modern wallpaper and oval mirror makes for a dramatic bathroom.

The focal point in this room is the peacock blue fireplace. Your attention goes straight to the wall of bookcases. Adding a mirror or great piece of artwork is a nice way to draw the focus into the space.

In this kitchen you eye is drawn straight back to the bright white subway tiled wall with open shelving. the hood above the stove is the main emphasis in the space. The lighting dripping down the tile is also a good way to draw your eye to the space.

Pattern on pattern can be tricky, to much and you can lose a focal point. But here your eye goes straight to the bold mirror and allows your eye to drift to the wallpaper and bench quite easily, without going into overload.

Images via {here,here,here,here}