In order to understand the basic principles of interior design, you must first understand that interior design is essentially the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people or person using the space. This is according to Wikipedia and we’ll deliberately not change this definition because it’s a perfect summation.

Throughout history, interior design has played an important role in maintaining the historical and cultural integrity of many buildings. Let’s take a look at the 7 basic principles of interior design.

Principle 1: Balance

In interior design, balance is a key principle. When you observe the interior of a building, the harmony of objects and their distribution in terms of shape, line, color, light and shadow, they must have a perfect balance. From whatever angle you view the interior, one side should never appear asymmetrical to the other.

Principle 2: Emphasis

As part of interior design, it’s important to ensure that certain aspects of your design that are meant to deliberately attract more attention from the audience are clearly emphasized. You can create emphasis through the use of an attractive mix of color, textile or calligraphy that draws in your audience to the specific spot.

Principle 3: Proportionality

Proportionality in interior design is important as you work towards creating a perfect harmony between the different elements in your design. Your design will appear more symmetrical, beautiful and elegant when everything is proportionate to each other. As a rule, every space should integrate into the design without dependence on others but rather complementing others.

Principle 4: Diversity

One of the things that attracts the viewer and breaks monotony is incorporating diversity in your interior design. Because society is culturally diverse, your design must be able to find a perfect balance and ensure it appeals to a diverse audience base.

Principle 5: Repetition

Just like in any other form of art, repetition will play an important role in interior design. Repetition usually helps in bringing unity, in your design as it helps in creating harmony between the different dimensions, lines, color and other elements in your design.

Principle 6: Conflicts

One of the most interesting ways to attract the viewer’s attention in interior design is creating some conflict. In design, this refers to the contradictions of items in terms of height, thickness, straightness, colors, and so on within the design space.

Principle 7: Hierarchy

For every good interior design plan, you must have a hierarchy that is, there must be sections of the design that are dominant followed by sections that are less dominant, and this should appear very clearly in your design for the audience to appreciate. Every aspect of your interior design can’t carry the same weight and importance.

These principles may sound a bit technical in theory but when you start applying them practically, you’ll realize that they are pretty easy things to master and incorporate in your interior design work.

The terms interior decoration and interior design have been the subject of discourse for a long time with many professionals unable to unanimously agree on how to differentiate between these two concepts. In fact, even some dictionary definitions as well as definitions appearing in many academic books don’t quite clearly distinguish between the two. This perceived confusion has helped widen the debate about what the main distinguishing aspect between these two professions really is.

We’ll attempt to create some clarity on these two professions by highlighting 3 differences between interior decoration and interior design.

#1 The nature of their skills

It has commonly been argued that an interior designer can perform the work of an interior decorator but this cannot apply the other way round. This is because the work of a decorator is somewhat superficial and will entail beautifying a space through the use of good and fashionable furniture, and other items of beauty. The work of an interior designer however goes beyond just decoration. Theirs is an art and science that will take into consideration people’s behavior as they work towards creating a functional space that these people will be able to utilize.

#2 The level of technicality

Whereas the interior decorator will rely on their ability to visualize a space and decide which type of furniture and other decoration will look best within that space. Their job is not really technical and will not involve much of innovation. It’s purely down to visual creativity. The work of an interior designer is however more technical and will involve different innovative solutions as they work towards transforming a space into what the client demands. They don’t only look at aesthetic aspects of the space but also the structural.

#3 Their level of involvement in a project

In most cases, the interior decorator will not be involved in any of the construction processes. They are mostly brought in when all the structural work is complete and their task just becomes that of applying the final gloss to the space. The interior designer on their part is likely to be involved even before the construction work begins. They help the client to be able to visualize how the space will look even before the actual structure is built. This is because the interior structure of a building greatly influences the exterior as well as other structural elements.

We trust that with this information, you are now much better placed to distinguish between who an interior designer is and who an interior decorator is. From their roles, you can clearly see that they are very different. The only common area between the two is that both are involved in decoration of a space but that’s as far as the similarities go.

What’s clear is that an interior designer can play the role of a decorator but the converse is not the same. Therefore if you have been using these two terms interchangeably, it’s time to stop.