Lesson 2 - How the room works

Introduction of the Host

Ms. P. Mytthili has been heading the Interior Design Department at the Institute of Design, Chennai for close to a decade. A postgraduate in Hindi Literature, she holds several diplomas in Interior Design aswell as Interior Decoration. She is also certified in Corel Draw and Auto Cad.

She has many interior designing projects to her credit. Offices, Show rooms, Residences, Exhibitionstall designing and Landscape projects too. Carnatic music, Gardening, Handicrafts and painting are some of her other interests.

Mr. N. Nadeem is the executive director of Institute of Design.

Class Schedule - Monthly

HOW THE ROOM WORKS

Next, examine how the room works. Are traffic routes congested? Are the seating arrangements flexible? Are there surfaces where things can easily be put down? Does any storage or display provision look good and work well? Can everyone who is seated see the television? Does everyone want to? Assessing the room in this way reveals its successes and failures, and shows how to eliminate the latter.

Above: The living room has to be light and airy during the day, yet cosy and comfortable in the evening. The fireplace and a central table provide the main focal points here.

Continue the guided tour with the dining room- or dining area, if it is part of a through room. This is often the least used room in the house, so its design tends to be neglected. Since it is usually used for just one purpose- eating- it needs to be decorated in a way that avoids visual indigestion. Warm, welcoming colour schemes and flexible lighting work best in this location; strident patterns and harsh colours are to be avoided.

Now turn to the Kitchen. Whatever type of room it is, the most important thing is that it should be hygienic, for obvious reasons. Are the various surfaces in the room easy to keep clean, and to redecorate when necessary? Are these dust and grease traps? Is the lighting over the hob (burners) and counter tops adequate? Is the floor covering a practical choice? Since the kitchen is often the hub of family life, it needs to be functional but adaptable, and also pleasant to be in so that the cook does not mind the time spent slaving over a hot stove.

Above: The kitchen is the engine room of the house. It must be well planned with plenty of work and storage space, and can be pleasant to work in and easy to clean.

Bathrooms have their own special requirements, mainly revolving around combining comfort with a degree of waterproofing, especially if there are young children in the family. Are the decorations and floor covering suitable? How do they complement the bathroom suite? What about the space available within the room? Could moving things around relieve congestion? - Or by moving them out altogether? Having a shower instead of a bath could create lots of extra space. Could a second bathroom be created elsewhere in the house? Otherwise, putting washbasins in some of the bedrooms could take the pressure off the family bathroom during the morning rush hour.

Above: Bedrooms are the most private of rooms, and their colour schemes and furnishings should reflect the personal whims of their occupants

Lastly, bedrooms. In most, the bed is the focal point of the room, so the way it is dressed will be the main influence on the room's appearance. The colour scheme also has its part to play in making the room look comfortable and relaxing; remember that the room's occupant will see it from two view points - on entering, and from the bed-so take this into account when assessing it. What about the ceiling? In the one room where people actually spend some time staring at it, does it deserve something a little more adventurous than white paint? Is the floor covering warm to the touch of bare feet? In children's rooms it also capable of withstanding the occasional rough and tumble or a disaster with the finger paints? Lastly, is the lighting satisfactory? Most bedrooms need a combination of subdued general lighting and brighter local task lighting for things such as reading in bed, putting on make-up or tackling school homework. Some changes may make the room work a great deal more satisfactorily.

Once the tour of the house is complete there should be a clear picture of its condition and how well it works; and some ideas as to how it might be improved. Above all, it will have been viewed as a whole, not just as a series of individual rooms. That is the first step towards creating an attractive, stylish and above all practical home.

Bibliography
1. Book of Colour Sketching by Carolyn Warrender's
2. The Complete Decorating & Home Improvement Book by Mike Lawrence

Class Schedule:            Using Colours

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