Creating a dramatic focal point

Having a focal point is essential to a good design. All compositions needs a centre of interest for the composition to make visual sense. Creating a focal point is one of the most important design step you can take – it will help you to create order and a feeling of balance in your apartment.

Natural focal points

A natural focal point

Some focal points occur naturally in your apartments architecture such as fireplaces, alcoves, picture rails and feature windows. These features will draw the eye to them giving you a feeling of structure and balance the room.

Consider yourself lucky if you have a focal point in your apartment already as this will make furniture arrangement much easier as the point of focus has already been established for you.

Making a focal point stand out!

Fireplaces are excellent focal points as they are visually captivating and appealing and also provide a source of warmth and comfort.

You can easily make your fireplace area the 'star' of the room by dressing up the mantle, hanging a mirror or a picture above it and adding fireplace accessories or by simply painting the area in a bold colour to make it stand out even more.

Fabrics that are colourful or have interesting texture or patterns are a great way to create visual interest.

Add drama to a feature window by framing it with curtains made from vibrant and luxurious fabrics – keeping in mind the bolder the pattern or colour the more visual attention it will get.

What if there is too many focal points?

If there is too many focal point in your apartment it will distract the eye and make it feel off-balance. So if you have two or more focal points in the room, you need to give priority to only one of them and let the others play a supporting role or blend into the room.

Don't highlight secondary features with colours or patterns that are more vibrant or interesting then those used on the primary focal point.

If you are lucky enough to have more than one interesting feature, like a beautiful fireplace and a stunning view , the view should always take first priority.

What if there isn't any focal point at all?

If you don't have any focal points in your apartment, don't despair. There are many things you can still do to create a dramatic point of interest. There isn't any right or wrong objects or items to use for a focal point. All it needs is to be something that is interesting to look at and that will draw the eye towards it.

Ex. of a modern living room

Have a good look around your room if you are working with existing furniture. What is the first thing that catches your eye? Most likely the largest piece of furniture such as a bed in the bedroom or the sofa in the living room. This large items can make excellent focal points.

Make the most of what you have

Making large furniture into a focal point can be done easily with a dash of colour and by positing the other pieces of furniture around them.

Using colourful fabrics are a great way to draw attention to your focal point. If you have a neutral colour sofa you could accessorize it with a throw or a pile of different coloured pillows.

Colour will bring attention to an object that otherwise might blend in with its surrounding. So paint a tall dresser with a colour that contrasts with the wall and see how it will leap into focus.

Abstract modern painting