Eye of the Designer

This is the first lesson in Unit One of the Sheffield Course. While many interior design programs start right away with measuring and sketching, we take a different approach at Sheffield. There's plenty of measuring and sketching, and that work does begin in Unit One. But before we turn to the work, we start was a lesson that shows beautifully designed rooms, which are, after all, the end result of all that work if it is done right.

This lesson is designed to educate the student's eye. That's why we call it Eye of the Designer. It is part inspiration, and part an introduction of the key elements of any successful room - the three Sheffield Design Guidelines: Function, Mood and Harmony.

What to Look For

You've probably looked at thousands of photographs of beautiful rooms in magazines. If you were like most interested people, you thought: "I wish I could design interiors like that!" But looking at these pictures didn't really help you learn how to decorate rooms better.

Why not? Because you didn't know what to look for.

You looked at the picture of a room. You felt it was beautiful. But you couldn't tell why it was beautiful. You couldn't tell what the decorator had done to produce such a beautiful environment. Sure, the magazine or book told you where the designer got the sofa, the upholstery, the wallpaper, the rug, the chairs, the tables, the lighting fixtures, the accessories. Perhaps, it told you the style of furniture - this is Louis XVI - that is Federal - this is Art Deco.

These are all important technical details - but knowing them didn't help you become a skilled interior designer any more than knowing the names of the paints and brushes used by Leonardo da Vinci would help you produce the Mona Lisa.

The missing ingredient in this process is knowing what to look for when you see a successful interior. Once you know what to look for, you will be able to learn how to achieve similarly results. And that's perhaps the most important thing we're going to teach you in this course - knowing what to look for, and how to achieve it.

From the very start, therefore, we want you to learn three simple guidelines that will become the foundation of every successful interior you ever create.

The Three Sheffield Guidelines

In a moment we want you to look again at some of the pictures of beautiful interiors that you just saw. Only this time, we want you to start observing three important aspects of each of these interiors. We call these aspects the three Basic Guidelines:

1. A successful room is functional.
2. A successful room expresses a mood.
3. A successful room exhibits a sense of harmony.

On the following pages we'll explain each of these guidelines one by one. Then, as you progress through the rest of the course, we will repeatedly bring you back to these guidelines, for they will serve as the foundation - the starting point and bedrock - of all your design efforts. Once you understand these three basic guidelines, you'll start to look at successful rooms in a new way. You'll not only "like" a room, you'll know why you like it. You'll know what makes it "work." And once you know this, you'll be ready to start designing rooms that have the same "professional" look. You will be an "Interior Designer"!

Now, let's explore these three guidelines one by one.

A Successful Room is Functional

This is the most obvious guideline of all. To be successful a room must serve its intended functions.

For example, look at this living room. One of the reasons that this interior is successful is that it fulfills the functional needs of the clients. What is the basic function of a living room? Generally, it is a place for conversation. So, the furniture layout and all the other elements in the interior design of a living room should be conducive to friendly conversation.

Does this living room provide for such convivial conversation? Indeed it does. Observe how all the chairs are arranged facing one another so that a large group can sit around and talk together.

Observe something else. Not only can a large group talk to one another, there is also opportunity for a couple of people to have a more intimate conversation by sitting in the two chairs in the far corner to our left. Or they can sit together on the upholstered bench in front of the fireplace. Or, on either of the two sofas. So, this room provides for intimate conversation as well as large-scale.

Can a room have more than one function? Of course. In fact, another common function of a living room is to provide an environment for quiet reading. In this picture, we can see at least two settings that would be appropriate for reading - in either of the two chairs in the far corner to our left, or at the far end of the sofa to our right. Not only will there be natural daylight through the windows, but also there is a lamp in each of these areas that would be appropriate for reading at night.

Another function of the living room is entertaining, and this usually entails serving some sort of hors d'oeuvres and beverages. A well-designed living room, therefore, should provide convenient table surfaces on which guests - and their hosts - can place plates, cups, and glasses. Does this living room provide such table surfaces? Absolutely. You can see that there is a table surface next to almost every seat so that no matter where you settle down, you can also comfortably handle the refreshments.

There is one seat in this living room, however, that does not have a convenient table surface within reach. Do you see which it is? You're right if you identified the upholstered bench in front of the fireplace. What's the function of this bench? It can serve as a cozy place to "sit in front of the fire" on a cold winter's night. It can also be a convenient place to sit while lighting the fire or poking around in the ashes. So, it has a different function from the other seats in the room.

The point of this discussion is to make you aware of the many different functions that a room may have to fulfill. No matter how beautifully you decorate a room, if your scheme can't fulfill all the functions desired by the clients, then it isn't a successful scheme. If a dining room is not convenient to eat in, then it's a failure. If a bedroom is not comfortable to sleep in, then it's a failure.

All of this is obvious. Yet, the subtleties of providing for a functional environment are often overlooked by amateur interior decorators.

The starting point in all good rooms, therefore, is to decide in advance what functions the room is to fulfill. This, then, is the first question you must answer in planning the interior for any room:

1. What are the intended functions of this room?

What words come to mind when you look at the city apartment shown here?

Sophisticated.
Sleek.
Modern.
Contemporary.
Cool.
Stark.
Mechanistic.
Urban.

All of these descriptions are appropriate, and you may well think of others that are equally right.

Now, what words come to mind when you look at the country living room here?

Rustic.
Rugged.
Country style.
Adirondack style.
Traditional.
Natural.
Casual.
Warm.

All these are appropriate to this country living room.

Is either of these interiors better designed than the other? Not really. They are simply different. They had different objectives that were suited to their environments. One is in a sleek high-rise city apartment; the other, a rustic mountain retreat.

• Each is intended to evoke a feeling appropriate to its setting.
  
• Each is designed to have a "look" appropriate to its intended use.
  
• Each is supposed to express what we call a mood.

The high-rise apartment is designed to have a sleek, modern, sophisticated, cool look. That's its intended mood. And every aspect of the decoration works to express this mood. Look at the furniture, the furnishings, and the color in this living room. Is any aspect of this design out of place or inappropriate? No. Don't you agree that every element of this interior is absolutely appropriate to the intended mood?

Try a game. Look at the picture of the country retreat and see if you can find any piece of furniture or any item of furnishing down to the smallest ashtray that would look appropriate in the high-rise living room.

Do you see any? We don't. What about the color? It too would be out of place.

Now, reverse the game. Look at all the furniture, furnishings, and the color in the country retreat. Do you think any of these elements are out of place in this rustic setting? Examine the room carefully, down to the smallest detail. We think you'll agree that every piece is absolutely appropriate to the rustic, casual, warm mood of this room. That's clearly the mood that the interior designer wanted for this room, and he or she selected only pieces that helped to express this mood.

Again, ask yourself if any of the furniture in the high-rise apartment would look appropriate in the country retreat. Not if you want to maintain the rustic country mood! How about the cool gray blue color? It too would be totally out of place in this country living room.

So, now you have an idea of what we mean by mood. Mood refers to the general look or feeling you want a room to express. You'll learn a lot more about mood as you progress in this course. For now, realize that this is the second question you must ask yourself when you are planning the interior of a room:

1. What are the intended functions f this room?
2. What is the mood I want this room to express?

There are more rooms presented to the Sheffield student in Eye of the Designer than you see in this brief excerpt. The student is shown rooms that are traditional contrasted with those that are modern, as well as rooms that have many different moods and functions. Whether it is a romantic bedroom, an elegant townhouse living room, or a child's room, every successful design must meet the three criteria of Function, Mood and Harmony.

Reprinted with permission from the Sheffield School of Interior Design