When it comes to wood, there is simply a LOT that an interior designer needs to know! Of all materials used in interior spaces, wood dominates as the most widely used material. Unlike materials that might be used for a specific function (like stone for countertops or metal for fixtures), wood is used across nearly every interior component: 

Framing: Most residential projects use wood as the primary framing material for walls, floors, ceilings, and staircases.

Architectural Features: Wood is the primary material used for doors, window and door casings, baseboards, and ceiling beams.

Cabinetry & Millwork: Wood, or wood by-products are used for kitchen, bath, and office cabinetry, built-in storage, shelving, and wall paneling.

Furniture: Solid wood or wood derivatives are used to construct tables, chairs, and occasional pieces

In separate posts, we have explored both common and exotic wood species used primarily for flooring and cabinetry. But there are other wood applications that designers must be familiar with. In this blog, we will define specialty applications of wood and wood by-products. 

Projects and project budgets that align with these specialized and costly wood species are extremely rare. When a generous budget allows, and for clients seeking an interior that tells a richer story, exotic woods offer an immediate injection of drama, deep texture, and undeniable tactile luxury that standard domestic woods simply cannot replicate. Let’s explore a few of these specialized species.

This article provides an overview of the most commonly used wood species used for flooring and cabinetry, including oak, maple, cherry, poplar, and walnut. With all the wood options available on the market, it is important for interior designers to be well-informed and knowledgeable!

We have covered the design elements—I liken these to the ingredients in a recipe—Line, Shape and Form, Pattern and Texture, Light, and Color in previous posts. 

And we have explored the design principles—the strategies for carefully and effectively combining the elements—by utilizing Balance,  Rhythm, Scale and Proportion, and Emphasis and Focal Points—more recently. 

I have left the final design principle: UNITY for the final post in this series. Why? Because Unity is the overriding and cumulative way in which the contents of a room are woven together into a cohesive whole, transforming a collection of beautiful pieces into a singular, intentional experience. Without it, a room is merely a showroom of disparate items; with it, a space feels resolved, harmonious, and complete.UNITY DefinedIf an interior space is unified, that means that a congruity or agreement exists among the elements in the room; they look as though they belong with one another, as though some visual connection beyond mere chance has brought them together.

UNITY is synonymous with HARMONY.  If various elements appear separate or unrelated, the composition falls apart and lacks both UNITY and Harmony.

Unity (or Harmony) in a composition is the agreement of the parts to each other and to the whole. Unity results in a composition in which all the pieces seem to belong together and work to reinforce the overall design theme.

How is Unity Achieved?There are many tactics to unify a space, several of which we will cover here. The key is that the selection and placement of items in a room be strategic and well considered, not haphazard. 

Homeowners often agonize over why their rooms are not as pleasing as they would like them to be, like the rooms in magazines and on designers’ websites. They have purchased or collected items they like and arranged them into a room setting, but why isn’t the whole thing beautiful?!?!?

If they are able to do so financially, this is hopefully the time that they reach out to a professional residential interior designer to engage their services. 

The issue of a room—full of owned items that are quite nice—that remains visually dull, is often a lack of select points of exceptional visual interest. 

Yes, every item may have been carefully chosen, or not. But if the compilation of those items still appears as a hodgepodge, the issue is a lack of emphasis and focal points. 

Establishing a focal point, or several points of high interest, is the difference between a room that feels like a curated experience and one that just feels like a collection of furnishings.

Most designers understand how to use emphasis and focal points to create visual interest. If you’ve already mastered this skill, this post may provide vocabulary to help you articulate to clients why these 'anchors' (select points of exceptional visual interest) are essential. If you’re looking to sharpen your skills at creating impact and emphasis, read on.

Here we will explore the very important concepts of scale and proportion in design. Together, they are one of the key design principles. Other posts have covered the design elements of Line, Shape and Form, Pattern and Texture, Light, and Color.

And, we have explored the design principles of Rhythm, and Balance in previous posts.

I always like to say that the design elements are like the ingredients used in a recipe. But the design principles are the means of combining those ingredients artfully and skillfully to arrive at a highly pleasing aesthetic. 

Why are SCALE and PROPORTION important?
Scale and proportion is a design principle that homeowners often have difficulty getting correct. How many times have we gone into homes that have small pieces of wall art hung above a sizable sofa? Or, the end table is really petite and looks ill-proportioned?

The homeowner was likely at a store, found a piece they liked, and bought it without considering the scale and proportion relative to their room or their other pieces. The price was right (probably because it was fairly small-scale!), so they made the purchase. They don’t have the luxury of an AutoCAD wall elevation to check the proportion of a wall art piece relative to the furnishings that will be against that wall, or the ability to draw out how a 5’ x 8’ rug would look on their living room floor plan relative to existing furnishings. So, it's no wonder they get it wrong a lot. Getting scale and proportion right takes some consideration.

In this post, we will explore the design principle of RHYTHM. The design principles are the strategies that pull together chosen elements into a cohesive, pleasing, and unified completed space. If the design elements (line, shape, pattern, texture, color) are the ingredients—as in a recipe—the design principles (balance, rhythm, scale and proportion, emphasis, and unity) are the way that those ingredients are artfully combined to create a pleasing composition. 

Rhythm is a tool that designers and homeowners often utilize instinctively by repeating certain elements within a design. But when used very intentionally, rhythm can be the means of creating visually stunning and memorable spaces. 

Borrowed from musical vocabulary, rhythm is the underlying repetition of elements that anchor a design’s composition. Much like a drumbeat that maintains the tempo and holds a piece together, repetition of an element in an interior space supplies cohesion to the overall design. Rhythm punctuates the composition of a room in the same way that a drum beat adds an underlying structure to a musical composition.

We designers often repeat a certain color or motif throughout a space. Or we may replicate certain shapes or lines, such as a drum-shade pendant over a round table or a gallery wall with several rectangular framed pieces.

In architecture and interiors, the repetition of elements creates harmonious, aesthetically pleasing coherence and unification. Related visual elements seem to satisfy a basic human need for visual consistency. Randomness, on the other hand, seems incongruous or unsettling to us. Simply put, the repetition of identical or slightly modified elements establishes rhythm, and rhythm provides order to our visual experience. 

In the images below, the repetition of architectural and design elements provides a unified and pleasing aesthetic to these spaces. If, on the other hand, the lighting, furniture, and wall placements in the restaurant on the right were random and highly varied, we would not see the same level of visual cohesion and unity. 

In previous posts of The Design Brief®, we have covered the Design Elements as they relate to interior design: LINE, SHAPE AND FORM,  PATTERN AND TEXTURE, LIGHT, and COLOR. 

I use the analogy that the design elements are like the ingredients in a recipe. Choosing to add specific amounts of ingredients (the elements) is how a designer effectively and creatively composes a space. 

If the design elements are your raw ingredients—the flour, salt, and spices—then the design principles are the culinary chemistry that determines whether the final dish is a masterpiece or a mess. Think of design principles as the sensory experience that emerges when the elements are combined.

Just as with a well-executed recipe, a thoughtful blend of design elements can result in a savory masterpiece; conversely, a poor combination can yield something bland or even unpalatable. And while a strategic pairing of ingredients can create a harmonious sweetness, an unskilled combination risks a finished product that tastes bitter.

It is in combining the design elements (ingredients) to achieve desired levels of the design principles (interactions) that a designer exercises creative expression and mastery.