Apartment Owner's Guide To Using Contrast For Added Oomph In Their Decor

Ever since man started scribbling his most intimate thoughts on the walls of his cave home

, he has used contrast to create visual interest, excitement, and drama to his masterpiece. The precepts of positioning opposing elements to bring about a certain effect is the same: dark versus light, airy versus heavy, smooth versus coarse, small versus large, and old versus new. Transforming one's apartment from a ho-hum affair to one oozing with class doesn't have to cost one an arm and a leg. There has never before been as many possibilities when decorating, and all you need is some chutzpah and common sense. Here's how one might use contrast to work magic to his apartment.

Tip # 1 Secure bold and contrasting images in your living room using color and size.

The object is to immediately grab the attention and interest of anyone coming in through your door, and to hold it. One good suggestion might be an almost floor-to-ceiling mural of say birch tree wall art, is a good idea for achieving this feat. The black and white color of the tree contrasted with that of the mural background, and repeated, for instance, in the contrast of the mural with your 14-foot long minimalist white sofa provides an exciting counterpoint.

Consider a wall mirror if you do not care for murals. Anything not indigenous to the place where you are provides instant contrast, as what would happen when, for instance, you're in New York, but your tropical wall art is obviously a bamboo tree.

Complete the look by utilizing shadow and light provided by soft recessed light that beams down on the object.

Tip #2 Implement the same principle in your dining room.

Let's take one example: light versus heavy. How might you accomplish this contrast in your dining room? Perhaps you have a magnificent stone table that has been sanded to perfection; this can be utilized in contrast to the faux wicker chairs. The visual weight that is construed by heavy stone is a nice contrast to the visual airiness that is suggested by the faux wicker chairs. There are other contrasts that can be used as well. In its normal setting, stone is seldom smooth, but here you have a completely smooth stone table. Then again, the smoothness of the table contrasts with the "weave" of the faux wicker chairs a very nice tactile and visual touch. Add substantial decorative wall grilles to a focal wall to balance the heft of the table.

Tip # 3 Complete the visual and tactile feast in your bedroom.

You might consider having Japanese rush pillows with your minimalist bed. The sight of something not indigenous to where you are, in this case Japanese rush pillows, provides an exciting counterpoint. You might add to the excitement an Egyptian stool at the foot of the bed, introducing another element of contrast. You can complete the exciting visual feast by adding a pair of Japanese sandals to one corner.

Decorating one's apartment to give it oomph, and even chutzpah, need not be such a daunting task that it is for many. All that is required by the DIY decorator is common sense and knowledge of the use of contrast.

Apartment Owner's Guide To Using Contrast For Added Oomph In Their Decor

By: Carol Mcguire

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