Interior design principles and practices

Art - Interior Design

FORM and FUNCTION in INTERIOR DESIGN

Interior design encompasses two fundamental considerations: form and function, and overemphasis on either component nearly always comes at the expense of the other. Excessive emphasis on aesthetic elements can detract substantially from the ability of a living space to perform its principal function of accommodating living. On the other hand, exclusive focus on functional necessity can completely overwhelm a home aesthetically and give it the feel of a workspace or storage space equipped but with sleeping, showering, and eating stations. Interior Design Philosophy:

In principle, one of the most important purposes of interior design is to maximize the efficient integration of form considerations and functional necessity in the home (Susanka & Obolensky, 2008). Instead of viewing aesthetics and function as competing concerns, my approach emphasizes the optimization of both to the extent neither compromises the necessary elements of the other. In virtually all situations, aesthetics and functional purpose can coexist to some degree (Pennington, 2008).

One useful mechanism for achieving a balanced integration of form and function is the symbolic logic represented by the Venn diagram depicting sets of ideas, more in principle than necessarily by actually reducing design considerations to a drawing on paper. Overall, the goal is to separately identify those functional requirements that cannot be compromised and those aesthetic requirements that are absolutely essential for the living space to meet the needs and preferences of its inhabitants.

After identifying all the specific functional requirements, the next step is to list them in an approximation of their relative importance; after that, the same process is applied to the list of identified aesthetic considerations. This allows the most efficient cost-benefit analysis of understanding specific trade-offs between competing solutions to any necessary choices between functional and aesthetic considerations.

Ideally, a living space would never require any compromises from either perspective at all. Unfortunately, the reality is that in most cases, economic and other practical considerations require some degree of duality as pertains to form and function (Susanka & Obolensky, 2008). Creative interior design solutions allow many potential conflicts to be resolved completely. In most of the cases remaining, creative design can maximize dual solutions under the circumstances, as well as minimize the number of preferences that simply cannot be accommodated in a given living space (Pennington, 2008).

Personal Experience:

was fortunate to have relatively good intuition in the area of perceiving potential conflicts between form and function considerations and basic instincts about resolving those issues creatively. In fact, my first attempt to maximize dual expression of form and function provided a valuable lesson in practicality and ease of use in actual practice. In principle, all of my individual solutions looked good on paper and "worked" even after implementation; however, the inconveniences associated with some of the options should have been considered in the design phase. For one simple example, I chose a sleeper sofa and matching coffee table that was easily movable at night; it also worked nicely as a desk area during the day time in a small studio apartment. Initially, the solution worked perfectly, with the coffee table fitting in a closet, standing up on its end. During the design phase, I never anticipated that the dual use of the coffee table as a desk area would eventually conflict with the necessity of moving it and standing it on its end to use unfold the pull-out bed from the sofa..

On paper" the initial solution worked perfectly; in practice, that choice required moving all the "desktop" papers and other accumulated materials every night. My mistake was in focusing exclusively on the dimensional feasibility of the main components and on their intended (dual) uses individually instead of in terms of how their individual uses affected the practical necessities beyond dimensions and aesthetics.

Ultimately, the daytime configuration achieved the perfect use of space and material to provide the impression of a dedicated (albeit very small) modern living room with a nicely matched sofa, loveseat, and coffee table. Likewise, the coffee table was ideally suited to its dual role as a desk area, although I also failed to anticipate the degree to which comfort issues that never arise using a coffee table/desk occasionally become a limiting discomfort in more regular long-term use.