How can it be October already? August marked 1 year since Ed and I purchased Blackwood Construction from Woody. We have redesigned the logo, updated the website, and rebranded some of the work fleet which is an ongoing process. We will be remodeling our office. This has been a year of learning, understanding, growing and gratitude. Gratitude to our team and gratitude to our customers.
In our last blog we wrote about employing good design principles. These principles are Symmetry, Simplicity, Scale, Functionality, Consistency, Contrast and Whitespace.
Symmetry: Arranging elements in a way that creates balance, order, and harmony. It’s often achieved by mirroring elements across a central axis or repeating them in a pattern. In kitchen design, some examples of symmetry are when we try to keep cabinet sizes symmetrical on either side of a hood, or window.
Simplicity: Keep designs clean and uncluttered. Avoid unnecessary elements that don’t contribute to the overall purpose or function.
Scale: Scale refers to the relative size of an element in a design when compared to another element. In kitchen design an example of scale consideration is with pendants over an island. In bathroom design, we look at size of tiles and how the various tiles in the design relate to one another. Bathroom floor tile vs. shower wall tile vs. shower floor tile (which is typically small in size for traction). More examples of scale in interior design are sizes of rooms and windows, door heights, and then when it comes to furnishing those spaces, we consider how the sizes of the furniture pieces relate to one another to obtain good scale.
Functionality: Ensure that the design serves its intended purpose effectively and is practical for its users. Function should always come before form. Digging into specifics of cabinetry layout, we try to limit the number of 9 inch and 12 inch wide cabinets. They are narrow and impractical for storing things. Sometimes we have to use them though to make the layout, or symmetry work. It is not always a terrible thing … the kitchen cabinet manufacturers have developed wonderful pull-out options that fit into these skinny cabinets, for example spice or utensil pull out storage for these cabinets that maximize their functionality. See the attached images from the Waypoint Living Spaces website that shows an example of a utensil storage pull out and a base filler spice pull out.
Consistency: Maintain uniformity in colors and style.
Contrast: Use contrast to make important elements stand out. An example of how we use contrast in kitchen and bath design is with the fixtures and hardware.
Whitespace: I interpret this in the kitchen and bathroom design realm as the “quiet areas”. Let there be an element that is the key focus, such as the hood. Avoid too many items of focus because then you defeat the purpose. Your eye needs the “quiet areas” to rest so that the focus areas stand out.
In the remodeling business it is a case of listening to the customer, determining what they are trying to accomplish with their remodel. Following the principles of design while incorporating the customer must haves, we strive to achieve a remodel that is functional, classic and timeless, regardless of the design style.