If you knew me well, you’d know that a blog post title like that sounds much more complex than my simple and casual style. When decorating or designing for my home I’m more likely to work from the gut and not by literal methods. However, there are some principles, such as basic feng shui, that once learned are hard not to incorporate into the room arrangements within your home.
In high school, my art teacher required the method of triangulation to be incorporated into every piece of art turned in for a grade. Triangulation is a word with so many different definitions from radio transmitter locations to political ideology. But what I gained from this concept in art class is how to use color, texture and pattern in three opposing places within my artwork to keep the art as a whole visually in balance. With this method, I incorporate triangulation into decorating and accessorizing the rooms in my home.
When accenting my living room with red, for example, I will place red objects in three opposing places within the room; a red pillow on the chair, a splash of red in a framed print over the fireplace, and red books on the coffee table. For texture, three house plants of varying sizes in opposing spots around the room, and for pattern, geometric for example, plaid in the couch, a checkered lampshade across the room and geometric shapes of book spines on a shelf.
When designing and sewing a quilt, the principles of triangulation came in very handy for balancing out my fabric blocks. In my graphic design work, many of the larger print pieces I design utilize triangulation, also.
There are no hard and fast rules to room decorating, design or art, but if there’s a sense that a room feels visually off-balance, triangulation is a great method to try. Colors are easy to place, whether in the furniture, paint or decorative accent pieces. Patterns can range from plaids and stripes to floral and geometric on furniture, throws and curtains. Texture is in everything from the softness of carpet and throw pillows to the grittiness of a sisal rug, placemats and window treatments, or as mentioned before, the foliage of house plants.
Triangulation can also be considered in the arrangements of objects in a room to create the most pleasant effect. Form a visual triangle utilizing furniture and accent pieces by either turning furniture at angles in the room or creating a pyramid effect by decorating with items wide at the bottom, such as a couch and end tables, leading to a central point such as a framed print with a decorative plate hung just above the print. Can you see the triangle?