Interior Design with Julia Luttrell
Architectural detail alters space
Think outside the box. Architectural detail has all the angles; exciting, intricate embellishments that go well beyond simple crown mouldings, baseboard and chair rail.
You can build beautiful bone structure into any boring, box-shaped room, by integrating these elements, to define areas and redirect the focus toward a single fabulous feature in the room.
Sculpted mouldings, sconces, and curved construction details can generate new geometry and add dimension to a stark space. And you needn�t break the bank to benefit from them. With today�s technology, composites exist that mimic the fine features of expensive wood mouldings, sconces and beautifully carved columns, yet are light, easy to apply, cost effective and best of all, can be painted or faux-finished.
In the accompanying sketch for example, the strategic application of architectural detail with a bit of simple construction and the addition of a few bookcases, have transformed this boxy room from blah to beautiful.
The window, as the only significant feature in the room, became a focal point whose detail was then repeated on the headboard wall and extended down to the bed. A simple boxed-in shelf at the head of the bed, supports the pillows and runs into the wall above it, which has been upholstered in a luxurious textured fabric, which is again echoed in the bedding.
The bookcases that flank the bed, each have a drop leaf shelf to act as a night table, and are topped with a crown moulding that wraps around the room, and connects the two prominent architectural features at the window and the head of the bed.
The heaviness of the headboard wall is balanced by two substantial, intricately carved, cross-sectioned columns applied to either side of the window. Bamboo plants sit on the columns, providing a light airy splash of greenery against the wall and cutting through the horizontal line of the chair rail.
Imagine what this plain, uninteresting room would be without these few minor alterations and you will appreciate the magic of architectural detail. It can take your room from mundane to marvelous, from mediocre to magnificent, merely in an afternoon�s labour.
So before you fill the room with furnishings, think outside the box, and consider beginning with the basic bone structure. It will give your home a unique, lasting character that you can carry to the bank!
