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!
