Interior Design Mood

by Thomas Dill
(Costa Rica)

Mood is feeling. Frequently, people use mood words when they first attempt to describe what they want in their new interiors. They also frequently use mood words when attempting to describe the styles they like, and even in describing their color preferences. Most people don’t have any difficulty in describing the mood they prefer in their surroundings. Mood is a personal matter. When somebody says he prefers something exciting or warm and cozy may vary considerably from person to person. Does exciting mean bright colors and patterns or a modern interior filled with black leather furniture and shiny acrylic tabletops?

How will you achieve the right mood in interior design? Mood is achieved through the total combined effect of all the elements in a room. Color is generally the strongest single element of mood setting. Textures, lines, scale of furnishings, lighting, and choices of accessories are other important mood makers.

Through proper decorating, mood intensifies, develops where it’s nonexistent, or changes entirely. Even without furnishings, a room has a certain feeling. It comes from the room’s size, shape, the materials of which it’s constructed, and any extraordinary features of the room. It also results from placement and size of windows, view, and very importantly, the quality of natural light that enters the room. See structural features for more information.

Take a bare-wall look at your rooms. Mentally strip away all the present furnishings and see what’s left. Does the bare-wall room have the mood you want—a mood that you’ll emphasize and intensify? Perhaps you’ll need to take steps to alter the mood of the bare room. What’s the directional exposure of the windows? It’s very important to learn the exposure. A directional compass that always points north can help you determine the window exposure in a room. Such compasses are usually available from sporting goods stores. With a compass, you can tell what direction each window faces (its exposure).

If you know its exposure, you can more accurately determine its day-long mood. A southern exposure means a bright, cheerful mood in the winter months if sunlight floods the room. For the person who wants a cheerful room, you’ll find it easy to enhance the existing mood. On the other hand, you may have the instincts of a night owl and shudders at the thought of too much cheerfulness. Therefore, your decorating plan needs to alter the room. In that case you’ll need a warm, dark, cozy lair.

Thomas Dill.