8 room design tricks interior decorators would never tell you for free

Learn interior decorators’ foolproof design formulas to make your living spaces a little more beautiful.

To accent your couch, place two 45-cm-square pillows in a matching bold pattern in the corners. Overlap them with two 40-cm-square pillows in a coordinating solid colour. Add one lumbar pillow with a subtle pattern (like a pinstripe) for balanced design.

Most people hang artwork too high. Place a piece so its bottom is only 8-30cm above furniture – lower for large pieces and slightly higher for small pieces. When there’s too much space between furniture and a painting, the eye rests on the void, blank wall between the two pieces.

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Organise 60 percent of books vertically and 40 percent horizontally on the shelves. This creates balance yet spontaneity and shows off the back of the shelf. Stack horizontal books lower than vertical ones: If the vertical books are 30cm tall, place three to four books horizontally up to 10cm high. Add green plants to soften the bookshelf, but avoid flowers, which can look cluttered and distracting.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall: What is the best placement of them all? Centred at about 145cm high, experts say. This is an easy, strain-free eye level for most people. To create the illusion of more space, mount a mirror opposite a window to bounce light.

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The size of the rug – say, for under the coffee table – will dictate how you arrange furniture around it. With a 2.5 x 3m rug, situate the sofa and any chairs so that the front legs of each are somewhere on the rug but the back legs are not. With a 1.5 x 2.5m rug, keep the sofa completely off, but still place the front legs of the chairs on it. In a large family room, use two rugs to create two separate living areas.

In the market for a new one? Make sure it’s wider than 90cm. This allows room to eat, even when the centre of the table is filled with serving dishes and centerpieces. Tight on space? Consider a round table. It fits well into a small corner and, with no edges, offers more eating space.

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When choosing a colour palette, assign 60 percent of the room a dominant colour, 30 percent a secondary colour, and 10 percent an accent colour. In a classic room setting, this may translate to designating walls the dominant colour, upholstery the secondary colour, and a floral arrangement or pillows the accent colour. If you have a nice view outside, frame it by painting the interior window trims a dark colour.

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Because couch seats today are typically about 50cm high for easy sitting and standing, the ideal coffee table is 38 to 50cm tall. Situate it 45cm from the sofa; this is the average distance from a person’s hip to kneecap (people usually sit perched on sofas in living rooms). In a casual family room, 45cm gives space for lounging and comfortably walking around the furniture. Choose a coffee table that’s two thirds as wide as the sofa.

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Source: RD.com