The Golden Rules of Proportion: Decor Laws You Need to Know

they can look completely out of place in a room. You need to consider the size and style of the pendant, the ceiling height, and the space in which they will be hung.

Despite these variables, there are still a few hard-and-fast rules that can help when hanging pendants. For kitchen benches, hang lights around 70-80 centimetres above benchtops. This height allows the pendants to provide a useful light source for working, without intruding on the line of sight from the kitchen to the adjoining living or dining room.

For your dining table, sit pendants at 75 centimetres above table height to create an intimate and cosy dining space.

For entries and hallways where people will be walking beneath the pendant lights, the ideal hanging height should have space allowing about 240 centimetres from floor level. Rachel Loewen © 2019 Houzz

Hang art at eye level Choosing artwork that is the wrong scale for a room is a common mistake, with most people erring on the small size. Checking to see whether a gallery will allow you to bring a piece home on approval is the best way around this. If you fall in a love with a piece that is too small for your room, have it re-framed with a larger mount.

Another common mistake is to hang artwork too high on the wall. If a piece is hung too high it will have no connection to the furniture below it, and if it’s above eye level it can ruin the look of a room.

Ideally, artwork should be hung so that the centre of the piece is at average eye level or about 150 centimetres from the ground. In a dining room, you might want to hang the pieces slightly lower to factor in the seated viewing height. Marni Epstein-Mervis © 2018 Houzz

Follow the 60-30-10 formula for colours To help create a perfectly balanced colour scheme, a timeless decorating principle shared by interior designers on Houzz is to follow the 60-30-10 formula.

Your 60 per cent is the main colour for a room, which anchors a space and provides a backdrop for the other colours. In a living room this would be walls, sofas and rugs.

Your 30 per cent is the secondary colour, which would encompass occasional chairs, bed linen, window furnishings and occasional furniture. It should support the main colour while being different enough to set it apart and give the room interest.

The final 10 per cent is your accent colour. For a living room, this would include cushions, decorative accessories and artwork. For a bedroom, think throw pillows and artwork. Don’t forget smaller object pieces can create big impact Keeping an eye on the proportion of decorative accessories is another important consideration. One large bowl on a dining table might be all you need in that space to create drama. Conversely, combining small objects with other similar objects can create just as much impact. A collection of ceramic pots makes one big statement, whereas a few pots scattered about will look disconnected and out of proportion.

Lamps should not overshadow the table on which they are placed. A large lamp on a slender table, for example, would appear top-heavy. Too much variety of scale can cause visual chaos in a focused area, such as a bookshelf. Instead, group items of similar type and scale together, and line up like-sized books for a balanced look.

Sarah Dowlin © 2019 Houzz

Whether you are looking to decorate just one room or your entire home, we know you want top quality, real choice and inspiration, as well as expert advice so it’s done right the first time. The team at Guthrie Bowron Whangarei are ready to help, so pop in and let’s chat!

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Top: Feltex, Salisbury. Above: Dulux Kohukohunui. Photographer: Mike Baker. Stylist: Bree Leech. Artwork: Claire Kirkup 'Gathered and Spun' 2018. Image supplied by Dulux.