Focal points, sightlines, and vignettes — in other words, what designers do to capture your attention and inject personality into your home. Whether you are entering a room or already inside, a professionally designed space directs your attention precisely where we want it to go. This is how we create your own unique and memorable experience of home.
Each of these design elements plays a key role in shaping how you feel and move through a space, drawing the eye naturally from one feature to the next. Here is how we achieve this feat…
Focal Points: Capturing the Personality of Your Home
Focal points are the features that immediately draw your attention, anchor a space, and define its personality. Your home may already have focal points, such as the stunning view our Lions Bay Project clients have above, or we might create them for you through features like a new, striking fireplace surround, mural wall treatment, or vibrant statement artwork.
Whichever the case — existing focal points or created — we always craft a design that accentuates your home’s most standout features. Doing so not only makes your home feel intentional and steeped in your personality, but it is also the hallmark of a professionally designed space. You can, quite literally, feel the difference.
The PEI Project’s lounge offers a great example of multiple, but not competing, focal points within one room. Upon entering the lounge, the first focal point you see is this beautiful view of the dunes. A clear path to the windows and a statue of a peregrine falcon mid-flight draw your eye effortlessly and immediately to the outdoors.
However, this room’s other focal point — a dark and handsome soapstone fireplace — is equally eye-catching. Because they are viewed from a different angle, each focal point has the opportunity to stand out on its own. This brings us to another important element we must consider: sightlines.
Sightlines: Directing Your Experience of Each Space
Focal points may be a room’s main attraction, but they are nothing without thoughtful sightlines. Sightlines are the elements of a design that guide your eyes where we want them to go. For example, notice the path your eyes take when looking at the PEI Kitchen above. Did your gaze start at the island? Did it stop at the vibrant blue art in the adjacent dining room?
That was intentional. We use a combination of design techniques to train your gaze in the right direction, depending on where you are standing in the room. (There should only be one or two focal points per sightline!) Some of our design techniques include:
Negative Space: Oftentimes, the best sightlines are the ones that leave a clear and uninterrupted path to the focal point. Tall furniture, like bookcases or high-backed chairs, should be positioned towards the back of the space to avoid disrupting the visual flow.
Furniture Arrangements: Positioning furniture around a focal point, such as a fireplace, is another subtle way to help that focal point claim more attention — assuming, of course, that the furnishings are not blocking the focal point from view.
Pieces with Movement: Another great design technique is to incorporate artwork, wall installations, or other pieces that convey movement in the direction of your focal point. This takes a skilled eye to do well but gives your home a professional-quality look and feel.
In the PEI living room, we used all of these techniques at once. Negative space creates a clear line of sight to the windows or fireplace (depending on where you are standing), while furnishings encircle the fireplace to enhance its feelings of warmth and appeal. Lastly, this installation of ceramic sea urchin plates is arranged so that the right end trails upward ever so slightly toward the windows, leading our eyes seamlessly to the outdoors.
Vignettes: Creating Picturesque Scenes that Invite You In
In interior design, a “vignette” is a curated arrangement within a larger space. It can tell a story, evoke a mood, or pique interest. While styled shelves and consoles are the first type of vignette that comes to mind for most people, we love to take the concept even further… to your doorways.
There is always a sightline from one room into the next, and if you think about it, doorways are not so different from picture frames. The room beyond is the art within that frame. Even though it is just a peek at what lies beyond, it is a rich opportunity to create something beautiful, unique, and irresistible, drawing you into the next space. The PEI kitchen and butler’s pantry above is one example, but here are two others:
The Lions Bay Project (left) and West Vancouver Project (right) are two other examples of doorways as vignettes. Each offers an enticing glimpse of the room beyond, and the sightlines are perfect. No large light fixtures or furniture block your view, and the colours and materials feel independent yet cohesive. This is how we create vignettes that become focal points in their own right.
Transforming Your Space with Focal Points
Did you ever imagine that your home could be designed with such detail? Every angle, every element — all personalized to you, your home, and the way you live. This is just one of the many benefits of working with an experienced design professional.
As you reflect on your home, I encourage you to take a closer look at your current focal points and sightlines. Are they working together to enhance your spaces, or are they competing for attention? Do they represent you well, or are they focal points you would not have chosen for yourself?
If you are ready to explore these concepts further, I would be delighted to put our thoughtful, detailed approach to work for you. Reach out to me here when you’re ready, and let’s begin the conversation.
Yours,
Lori Steeves
