Use Focal Points to Transform Your Home

Confused about focal points? Don’t stress, we’ve got you covered. In the interior design world, a focal point is an object or area of interest that draws attention to the eye. Whether you’re decorating your first home, searching for a fresh look, or preparing to sell your house, creating a focal point can transform how a room is perceived by friends, family and potential buyers. Here are a few of our recommendations to use as focal points around your home.

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•    - Artwork: One of the quickest and most popular focal point choices among new homeowners and sellers. Artwork is easy to find, hang, and change when you’re ready for a fresh look. Added bonus: colours from a piece of art can be used as inspiration for the design of the rest of the room.
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•    - Fireplace: A desirable architectural feature that acts as the perfect focal point in many living rooms. Depending on the materials used, fireplaces add texture, contrast and warmth to a room. Small accessories can be added to the mantel to build on the natural beauty of this focal point.
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     - A large window: Showcase the natural views seen through the windows of your home by making a large window a focal point. Consider arranging furniture around a window to create a seating area that faces the window or use window treatments to frame the window.
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     - Accent walls: An effective way to create a captivating focal point in any room, especially bedrooms and basements. Accent walls can be achieved using a contrasting paint colour, patterned wallpaper, bricks, barnboard or wainscoting.

   - Mirrors: What better way to amply light and add depth to a space, while creating a focal point for a room. Mirrors create the illusion that a room is bigger than it really is while reflecting light to make a space brighter. Entryways, narrow rooms and family rooms are all great places to use a mirror as a focal point. 

Since focal points can have a large impact on a room, you’ll want to be careful with what you choose. Here are a few things to avoid when creating a focal point:

   - Having multiple focal points: Creating more than one focal point can have a negative impression on how a room is perceived. Focus on creating one impactful focal point, rather than a few.

   - Forgetting lighting: Without proper lighting, a focal point won’t stand out as much as it could. The room size, amount of natural light and size of focal point all influence the type of light you’ll want to shine on the focal point.

   - Using wrong proportions: It can be difficult to visualize a piece of art or furniture in your home when you’re standing in a store. Before you choose a focal point, take measurements of the space to get a good idea of the size of the piece to look for.

Now you should have a good idea of what a focal point is, a few ideas of what to use and what to avoid. With a few tweaks, you’re on track to transform the look of your home.