Irregular-shaped rooms pose a challenge for designers and contractors to create a cohesive vision. Here are a few tips about the role the window coverings and decorator tricks can play in these conditions!
TIP #1 — If there are multiple windows in the room, hang identical window treatments on each window. This helps unify a room that may appear scattered due to its shape.
TIP #2 — If the room is large, divide the oddly-shaped room into several “inner rooms,” organized by specific tasks for which the room is used.
For example, a large den could have the following inner rooms: game playing room, TV watching room, reading room, studying room. Organizing a large room into inner rooms will make the odd space make sense, both practically and aesthetically.
TIP #3 — Walls that connect to one another at sharp angles can make a room feel cold and serious. Help “cozy up” a room with sharp angles with a decorating folding screen.
Besides helping a room to look softer, there’s another reason to make those corners more subtle: in the ancient art of Feng Shui, adding round features to corners in a room is said to increase financial prosperity and good health!
TIP #4 — If your room has several disjointed built-in alcoves, consider joining them together with a painted border. That would make the room feel whole, instead of separate and partitioned.
For a less dramatic but very effective variation of this technique, simply hang a wallpaper border across the wall, going into each alcove. However, unlike the above technique, you would not wallpaper or paint the ceiling area of each alcove. Just paint the entire ceiling the same color.
TIP #5 — Place an area rug in the center of the room, to draw attention away from the periphery of the room.
TIP #6 — If there is an odd corner of the room that doesn’t get much use, use lighting strategically to draw focus away from the corner. Focus your ambient (general, or overhead) lighting on illuminating the rest of the room.
TIP #7 — If an odd corner seems to really stick out, it often is appropriate to create a small reading corner with a chair, end table, and a small lamp. A reading corner is appropriate for almost any room, and it makes an awkward corner appear cozy.
TIP #8 — Use free-standing shelving, rather than shelves attached to the walls. With freestanding furniture pieces such as bookcases and armoires, you can tweak the room’s shape by setting the pieces away from the wall several inches.
TIP #9 — Keep the wall covering neutral and avoid hanging bold or dramatic artwork on the walls. Look to your furniture pieces to act as the focal point of the room, rather than the unusual walls.
TIP #10 — You don’t have to hide your room’s eccentricities! If you love a contemporary or eclectic look, by all means, you should highlight the unusual shape of your room instead!
