Unpatterned walls enlarge space by keeping the wall plane intact

Occupying the largest surface area in any room, walls are no doubt the most significant visual elements of interior spaces.

Generally speaking, any wall should provide a subdued, general background against which all the other visual elements can be viewed appropriately. This does not in any way mean that they should have solid, dull, flat tonal features in, say, white, cream or grey. You can make them decorative with vivid hues, designed wallpapers and textured paints.

But the keyword here is to underplay it ? always use restraint in its character, and you will never go wrong.

Narrow your decisions to three essential elements:

• Pattern
• Texture
• Colour
• Apt choice

Generally speaking, the merits of a plain wall are endless. Unpatterned walls definitely enlarge space by keeping the wall plane intact. They are, therefore, appropriate choices whenever pictures are to be hung on them.

Rooms with other patterned surfaces, such as a bathroom that has patterned tiles, require plain walls to show the designs around.

On the other hand, a room with prominent architectural features, such as a panelled office, may need pattern on the plain surfaces for balance. Again, a room with irregular wall areas, such as a recess, may successfully use patterns as a disguise or, conversely, to set the irregularities apart. Pattern may additionally be used to camouflage walls with poorly finished surfaces.

Good design

Wall pattern must be good design by all standards. Because a large mural pattern is constantly in view, it is important that its design possesses a degree of complexity so that the eye may find several paths along which to travel. However, the pattern should not be as intricate as that of a painting.

A good mural design should likewise contain rest positions. These are especially necessary because a wall design is usually repetitive.

Some designers make the error of believing that a wall pattern should always be inconspicuous. The degree of insistence of the pattern is dependent on its function in the total design, and bears no relation to its intrinsic merit.

Many wall patterns can be bought in papers in different colour combinations, but it is often a good practice to examine a particular design in its most contrasting colour relationship. If it stands up as a good design under this kind of examination, it can safely be used in tones that would give just the right amount of emphasis on a particular area.

It is usually desirable that wall patterns are scaled to the size of the space. However, this is not a blanket rule.

Flat or 3-D

The flatness of a pattern relates to its treatment of depth.

First, there are the flat designs in which there is no three-dimensional modelling. Most linear designs fall into this category, although area designs may also be flat. Since they do not advance noticeably from the wall surface, they can be used to great advantage in a small room. A flat design can be larger in scale without reducing the apparent room size.

Second, many designs have three-dimensional modelling on a flat background. Here the design stands out in solid form from its background. Thus it is best used in a space that can stand some reduction in size.

Lastly, the depth treatment in a design may be one that utilises all the known laws of perspective to create the illusion of recession in space. Here the background recedes into distance. This kind of design may be used effectively to enlarge space.

Stylisation

Closely related to a consideration of depth treatment is the study of the degree of stylisation. A pattern, which deviates from nature but uses a natural subject as its point of departure, is frequently called a stylised pattern. When a pattern deviates to the extent that nature becomes merely an inspiration for the design, it is frequently called an abstract design.

A step further on this path away from realism would be a non-objective or non-representational design with no reference to any natural object. Because there is a relation between this kind of design and the scientific character of today’s world, non-objective design seems apt for modern houses.

There are other ways to depart from nature. Realistic motifs can be arranged into a larger designed composition. Here it is the arrangement that deviates from reality.

Represented objects may be altered in scale ? some large, some small. They may be changed in position ? some upright, some upside down. They may be unrealistically coloured or textured. The objects can also be enclosed within a designed frame.

The type of reality produced in art is closely related to the culture of the people. For instance, folk pattern is liable to be composed of many somewhat unrelated motifs each individually stylised. It resembles children’s art in this respect.

The author is a senior faculty member at J.D. Birla Institute (Calcutta), where she has been delivering lectures, guiding research and conducting projects in housing and interior design for over 22 years. An interior design consultant, she specialises in ergonomics at home and work. She can be contacted at kusumsmail@yahoo.com