Do you ever look at a professionally decorated room and wonder what exactly makes it look so good? There are many aspects of decorating that come together to create the perfect room... but there is one element that brings it all together into a harmonious whole. That all-important element is balance. This article addresses balancing your entire room.

Finally I want to address balance in your room as a whole. This is the total sum and substance of everything we've talked about.

You want to make sure that the colors and visual weight on the left portion of the room are balanced with those on the right. You want the view from the far end of the room to be just as pleasing as when you first walk in. You want to make sure that your wall color is balanced with your fabric and furniture colors. You want to make sure that your wall decor is balanced around the room rather than all on one wall. Paint, wallpapers, and decorative items can actually help fix other balance problems. For example, if all your furnishings are on one end of the room due to space constraints, you can even out your look by choosing the correct wall colors. If the furnishings are dark, add some darker wall hangings or paint on the other end to balance the color in the room. But if your furnishings are light, then painting or papering in the same colors will help to carry the look of those furnishings around the room.

I have an example from my own past decorating that worked for the closet problem mentioned in Achieving Balance with Furniture. My old bedroom had two double-door closets filling one end of the room. That was also the end of the room that the door was on. Consequently, the bed, dresser, everything, had to go toward the other end of the room. I solved the problem by placing a large desk close to the closet doors on the wall opposite the door. This not only balanced the dresser (which was on the other side of the room), it also brought some visual weight down the closet end of the room. Then I painted the moldings along the floor and around all the doors a peach color. The additional trimwork then stood out and added more interest to that end. Finally, I hung a small swag over each set of doors, and I designed a custom floral piece about 18" long and 5" wide that fit snugly between the two sets of closet doors. These small touches went a long ways toward balancing the look of the room. And since my focal point (the bed) was in the opposite corner of the room, it was okay that there was still a little more visual weight down at that end.

The whole goal in balancing your decorating, is to always keep the rest of the room in mind when you're arranging. Apply your idea to the room as a whole before you work out the details. It will go far toward getting that professional look that we all love.