The Rule of 3: Interior Design Tips to Bring Your Walls (and Your Home) To Life

While the rule of three may be an interior design mantra, it may be something you’ve never come across before. With these helpful interior design tips however, you’ll soon be redesigning your home like a pro!  

While it may seem impossible to be able to achieve a perfectly designed room on your own, we’re here to tell you that it may be easier than you think. We’ve taken the hottest tips and trends from the top interior designers to bring you the rule that they live by…

Interior Design Basics

Whether you’re looking to create a fresh, modern design, or something a little more decadent, there are three basic rules that all interior designers live by:

1. The 3/3 Vertical Rule

The 3/3 Vertical Rule is a perfect example of how all interior decorators worth their salt try to reflect the natural order of the outside world indoors. Think about the natural order of colours – darker colours are found towards the ground, medium tones slowly build upwards, and a bright sky tops it all off. Your home or work space should also follow this model.

Start with darker colours at floor level – dark wood flooring or carpet – and fade the colour scheme working upwards. It’ll leave your room feeling more grounded!

2. The 10-30-60 Rule

The 10-30-60 Rule is something that every guru of interior design will profess to you ad nauseum. Start by choosing your colours and splitting them into three different gradients (see the 3/3 vertical rule). With more neutral shades being your dominant, bolder shades as your secondary colour, and the boldest of all your shades working as the accent.

The rule works this way: 60% of your color scheme should be devoted to your dominant shades – these are generally neutral shades or light colours. Add to this 30% of your secondary colour – this should be a playful shade, less neutral and a little brighter. Secondary shades are an excellent choice for furniture or accent rugs. Finally, 10% of the color used in your room will serve as your accent colour – by far the boldest of the shades, this will draw the eye to particular walls or art pieces.

3. The Rule of Threes

Interior design teaches us that our eyes, and our minds, love to see odd numbers of things – something in the asymmetry is obviously appealing! Groups of three are the ideal number – cluster ornaments or accessories accordingly. Make sure that anytime you want add accessories to your carefully designed room, that you buy an odd number of them. Framed sport prints are a great way to liven up an accent wall – just make sure you have an odd number!

Final thoughts: A Bold Statement for a Subtle Room

Every room needs a focal point. Depending on the dimensions of the room and personal preference, that can be a piece of furniture, a single painted wall, or even a piece of art that speaks to you. Get this focal point early and build the room around it, choosing colours that complement it and being mindful of ornaments or accessories which undermine the overall theme of the room.

Colour is something that can easily make or break a room. Make sure that once you find your focal piece, that you choose your colour palette based on complementary hues. Always be mindful of the 10-30-60 and 3/3 vertical rule as you make these selections and you’ll never go wrong!