To give your room a feeling of structure and balance, you need to start with a focal point. Creating or enhancing a special feature in your room is an important design technique to help give your rooms meaning and order.

Some focal point that may already exist in your rooms are fireplaces, windows with a great view, built-in cabinets or bookshelves or attractive architectural moldings.

A fireplace creates an excellent point of focus for a room because of it‘s visual appeal and for the feeling of coziness that it creates. An attractive wood-burning stove can have a similar effect.

To draw attention to your fireplace, decorate the mantle with interesting or colorful objects and hang favorite artwork or an attractive mirror above it. Fireplace accessories, decorative stone or tiles, or a bright splash of color also have a strong impact.

Moldings can bring attention to a focal area by helping to create a look that is complete and well defined.

Use decorative moldings to top a window or to a set of built-in bookshelves. Paint the moldings white or in complimentary colors to make them pop.

Fabrics with vibrant color, interesting textures, or bold patterns are another great way to draw attention to a window.

If your room has two or more areas if interest, emphasis should be directed to a primary focal point. Too many areas competing for focus can make a room feel off-balance. Don’t highlight secondary features with objects or colors that attract more attention than those used for the primary focal point.

If you don’t have features in your room that create a natural focal point, you can create a focal point with visually appealing objects.

Interesting artwork, sculpture, or a wall tapestry can create a great points of interest for your room, especially when lit with track or picture lighting. A world globe in a beautiful stand, or other objects that draw the eye to them because of color, shape or form, can also become your room‘s focal point.

Large pieces of furniture can become a rooms focal point if you position other pieces of furniture around them. A tall armoire or dresser painted with a color that contrasts with the walls will bring attention to the piece.

A bed, beautifully dressed with colorful or bold patterns, or a sofa decorated with accent pillows and throws to draw attention to them, can become the rooms primary focus.