Exciting or Neutral?

This post kind of goes hand in hand with my last one about classics and trends.
 
It's common for people to think, "I want everything in my house to be interesting.  I don't want it to be boring".  Or when looking at all their options they think, "I'll just choose what I like best".

This doesn't always work out so well.

Source: sandiegofireplaces.com via Kirsten on Pinterest

I had this picture on the last post.  I'm sure these homeowners were just thinking they liked that stone and that tile colour but didn't really think ahead about how they would look together.  Or they were nervous the stone was too neutral so they'd spice it up with the coloured tile.  But when it's all together it obviously doesn't work.  It's far too busy.  You don't know what to look at.

Source: flickr.com via Kirsten on Pinterest

A wiser choice would have been a neutral tile in a colour pulled from the stone.  Or even choosing a more simple mantle and doing only stone.

Source: houzz.com via Kirsten on Pinterest

Either way it would allow the beatiful (and most likely expensive) stone to be the focal point.

So the point of this post is that not everything needs to be exciting, and not everything has to be your very favorite thing in the room.  What you end up with is a very busy room with no focal point.  It feels overwhelming and uncomfortable. 
Some things need to be less exciting and blend into the background so the focal point of the room can really shine.

Source: lh5.ggpht.com via Tracey on Pinterest

Beautiful glass tile is the focal point in this kitchen.  When you walked into this room you would probably notice it before anything else because the cabinets and counter tops are neutral and visually quiet (not busy).  The are still totally gorgeous but they aren't the flashiest options out there.  If they had put countertops with lots of veining or flecks of colour or if they'd done grey/blue cabinets to match, the tile would have become much less of a focal point.  Why, because your eye would have been pulled to several things instead of just the tile.

Not everything in your room needs to be the focal point.  In fact it's best to pick one (or two things max) to be features in your room and let everything else play backup.  The cabinets and marble counters prove that just because they're playing backup, doesn't mean they can't still be beautiful.  

Having trouble figuring out what the focal point of your room should be and how to make it shine?  I'd love to help!  Contact me at realinteriors@hotmail.com or (204)747-4480.