Fresh Ideas For Your Home - Round Shapes

Adding round-shaped interior elements can smooth the hard edges in your interior look.

The unexpected circular shapes will energize your design style.

Don't be a square - or even a rectangle! Rooms that have only sharp edges and straight lines can create a feeling of too much order and lead to a sense of discomfort or inflexibility. Add just a few round elements as an accent to soften and relax a room. You can be creative in your definition of "round" to include more than perfect circles. Include ovals, egg-shapes, ellipses, arches, curls, cylinders, rings and more. The idea is just that you add a few rounded shapes, in addition to the straight lines and square corners that are everywhere in your home.

Even in the feng shui concept of interior design, round shapes are important. Feng shui is about balancing five elements, one of which is metal. The metal element is expressed as a round shape in decor; and round design elements are believed to bring clarity, precision, freshness and equality into a room. The possibilities for adding round shapes to your home environment are almost unlimited:

• -Circular or oval rugs
• -Round pillows
• -Curved patterns in wallpaper or upholstery fabric
• -Cylindrical, round or oval accessories - such as vases, bowls and urns
• -Disk-shaped tables - including dining tables, end tables and coffee tables
• -Round light fixtures or lamps
• -A circular sofa sectional
• -Elliptical or round mirrors or artwork
• -Spiral staircases
• -And if you're remodeling, round windows and arch top doorways or windows - or you can change the shape of a room to have a rounded window bay.

Think outside the box. Round out your interior design with some circular shapes!