Simply stated, every room in your home needs a fabulous focal point! If your room is lacking a noticeable feature, then one of your first design steps should be to create one.

Often rooms do include some feature or furnishing that makes a natural focal point. For instance, a table or buffet in the dining room, the bed in a bedroom, the desk in a library or den is usually the logical candidate for being emphasized.

But something “different” in the way of decorating is one of today’s status symbols and the result is an anything-goes attitude toward emphasis. Huge paintings, supersized graphics of all sorts and sizeable pieces of sculpture are high on the status list at the moment, and can be used as focal points themselves or to add to the excitement of an emphasized area. Conversational areas designed with avant garde furniture and made of innovative materials are sure to be scene-stealers. Unusual fabrics, either vividly colored or strikingly patterned, can be used for emphasis. And a dramatic area rug is one way of setting off or highlighting any specific part of a room.

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