Rhythm

Today in Interior Design we learned about Rhythm. Rhythm in music is more like a beat, but in design it's the path that our eyes follow, or a repetitive use of an element. Things that could be a rhythm could be things like repeated pictures on a wall, the way a room feels repetitive (like a circular room), or a small object to a big object. Which these are all examples of the three rhythms we talked about: Repetition, Radiation, and Gradation.

Repetition:

Is when an object, color, or the way furniture is set up is repeated.

Beach Style Kitchen

Mediterranean Hall by Scottsdale Architects & Building Designers Carson Poetzl, Inc.

These two images are examples of repetition. In the first image the light fixtures, stools, and the white color of the room are being repeated. The stools and lights stick out the most, and they make our eyes follow from left to right along their pattern. In the second image the arches go down the hall repeatedly. The rhythm in this room make our eyes look down the hall.

Radiation:

Is when the rhythm is in a circular pattern.

Scandinavian Living Room by London Interior Designers & Decorators Cassidy Hughes Interior Design & Styling

Contemporary Living Room by Las Vegas Photographers David Marquardt Architectural Photography

In these two photos the furniture is placed in a circular rhythm. In the first image the circle table and the chairs being placed around the edge of it makes the room have that radiation pattern. In the second image the furniture is placed in a circular den, and our eyes follow the shape.

Gradation:

Is when something is in the pattern of big to small, small to big, dark to light in color, or light to dark. A better way to explain is in the pattern there is only a small change as is goes along.

Contemporary Kitchen by Jacksonville Beach Interior Designers & Decorators Amanda Webster Design

Beach Style Bathroom by Amagansett Interior Designers & Decorators Reiko Feng Shui Design

In the first image the gradation is found in the cabinet's windows. The pattern follows from big to small. In the second image the color is the gradation, and the pattern is dark to light repeated.

The rhythm of a room has to be comfortable and appealing to the eye to be a pattern. The three patterns we focused on were Gradation, Repetition, and Radiation. Rhythm is one of the basic elements that ties a room, or design, together.