Good interior designs are usually creative and follow a certain design ideology that designers tend to make use of through their work. Following a simple ideology can make the biggest difference when it comes to designing your space. Motive and inspiration are as essential as an ideology when it comes to design. Having a solid sense of inspiration benefits your designs from conceptualization until your design is complete. Recent design approaches have started to move towards following through with a concept instead of a theme. 

 

Why a concept and not a theme? 

 

While having a theme in design is important, it does not necessarily mean that it will give you the space to create an approachable design. Themes are usually very literal, meaning they stick to a select few styles and hardly have the opportunity to move through much more or even add extra to your aesthetics. With the way the world is evolving, not only are furnishings and appliances evolving, the entire interior design field is moving too. 

 

Many design approaches are now making use of modern theories to create spaces that are modern, elegant, and most importantly, functional. The functionality of spaces is becoming a focus and having a space that is being optimally used can bring several advantages. This allows you to add more and stretch your creativity far beyond. Themes have direct accents to what the designer may want to portray within a room while a concept does not. A concept has a deeper meaning compared to a theme. A concept will remind you of something and will feature accents of that specific thing. 

 

If we take the general beach idea to follow through, if we use a beach theme, we would feature beachy items, such as paintings of the ocean and anything regarding it, and a major focus on the colour blue. However, if we used a beach concept, we can pull the shades of the ocean into everything that we are using to furnish and accessorize the space. 
 
Following a theme will give you the ability to be trendy, however, a concept gives you the ability to remain classy. When it comes to design approaches, if you’re investing your money, it makes the most sense to stick with class and not trend. Trends stay fashionable for some time and classy approaches are most likely to remain that way for years. A concept allowing you to be classy makes way for you to subtly add trendy pieces to your design without making it too kitsch or outdated very quickly. 

 

How to create a concept? 

 

You are going to need to get your creative juices flowing when it comes to creating a concept, it isn’t a difficult process. You will need to assess the dimensions and general size of the area you are going to apply the concept. Understanding that concepts are divided into two sub-sections can be vital in your design process. These sub-sections are:

 

• Visible – This focuses on how to convey the message of your design and features visible things such as colours, structures, patterns, and textures. 
• Abstract – This is the focus on things that we cannot see but understand that make up the concept. It ties up everything that the visible includes. So, we will see whether the space designed is sophisticated, elegant, or modern. 

Knowing how to incorporate the sub-sections of a concept into your interior design approach makes for a balanced concept that is inclusive of everything to create a visually pleasing aesthetic. Choose colours that flow throughout your concept and relate to all of the design elements that you are making use of. Your design elements can be influenced by any form of art, be it traditional, historic, modern, or even nature. 

 
Ultimately, designing a space that ties in well together and will remain relevant within a five-year timeframe or possibly even a 10-year timeframe can be quite satisfactory. Knowing that all that you have invested will be functional for a long period and still looks contemporary or in line with your design approach will make it all worth your time and effort.