10 Ideas for Using Shapes in Architecture and Interior Design

When it comes to residential architecture – or interior design, for that matter – inspiration can come from anywhere. Sometimes our muse is history, or tradition. Other times a wooded site or a shoreline location gets our creative juices flowing. And sometimes – as you’re about to see – it’s a simple shape.

This Lake Michigan-adjacent home in suburban Chicago illustrates my point. At first glance, there are no obvious shapes that grab your attention. But look more closely, and you’ll begin to understand the importance of the circle. Like any architectural or decorative element, the more it’s repeated, the more important it becomes. Repetition is a key element of designing homes that feel good. They’re calming, because they give the mind an idea of what to expect, and a sense of the familiar. Take a look at what I mean:

1. Stepping Up

The first circle you encounter is at the entry. Note the way the steps curve as you ascend toward the front door. Also note the modern interpretation of a turret just above the entry door. It repeats the circular shape.

2. Be Seated

These dining chairs feature semi-circular backs. They’re a comfortable and clever way to introduce our rounded shape inside the house.

3. Rounding Off

In the powder room, two circles: a framed circular mirror, and a round vessel sink, proving that even a home’s smallest spaces deserve outsize attention to detail.

4. Spiraling Charm

Even the staircase gets in on the circular action, courtesy of hand-wrought iron balusters. Their repeating circles are subtle, yet so important.

5. Looped Luxury

And at the top of those stairs? A hideaway for reading, conversation, or quiet reflection – furnished with circular chairs and ottomans, all atop a series of circular rugs. Talk about repetition!

6. Geometric Grace

In this serene bedroom, circles punctuate squared shapes. Note the way both the hanging pendant lights and the room’s overhead fixture act as counterpoints to the square mirror above the bed, the rectangular bedside chests, and the horizontal bench at the end of the bed. Again, they’re subtle but impactful accents.

7. Closeted Ambition

Even this closet gets in on the act, with a fanciful cluster of rounded orbs suspended from the ceiling. Though a private space enjoyed just by one, it nonetheless is treated to the same level of design integrity as the more public areas of the house.

8. Circular Delights

One of my favorite spaces in the entire house, this treetop-level lounge is a fanciful expression of our residential interior design team’s ability to run with a fun idea. From its barely-there light fixtures to its delightful pouf to that amazing, better-than-a-sofa seating, this room exemplifies the many ways our team can take a simple idea and turn it into something extraordinary.

9. Pool House Funhouse

Naturally, the pool house gets in on the action too, courtesy of round light fixtures, dining tables, and unexpected seating. Need we say more?

10. The Great Outdoors

One last word: even the backyard patio is circular in shape, proving a single good idea can be expressed in any number of unexpected ways.

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