Something that is very important in designing spaces is considering size and scale, ultimately this is how things relate to one another. We use the rule of 3’s and 5’s to balance size and scale in all of our projects and it remains one of our best and most widely shared “Designer Tips”.
How can you use it? Let’s consider a built-in update. Gather items of varying height and from those, select a group of 3 or 5 items.

Place 1 item on the shelf, seems like too few, right?

Now add a 2nd item, not much better.

What if you were to add a 3rd item? FEELS MUCH BETTER! If you continue this process, you will see that groups of 3 and 5 tend to visually “feel” better to your eye.



(*Sometimes a grouping of 4 will work, just be certain to differ in height! See Photo*) So you can decide if you prefer your shelf with 3 items or 5, but that is just one simple way to work this designer tip into your home.

Whether decorating a built-in, designing window treatments, selecting fabrics for furniture, or planning paint for walls you can apply this tip!