DESIGN
ELEMENTS GUIDE
Acknowledgements: New York Institute of Art and Design (NYIAD)
Course materials are written by NYIP staff, project managers,
subject matter experts, and faculty. The Complete Course In Interior
Design—Design Elements Guide was written by NYIAD faculty and
staff along with NYIAD Director of Education Jay Johnson and NYIAD
Curriculum Developer Steven Evans. The Lessons were designed
by Ondine Bue and NYIAD Curriculum Designer Keith Gallagher.
New York Institute of Art and Design is a registered trademark of
Distance Education Co. LLC in the United States and/or other countries.
© 2013 Distance Education Co. LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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2 The Complete Course in Interior Design
Table of Contents
DOORS 4
WINDOWS 8
HEATING/COOLING UNITS 10
DRAWING STAIRS 11
MOLDINGS AND BASEBOARDS 13
FIREPLACES 15
COLUMNS 16
CLOSETS 17
ARCHITECTURAL SYMBOLS 18
HAND LETTERING CHART 19
UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE GUIDE 20
Introduction
This is a guide to different styles of interior architectural
elements (and instructions on how to draw them) that
you will find useful in your career as a professional
interior designer. Keep this handy as a reference
guide in case a certain design element or technique
escapes your memory. Each concept will be discussed
in detail later in the Course, so if you’re looking at this
for the first time, don’t worry if you don’t understand
everything right away.
Some of the sections in this Guide specifically relate to
lessons you’ll receive later in the Course. Feel free to
study them now if you wish—and then refer to them
periodically as you go through the Course.
design elements guide 3
TYPEs OF DOORS
Under each illustration you’ll see how to indicate that type of
door on a floor plan.
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design elements guide 5
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Styles of Doors
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Types of Windows
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design elements guide 9
Types of Heating/Cooling Units
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Drawing Stairs
In Figure 1 you see a staircase labeled with the names
given to its different parts. In Figure 1A you see a detail of
how to measure steps. Rise refers to the height of each
step—usually 6" to 8". Run refers to the depth of each
tread—usually 10" to 11".
A
In Figure 2 you see a typical straight staircase. How do you
draw it? Simply count the number of steps, and measure Figure 1
the “rise” and “run” of one step. Record this information in
a rough sketch, as shown in Figure 2A. Then, in a finished
floorplan draw this staircase to scale, as shown in Figure 2B.
In your Room Condition Checklist, you may record other
information, such as a brief description of the staircase, its
handrail, balustrades, and any other significant details.
As you can see in Figures 2A and 2B, only the lower part
of the staircase is shown in plan—ending in a slash drawn
diagonally across the stairs as shown in Figure 2C. This is
the conventional way to indicate stairs that are leading
up to a higher floor. It simply means that not all of the Figure 2
staircase is considered to be part of the floor you are on.
As you can also see, an arrow in Figure 2A is labeled “Up.”
Why do we label this arrow as “Up”? (After all, doesn’t this
staircase also come “Down” from the floor above?) We
always label the arrow in the direction of stairs as viewed
from inside this room we are are drawing. If a staircase
ascends from that room, we label it “Up.” If a staircase
descends from that room, we label it “Down.”
For example, in Figure 3 you see a staircase that descends
from the room. In 3A you see how to draw a rough
sketch of this staircase. In this case, because this staircase
descends from this room, we label it “Down.” A B C
Figure 3 3
Figure
A B
design elements guide 11
stairs: exercise
Sometimes you’ll have a situation such as that in Figure 4, In 4A you see a rough sketch. In 4B, a finished floorplan.
in which a pair of staircases is one over the other. While these may look confusing at first, you can see that
these drawings clearly indicate that one staircase is over
HOW DO YOU DRAW THEM? another by slashing each staircase in the middle.
Figure 4 A B
Figure 5 A B
How should you draw the staircase shown in Figure 5? Draw it as shown in 5A and 5B.
Figure 6 A B
What about a spiral staircase, shown in Figure 6? Draw it as shown in 6A and 6B.
Figure 7 A B
Finally, how should you indicate a raised area in a Draw it as shown in 7A and 7B.
room, such as that shown in Figure 7?
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Styles of Mouldings
Baseboards
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Styles of Fireplaces
Freestanding
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How to Sketch Columns
COLUMN IN CORNER
COLUMN ALONG WALL
SKETCH ROOM WITH COLUMNS
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How to Sketch Closets
CLOSET WITH HINGED DOOR
CLOSET WITH SLIDING DOORS
design elements guide 17
Architectural Symbols
The following are some architectural symbols that you may need as
you learn how to create sketches and floorplans.
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Hand Lettering Charts
A B CDEFG H IJKLM N
OPQRSTUVWXYZ
a b c d e fg h ij kl m n
o p qr s t u v w xy z
design elements guide 19
Upholstered
Furniture Guide
When you have furniture custom made, you will most Accordingly, this Upholstered Furniture Guide is divided
often be dealing with upholstered sofas or chairs. The into two parts.
purpose of this Guide is to help you make the decisions
necessary to have such furniture custom made. First, you will find charts showing
typical styles of sofas and chairs.
At first, the variety of choices may seem bewildering. As
you will see in this Guide, however, with a little knowledge, Armed with this information, you will have no problem
these choices are really easily made. custom designing your own sofas and chairs. All you have
to do is combine the different styles, proportions, and
details in any way you like.
GENERALLY, YOU WILL CUSTOM-DESIGN
A SOFA OR CHAIR IN TWO STEPS. Your custom upholsterer should be able to help and guide
you here. The upholsterer will show you the styles and
First, you will decide upon the general style and details the upholstery shop is prepared to manufacture,
proportions of the piece of furniture. possibly suggesting some variations not shown here. With
this help, and the information in this Guide, you should
Second, you will specify the details you want: have no difficulty designing upholstered chairs, sofas, and
other pieces of furniture to your exact specifications.
a. Base Details
b. Skirt Details
c. Arm Details
d. Cushion Details
TYPICAL DIMENSIONS FOR UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE
TYPICAL HEIGHTS OF OCCASIONAL TABLES
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Style Chart: chairs
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Style Chart: sofas
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Style Chart: Chaises and Daybeds
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Style Chart: Benches and Ottomans
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details Chart: Cushions
INSPIRATIONAL
OR DESIGN
QUOTE ABOUT
WINDOWS
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design elements guide 27
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