80-20 in Design

In the past 5 years Pareto’s Principle has become increasingly famous.  Malcom Gladwell’s Blink brought the term into pop culture while more and more industries are starting to recognize how directly the term applies to their field.
The call sign of Pareto’s Principle is 20/80.  The phrasing around those figures has become variable, depending on the field it’s applied to, but the basic idea is that 20% of your effort will generally create 80% of your results.  So if you can parse down on the excess 80% of work you do, you can approach peak efficiency.
Despite a bit of research, I haven’t seen the principle applied to design.  Here are some basic thoughts on how it might be.

Space:
What if we were to look at our rooms and measure it out.  Thinking about a room with efficient space-usage, I wager we’d come up with something closing in on 80% open, 20% decorated.  Even an efficient minimalist space might follow this principle.  Between a couch, bed, desk and shelf, even the most basic studio might follow this advice.  If you’re attempting to find your balance between clutter and minimalism, perhaps looking into using the 80-20 rule might give a good guideline.

Items:
Yes.  You can fill that entire wall with ornaments or make a statement with every single pieces of dishware you own.  Your entire bedroom can be a sensory-overwhelming experience of colour and tone and sharp lines and vibrant sheets.  Yes, you can.  However, for every excessive item you include in your room, you’ll limit the statement each one can make.  A well designed room is like a small group playing a classical piece of music.  Each piece must be allowed the volume it requires without anyone else screaming over it or without being drowned in needless chatter.

Funds:
Let’s simply translate ‘effort’ into ‘funds.’  If you’re attempting to redesign on a limited budget, keeping this in mind might help you from making frivolous purchases.  Working at buying the important pieces of a room while whittling away excess, you’ll save money and create a cleaner, more mature look.  20% of the things you buy might create 80% of your rooms appeal.  Invest in well designed pieces rather than a large number of pieces.

These are just thoughts, what other ways might you find Pareto’s Principle - or any other off-topic principle - affecting your design choices?  What comes to mind as you set about shopping for your design needs?