Fall Decorating Ideas

September is National Home Therapy Month.  It’s a good month to:

Paint a room that is looking shabby.  A fresh coat of paint remains the easiest and quickest way to transform a room.    

Put away the summer-feeling accessories and bring out the textured items that make a room feel cozy – vases, pillows, chenille throws. 

Frame three summer photos in a large format (for greater impact).  They’ll remind you of happy memories when the rain is pouring and the snow is flying. 

Have the fireplace flue cleaned.  It’s almost always the focal point of a room.  Play it up, but remember – less is more.  Too many knick knacks will detract from its beauty.   

Make sure you have enough lighting in the rooms that are used the most.  One overhead fixture is useful but it doesn’t create ambiance.  Consider using a mix of table and floor lamps.  Dark rooms are dismal.       

Donate those items you never use.  You know that lamp in the corner of the basement that you hate?   The holidays are coming and more stuff will be coming into the house.  One item in, one item out!

Make sure your entryway is clear of clutter and is inviting.  The entryway or foyer is perfect for a small lamp, attractive storage baskets and a mirror.  Make the first step inside welcoming.

Look around your home and move an accessory or piece of furniture to give you a mini redesign.  A little change is good and so satisfying when you use what you own!

Down With Design Dictators

When you walk into a home you should receive a message about the owners’ lifestyle.  If all traces of their personalities have been erased, it makes you question – what happened here?

When picking a decorator or designer, here are a few issues to consider:

• Will she challenge you to consider new ideas for your home?
• Does she listen to what you like and dislike about your home and furnishings?
• Does she acknowledge your interests and hobbies?
• Is she willing to incorporate your treasures?
• Will the style of your home be considered in the overall design plan?
• Will she work with your budget?

Our job is to bring new ideas to our homeowners and to showcase the best of your home.  Listening skills are crucial. 

 If someone wants to wipe out all memories of your life – run like hell.

Picking paint colors under a tight deadline

So, you’re moving in a week and the painter is starting in three days, but you don’t know what colors you want. 

Don’t do this to yourself! 

Colors that you pick while under pressure may not be the colors you’ll love.

Most homeowners are happiest with the mid range on a color chip, so eliminate the two lightest and two darkest colors. 

Take the time to try out samples on the walls and check them out in different lighting.  Even better, prime the walls and then paint for a true view.

And, don’t try out the samples right next to each other.  All the colors will blend together and it will be hard to see the different shadings.

Follow these guidelines for a welcoming home and a happy moving day.

Stop the Couch-Sectional Madness!

Ever walk into a living or family room and you can’t move because of the furniture?  More often than not, it’s because someone bought a sectional that overwhelms the space.

 I can hear the comments, “But they’re comfortable and we can seat a large group.”

If you have a large room or a McMansion, go for it.  (But measure the doorways first).

Unless you have a large space they take over.  It’s like the decorating elephant in the room that no one wants to address.

What really gets me going is that the design options are limited.  Most of the time the sectional can only be placed one way.    There isn’t any flexibility.

Try these:  a couch and a loveseat; two chairs and a couch; two love seats and a chair.

 Now, send me your photos of your best comfortable living room arrangement! 

Decorating for Newlyweds

This is wedding season.  After the excitement of the ceremony, couples settle into their home and find themselves attempting to blend their belongings, which are often worlds apart!  These decorating tips from the spring issue of Chicago Bride magazine tackles this issue head on.

http://www.chicagobridemagazine.com/ChicagoBrideMagzineIssueIssue40.pdf

Simple ways to decorate the mantle

A fireplace can be a lovely focal point in any room.  As you’ll see in the photos of my home page at www.rightnowredesign.com, we used a large mirror, and just a few items to decorate the mantle, which reflects the modern decorating style of this family. 

When tackling a mantle, there are three time honored approaches, based on balance:

 Symmetrical:  identical objects surrounding a center piece.

 Asymmetrical:  Using items of different sizes and shapes to create a lively, energizing look.

 Radial:  Center item, with a group forming a half circle around the prominent item.

(Think of a collection of watches mounted around a center clock.)

Simple accessories for fall decorating 

This mirror from Ballard Designs is simple and elegant.  I love that you can hang it in either direction, which makes it versatile and adds value to the purchase.  When you get tired of it over the mantle you can use it in another room – think of it in the dining room opposite the table, with candles flickering and the mirror reflecting the light.

http://www.ballarddesigns.com/shopping/product/zoom/altviewmain.jsp?iProductID=10136&Default=view

My clients with children worry about candle safety.  There are several sources that sell battery operated ones, including Crate ‘n Barrel.  I’ve also found them at:

http://www.batteryoperatedcandles.net/round-pillar.html 

(I stayed at a high end hotel recently in downtown Chicago and my husband caught me looking at the bottom of the faux candle in the bathroom)!

Early influences shape our decorating taste

When I was a child, a copy of Better Homes & Gardens was always on my parents’ coffee table.  I would pore over the floor plans for hours, pondering the architect’s terms and their meaning.  At the age of eight, my dad made me a dollhouse from a BH&G plan.  I still have that house; it’s made out of plywood, with a center handle made to resemble a fireplace chimney.  Mom filled with the house with small versions of iconic design treasures, including a bright red Arne Jacobsen egg chair.

I  ended up buying a home that closely resembles the prairie style doll house.  And, I still enjoy the modern classics, mixed in with a touch of Asian and Prairie style.

Those early influences can play a great part in the design direction we take later in life.  We can embrace or reject our parents’ values, accept some of their ideas, and forge ahead on our own design path.  But sometimes, those early memories surprise us when we least expect it.

Enjoy your home, before it’s gone.

After staging a home recently, the client noted that she wished she had made the changes years earlier.  The house not only looked different, but felt different.   While her praise made me feel good, I also felt sad at her wistful comment. 

I started thinking about how so many of us put off projects or changes until they are forced upon us.  Let’s all re-commit to fully enjoying our homes while we’re in them.  If you can’t afford a renovation, make small changes that you’ll enjoy everyday:  new paint, clean windows, soft pillows, comfortable throws – whatever makes you feel good and enhances your nest.

Decorating for Newlyweds

Getting married or know a couple about to start their lives together? Your goal should be to have your space reflect both personalities and this new stage of your lives.

 1)   The key to Couple Design Heaven is the word compromise. 

 2)   Don’t start off married life with a bed you shared with a serious significant other.  If you’re headed towards the altar, first head towards the furniture store and shop together for this significant purchase.  Same goes for linens.

 3)   When designing a room together, one person should pick the colors while the other sets up the furniture layout.  Each person gets one veto and then you have to accept their decision.   Go for a classic look as opposed to a theme.

4)   If you’ve lived on your own for a while, you may have two of everything.  Set a time when you’re both relaxed and survey your belongings – one by one.  BE BRUTAL!   Who has the newer (in better condition) couch, fridge, etc.?   

 5)   Give the second chance items away to charity or sell them.  Reward yourselves by taking the money and buy something for the home that you will both enjoy. 

 6)   Display photographs of your favorite activities:  golf, cooking, kayaking, football, painting, etc.   These could be shared activities or ones that you like to do on your own.  Six on a wall (8×10) or (11 x 14) will have greater impact.  By displaying them together you are showing the world you are united as a couple.

 7)   Let go of guilt!  If an item doesn’t reflect this stage of your lives, let it go.  Life is too short to be surrounded by items that aren’t useful or pleasing.   Take a photo with you holding the item — you’ll always have the memory!

 8)   Start a collection together… this could be black and white photography, ceramics, or an emerging artist.  It’s a great way to express yourselves and tell the world what you are about as a couple.  Organize your collections by color or texture or category.

 9)   Men:  We really hate 68” flat screen TVs.  Women:  We really hate 18 pillows piled on the bed.

 10)  If your partner hates it, let it go.  I mean truly hates it.

When bad builders happen to good houses

Here are some trends that need to disappear…. what are yours?

Vertical blinds on double hung windows – they were designed for patio doors and that’s where they should stay.  For double hung windows, use a roller shade, pleated blinds, drapes – there are so many more options.

6 foot iron fences around front yards… I’m voting ugly.  It’s really bad when there’s only one “stockade yard” on what was a wide open block.   (This one may lead to my disinheritance as I’m the daughter of an ironworker).

Boxes on top of bungalows.  This is when bad builders happen to good houses.  You take a classic Chicago bungalow and someone decided to renovate and they get talked into putting a box on top that completely destroys the look and feel of the house.  Here’s an example of the need to hire a licensed architect – it’s worth the money.

Contractor White Paint… left up 10 years later.  Ok, folks, you can make a commitment to color… let’s take some small steps together and I’ll show you that color will enhance your life – I promise!

Teal & Mauve – together.  Maybe it’s the 10 years I spent in the shopping center industry, but I can’t stand these two colors – they make my skin crawl.  I always think of wreaths covered in dust.