Basics of Decorating

Page 2

Larger furniture pieces. Assuming you have looked around for these pieces, you have probably worked your flooring and walls with these pieces in mind. If not, it is time to find the perfect sofa, large chairs, and things like dining room table and chairs.

With your colors in mind, the flooring samples, the wall colors, wallpaper samples in hand, find the furniture that you love. I do suggest more neutrals here, as these are expensive choices you may have to live with for years! Better to work around a warm, taupe-y, leather sofa than a red velvet one! And we all desire changes at some point!

Let's say you are working with greens and reds and tans from an oriental rug . Your floor is a warm tone of slate, your walls are a golden taupe, with an accent wall of a pattern that has greens, reds and taupes. Perhaps a wall around a fireplace, giving it real prominence. Can you picture a warm tannish leather sofa with this? How about large, comfortabe chairs flanking the sofa in green? See how it all starts to pull together?

Dining room furniture: Again using your colors, choose pieces that you can live with. You can always re-cover the chairs! Wood would be nice here, adding warmth to the slate flooring. Don't overlook a spectacular rug under the table and chairs. Something that works with the oriental rug in your living area. Here is where I might propose red walls! Stimulating for conversation and eating! Or wainscotting of wood with red over the top and maybe a taupe-y color underneath, or perhaps the wallpaper, or fabric, from the living room. Especially if the rooms adjoin.

Getting the idea?
I think the thing I have told clients the most is, DO NOT be afraid of color! I recall entering a client's home for the first time and feeling like I had walked into a sand dune! I never saw so timid a decor. A marbleized wall in three not-so-timid colors she liked, did a lot to brighten the room!

A note here about furniture arranging. You may have the best choices around for your own decor, but if not well arranged, the look is not quite there. Allow for comfortable passage around your Dining Room table, with the chairs pulled out. Allow walking through the area between the sofa and coffee table. Arrange the furniture in comfy groupings to allow conversations.

Do not be afraid to angle pieces! Angled sofas can create dynamic looks! Experiment on graph paper if you can't do it with your eye.  

The eyes of the house come next. In our fantasy house of green, red, tans, can you guess what my choice for windows would be? Depends! Do the windows need privacy coverings, or are they there to let in light? The windows that only need dressing are the ones you can really play with! A softly draping fabric in your color palette, of course, can be drifted over an exquisite rod and let fall to the floor. Or a more tailored look is achieved by a cornice. I personally prefer the elegance that gently folded fabric provides.

In our Dining Room with its wood table, wood and upholstered chair seats, wonderful area rug in reds, greens, and tans, red walls with wood chair rails and matching-the-chair fabric below the rail, I would opt for the same fabric with sheers in a coordinating green, wrapped around wooden rods with dynamic finials.

If the windows needed to be completely covered at night, do the same thing using extra sheers to make a full covering of the window. In other words, use six sheers where two are called for. You can't see through them and the look is great. The more expensive fabric that matches, can be draped softly down the sides of the window, according to your taste! The floor sweeping drapes have the most luxurious look.

Not everyone likes that look so consider valances, toppers, cornices (made from wood or foam core) , and any other look you find that pleases you. There are so many ways to do a window, that it would be impossible to mention them all here.

Just visit a department store or look through those magazines you bought and pick what you want. A word of caution; our fantasy Dining Room here is too elegant for simple cafes! Use common sense when you choose!

As for our Living Room windows, the same ideas apply. If you are blessed with large, paladium windows, please try not to cover the marvelous shape! If sun is not a factor, consider treating just the window that is below the high arch. If sun is a factor, there are many companies that make window treatments for such windows. Shades that work with your fabrics are available, too. In any case, TRY several ideas by playing with the fabric and see what you come up with. There are no hard and fast rules here! Not anymore!  

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