Make it Easy on the Eye

I think that decorating should be like getting dressed. I love clothes, but I find the longer I take picking clothes out to wear for the day, the more "made up" I feel. And I don't feel comfortable. I love throwing on an outfit-dressy or casual-and looking like I thought about it, but really not putting too much thought into it. It's more "comfortable" that way. The same goes for decorating and designing. I recently had a client who wanted to know why I place one of the pair of lamps in the dining room, and one in the living room. He wondered why I didn't place them on opposite ends of the couch. The dining and living room really flows together, so I told him that it caused your eye to follow around the room because the lamp is such a focal point. Yes, it would have been easy to place them on each end, but to me, it would look too "made up" that way.

Here's another example with pillows. On the window seat with this client, we did some custom pillows that matched some other fabrics in the room, but I also added some store bought (gasp!!) pillows to the mix. This made it look like not too much thought was put into it, and came off better than had they all matched. But, the end result looked fabulous!

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Simple Changes

As the season changes to the colder winter weather, sometimes it's nice to make small changes to our home to make it feel more cozy and comfotable, but without a major overhaul. Here are a few ideas:

Add a new shower curtain in fall colors in your bathroom if your wall color allows it. For instance, I just changed our blue shower curtain to a 1960's-ish inspired leaf pattern with the golds, browns and yellows. It goes very well with my pale yellow walls, and with the new rug in the same colors, it gives the bathroom a new look.

Another quick update is to purchase new lampshades as long as you like the shape and style of your current lamp. A new lampshade can change the look-by being a different shape, color, or style.

A favorite of mine, and so simple is to bring in some new throw pillows or a seasonal throw. This is very easy to do especially if you have a neutral color couch to begin with.

New Look for your Couch

I recently have had three different clients with whom we've done different things with each of their couches. The first client's couch was no longer the right color for their newly paint and accessorized room. The couch was in pretty good shape, but were just assuming that I was going to recommend we get them a new couch. The budget really would have been stretched had we chosen that option. Instead, they were delighted when I recommended that we purchase a very tailored slipcover from www.potterybarn.com. It is a neutral creme color and has crisp, tailored pleats along the bottom. This was a great fix for just over $100.00.

The second client had a pair of wonderful, traditional, high quality couches that were 20 years old. She custom selected a beautiful velvet to re-upholster both of the couches. Although the final cost was about the same or a bit more than purchasing two new high end couches, it was the right choice because these couches were made so well to begin with. And, what a beautiful result!

The third client just wanted to overhaul her living room space. She had grown tired of the floral patterned couch and was ready for something more contemporary and grown up. So, we started from scratch and shopped until we found the perfect leather couch for the space.

So, as you can see with my three clients that all had couch issues we three completely different things for each one. And, each solution was the right choice for the client.

Is it Fall already?

I realize it's been awhile since I've written. Now that the hustle and bustle of the summer is over, and school is back in, I am going to write much more often to keep you up to date on what's new.

There is the crisp fall air outside, and that always brings out the nesting instinct in me. It's nice to get out those warm sweaters and Fall accessories. One thing I do change with the seasons is to change my slipcover on my living room couch from a creme cotton waffle weave to a creme damask chenille. While it's still the same color, there is something about it that says "sit down, grab a magazine and settle in". I also like to change out the pillows to a persimmon red, it's very cozy and comforting.

Speaking of magazines, I always have people ask me what I like. One of my favorites is Domino. I read it cover to cover, and love how they feature different types of homes and how they are decorated. To me, it's like real life decorating. The designs look comfortable and lived in. They also feature great websites to check out like My Deco File at www.Dominomag.com. You can gather all of your finds in one spot.

Enjoy!