The Finishing Touch – Judy Underwood, Allied ASID

Did you notice again recently that when you took down your holiday decorations, your home looked surprisingly bare?  Perhaps you should consider adding a few new accessories to make your room look festive all year round—to give it that “finished look.”

Accessorizing is the way we put our personal stamp on our homes.  It can be considered an embellishment on the theme of our lifestyle – an extension, not only of our personal decorating taste, but also of our personal lives.

Once relegated to only the extremely wealthy, who displayed articles that looked like they belonged in a museum, home accessorizing caught on with the general public some time ago.  To a great extent this is due to shelter magazines, which show exquisite close-ups of tabletops and decorated walls.  Every tabletop becomes a still life, every wall a vista.

Hopefully, the memorabilia displayed in your home includes meaningful items, accumulated over time, with special significance for you.  Mix your cherished pieces among your current decorative items for a look that will please.  If you have a very large assortment of special keepsakes, display them together for impact.  Try putting away half of them for a few months, then exchange them with the ones on display for a fresh look.  They will be far more interesting and you will avoid the cluttered look that a huge collection can have.

The arrangement of your collections can be just as interesting as the collection itself.  Some people arrange by subject: a medley of jade turtles or a grouping of horse pictures together.  Others arrange by what we call predicate, the most common being in size and color.  Books are perfect example.  Analytical personalities will classify their books by subject.  The more visually oriented person tends to sort by predicate-size and color.  Collections are far more impactful when displayed grouped together rather than scattered over every table top.

The next step is to determine how to arrange accessories.  Some prefer traditional symmetry.  For example, two candlesticks and two objects d’art, flanking an oil painting over a mantel, would be suitable for a formal arrangement.  Others prefer a more contemporary asymmetrical grouping, as in variable-sized framed photographs, high/medium/low glass candlesticks with a free form sculpture.  Placing accessories in uneven numbers, i.e. 3, 5, or 7 provides more interesting groupings, as in this photo.

When a room begins to look stale or uninteresting, a few great accessories can change everything for the better.  Walk through your home and decide what areas could use some simple accessory changes to brighten that spot for your own enjoyment!  Then search for that one special piece or grouping around which you can re-build the décor.

The Color of Recovery – Judy Underwood, Allied ASID

During the past 20 years of designing many Florida residential interiors, I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon regarding the color trends that grace our collective homes.  When the economy is in a slump, I detect not only a distinct difference in the tastes and color choices of the homeowners with whom I work, but also a difference in the art, rugs, fabrics, furniture, fixtures and lighting that are exhibited at the twice yearly Las Vegas and High Point furniture and accessory markets.

It seems to me that during recessionary periods like we have gone thru recently, homeowners tend to choose neutral colors such as beige, espresso and chocolate with accents of dark blues, greens and wine colors.  Conversely, as the economic picture brightens, those same homeowners look to lighten up the interiors of their homes to more closely match their moods.  Lately, more and more of my clients are expressing an interest in the much livelier tones of coral, turquoise, citrus and kiwi leading me to believe that the improving real estate market, the robust stock market and the bump in consumer confidence are having their effect.

 

Now, my observations may have no more credence than the recent Ground Hog’s Day  predictions, but I like to think that I’m on to something here.  The January Las Vegas Furniture and Accessory Market supported this theory.  In every showroom we saw cheerful, brightly colored accent pieces, and the new fabric lines were more eye-catching than ever.  Many of the lighting fixtures and table top accessories were actually whimsical.  Very few of the dark heavy Asian rugs were spotlighted while the lighter newer designs were predominant in every rug showroom.  Almost all of the furniture manufacturers displayed lighter stained woods and less serious styling.

With a little luck, my theory is valid and we see these cheerful colors stay around for a long, long time.

Stepping Outside Our Comfort Level– Judy Underwood, Allied ASID

Every so often, most of us look around our home and wonder how we might step outside our comfort level just a bit to freshen up a tired looking living room, or how we might inject new interest and excitement to the guest bedroom.  Sound familiar?

Let’s examine some of the things that can cause a room to look a little frumpy or dated.  Trendy decorating and color schemes tire quicker than individualized decorating does.  Remember hunter green and burgundy?  How about peach and teal?  Color, more than any other design element, can precisely pinpoint the decade of a room’s last makeover.

The style of the furniture and accessories is another tell-tale sign of an aging room décor.  The days of more is more are gone, replaced by a simplified clean and open look that most people find appealing and stress inhibiting.  Thematic decorating, with an abundance of our favorite animal, tree or fruit, can become monotonous.

So, where do we begin in the freshening up process?  Let’s start with the arrangement of the furniture.  By simply pulling some of that furniture away from the wall or switching the position of a few pieces, the room will suddenly feel different.  Take all your accessories out of the room and one-by-one bring back only the things you really love, positioning them in a different place in the room, or in another room altogether. 

If you would like to stretch the borders of your comfort level just a little, add a vase, lamp, throw pillow or rug in the color you wish you had the nerve to try, and see if it grows on you.  Try a mirror or painting that is not your normal style.

Because you spend very short amounts of time there, a good place to try new looks is in the foyer, guest bedroom or powder room.  You can get a little wild and crazy in those areas because you won’t tire of it like you might in the family room or kitchen.

If it is time to replace some of your furniture, think in terms of pieces that compliment, rather than match, each other.  The careful selection of furniture items and accessories will provide you with a style that is not only your very own, but one that will age gracefully.  Decorating outside our comfort level can be somewhat scary but, if you try it, you’ll be asking yourself why you waited so long to do so!

Reupholster or Replace?–Judy Underwood, Allied ASID

For every reason to reupholster a piece of furniture there is often an equally good reason to replace it.  My clients frequently ask me to reupholster sofas and chairs in the belief that they will be saving money by doing so.  The labor cost to refurbish upholstered furniture is more than most people expect unless they realize that the piece has to be “un-made” before it can be “re-made”.  There are nearly always necessary repairs to be made to the frame, springs to be re-tied, and seat and back cushion inserts to be replaced.  Also, the quantity of fabric required, especially if patterned, may be far more than you expect, and many fabrics need to be backed before being applied to the frame.

However, although it is rarely true that reupholstering furniture is the most economical choice, there may be some other very good reasons to recover a piece.  Some considerations to be taken before making this decision are the characteristics of the sofa itself.  Are the dimensions and design perfect for your room and your family?  Is the sofa an unusual shape or size that would be difficult to replace?   Do you know that the sofa is a quality piece that has 8-way hand tied springs, kiln dried wood frame, corner blocking, and other high quality features?  Is there a sentimental attachment to the furniture in question?  These are all valid reasons to reupholster your furniture.

But on the other hand, if the piece of furniture fails to qualify with any of the above reasons, you may want to reconsider.  If your sofa is an outdated style, or was inexpensively made and is not extremely comfortable or attractive, investing more in it will not change any of those characteristics.  And no amount of fabric, trim and throw pillows will change the too-large or too-small-for-the-room problem.  If any of these circumstances accurately describes your current furniture, then you probably have your answer.  Whether you decision is to reupholster or to replace, our designers can help you determine the perfect solution!

Customize Your Master Suite –Judy Underwood, Allied ASID

Much more than just the place you sleep, today’s master suite should function as a truly personal in-home retreat. The private nature of this room invites the indulgence of sumptuous fabrics on heirlooms and collectibles, or perhaps an exquisite oriental rug.

Filling its role as the retreat’s focal point, the bed may be dramatically sleek or elaborately draped, and should make a strong statement on the room’s interior while imparting an ambience of luxury and leisure.  Nothing says custom more than bed coverings with beautiful accent pillows.  Contrary to what every ‘bed-in-a-bag’ retailer would have us believe, beds with varying frames, box springs, and mattresses are not ‘standard’ sizes.  Custom bedding requires custom fitting.

Canopy beds with side curtains were originally designed to deflect chilly drafts in the days before homes were well insulated.  Luckily, we’re now left with the legacy of this dramatic and intimate bed treatment.  The lack of a real canopy bed is not a deterrent since the bed canopy can be hung from the ceiling, from a carved corona, or from ceiling mounted drapery hardware. Even a small bedroom can enjoy this romantic treatment by draping only the head of the bed. A small love seat or chaise positioned at the foot of the bed can serve a dual role as a comfy nest for reading and as a rest for folding back the bed cover at night.  If space is ample, try two easy chairs facing each other with an ottoman between. The master bedroom television will need to be carefully situated  if the bed is canopied so that it doesn’t interfere with viewing.

Possibly more than in any other area of the home, window treatments need to be both beautiful and functional in the master suite.  If there is a nice view, draperies should be designed to clear most of the window when opened.  Styles, fabrics, trim, hardware, and fabrication techniques can vary tremendously to satisfy both function and beauty.  Privacy and light control are often provided thru hard-window treatments such as shades or wooden shutters with adjustable vanes and woven inserts.

Side tables for the bed are growing even larger to provide storage and table top space for the accessories of this user-friendly ‘nest’.  The two bedside tables needn’t be identical, but should reflect the personal needs of the individual sleeper.  In fact, current styles have moved from the traditional ‘bedroom suite’, inviting creativity and better functionality with individual pieces that work well together and function independently.

Rich wall colors create a sense of tranquility as well as a hint of drama in a bedroom. A large, custom framed floor-length mirror can add interest as well as serve for dressing purposes.  Lighting should also be carefully selected.  Lamps with opaque shades and three way switches allow for reading and task lighting while offering a low setting to soften the mood. And here’s a gender-friendly tip: men are usually more comfortable with tailored fabrics in stronger colors, and with paisleys, solids and stripes rather than florals.  

A wonderful master bedroom, even with minimal extra space, should be enjoyed as an integral part of your home.  Make it personal, cozy, functional, and beautiful, and you’ll find yourself retreating to your master suite more often than ever before.

Dressing Your Windows –Judy Underwood, Allied ASID

Dressing your windows simply means providing some form of window treatment to your living spaces.  Although that sounds simple enough, determining the best design options for each of your windows is a bit more complicated, and depends widely upon what you want the treatments to accomplish.

Privacy, light control and beauty are the three major functions of window treatments.  In addition, what you put on your windows may or may not provide thermal protection from heat.  As you approach the issue of window treatments in your home, there are several key questions to ask yourself in order to decide what is your best option.

First, consider the degree of privacy needed at each window.  Bedrooms and bathrooms are the most obvious rooms where privacy is required.  Most homeowners want the availability of a privacy treatment in the more public areas of their homes as well, especially during nighttime hours.

Even those who live in secluded areas where the issue of other people looking in is negligible need to consider whether they want privacy treatments to block the ‘black hole syndrome’ that occurs from looking out at night.

Secondly, think about your light control needs.  Most of us love lots of natural light in our homes, as reflected in the huge beautiful windows of today’s architecture.  However, over time, the sun causes fading of your furniture, wood floors, and floor coverings, and can dramatically increase your cooling bills in summer.  It also interferes with computer work and television viewing by creating eye-straining glare on the screen.  And, as great as sunrises and sunsets are to watch, we don’t want them shining directly in our eyes when we eat breakfast or watch the evening news.

Thirdly, ask yourself what aesthetic role you need for your window treatments to play in each room, as they are an important element in providing a balance of color, pattern and texture to your overall decorating scheme.  They can also serve to create optical illusions of your windows appearing larger, your ceilings being higher, or your room being more proportionally pleasing than it actually is.

Clients sometimes tell me that they are reluctant to put anything on their windows, thinking that ‘window treatment’ means heavy occlusive draperies or yards and yards of fussy stuff at their windows.  Although we can still do those things where it’s appropriate, today’s window treatment styles offer much more variety and excitement than in generations past.  Visit our website to enjoy some of our interesting makeovers that may help in dressing your windows.

Screen Play

Few room accessories are as versatile as the decorative screen.  A well placed screen can transform a ho-hum room in many ways, from redefining spaces to reshaping awkward floor plans.

While the Chinese are thought to have originated the folding screen, the Japanese soon embraced the idea with their rendition; a rigid framed paper style, the shoji.  In the 17^th century, the screen became an important design feature in Europe and soon thereafter became a feature in American homes.

Before selecting a screen, determine the function it is to fulfill.  Will it hide an unattractive view?  Divide a too-large room into two spaces?  Perhaps create a foyer area where none exists?  It can even serve to protect your rugs and furnishings from the damages of the sunrays.  The folding multi-panel style is the most versatile.  This screen can be extended or compacted as needed and is easily transportable.  A four or six-panel screen can be divided in half and installed as faux shutters on each side of a wide arched doorway. 

When the only purpose of a screen is to add drama and beauty to a room, your choices are endless.  While there are many sources for beautiful screens, you may want to consider a custom creation of iron, wood, glass, shutters, fabric, cork, leather, or bamboo.  Hand painted versions can feature a scene or subject that has special meaning for you and your family.

Covered in cork or fabric, your screen can serve as a bulletin board or as an extra “wall’ for hanging family pictures.  Heavy plants can anchor and secure an unstable screen while providing a discrete place to hide a canister lamp to up-light the whole vignette.  Attach a screen to a large wall to serve as an unusual headboard for a king bed.

To add a dramatic focal point to those soaring walls, mount an oversized screen above a sofa.  As a welcomed change, prop a beautiful fireplace screen on a console table.  Install a screen of organic material on your patio as a support for climbing vines to provide shade and privacy.  Suspend a framed paper screen in a bathroom window for privacy without the loss of light.

The styles and uses of this extraordinary accessory are infinite.  With a little imagination and  help from your interior decorator you’re sure to find just the right decorative screen for your home.