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Decorating Tips and Tricks
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If your decorating it means you're
probably knee-deep in fabulous fabrics, vivid colours and difficult decisions. That can overwhelm even the hardiest home designer.
Here are some helpful hints to ease your decorating dilemmas. |
Pick a Starting Point
Choose your favorite object in a room, whether it's an antique
armoire or a bay window. Make it the centrepiece and decorate
around it. Let your favorite object suggest the colour palette
for the entire room.
Colour Flow
Create a unifying flow of colours throughout your house by using
the same colours in varying roles in your rooms. If you've used
lemon yellow on the wall of the kitchen, use the same lemon
yellow as an accent colour in the adjoining family room.
Use Varying Shades
Don't match carpet colour exactly with wall paint or upholstery; the room will appear too rigid. Instead choose a darker or lighter shade
to create variation and definition.
Accentuate the Positive, Conceal
the Negative
Highlight the items that you love in a room, whether it be a
favourite mantlepiece to a beloved lamp. Hide the things you
don't like but can't change. Put carpet over horrible tiles
or curtains over an unattractive window.
Keep a Scrapbook
Collect photos and magazine pages of room designs you like. Keep them in a file for inspiration and ideas.
Have Samples, Will Travel
Keep a bag in your car with samples and swatches of carpet, paint and fabric you are already using. If you come across anything in your
travels, you'll be able to determine quickly if fits into your existing decor. |
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Tip
Choosing the colour of your carpet is a very personal decision, and there are no right or wrongs. But it is helpful to follow a few guidelines:
To brighten a room and impart a vivid intensity, choose the warm colours
of yellow, orange and red.
To create a mood that is restful and inspirational, choose the cool colours of greens and blues.
To enhance a relaxed, warm feel, choose the neutral colours of greys, browns and beiges. |
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