The Gayla Pink Apple
What's Your Decorating Faux Paus?
Beautiful, yet livable
I Want my Home to Reflect ME;
Not Someone Else -- Not a Professional Designer or Decorator's Personal Taste!
We all want our homes to look the best we know how and can afford, right! There's nothing wrong with wanting to put your best foot forward, so to speak. We want our homes to reflect who we are - how we live - what's important to us, etc. And, we want our environment to be warm, inviting, yet livable and comfortable - while at the same time beautiful and in good taste, reflecting our success as we go through the different phases of our lives.
It is interesting to me that our taste and styles often change as we grow into who we are. For example, things we liked at age thirty are not the same styles we admired in our forties. For me, now in my fifties, my things or style may be a little dated, but, so am I. LOL. Regardless, I know my style and placement are still correct.
I do not want my home to reflect the latest trends, modern, & chic. That's not who I am or what I represent. I want it to say - southern - classic - rich in taste, not money - yet, warm and inviting. Nothing in my home is off limits. I sit on every piece of furniture. I've always had that decorator eye, yet didn't have the opportunity to put it all together until I was in my late thirties - early forties.
When my daughter was in elementary school, I decided my home needed to reflect some kind of style. She was past the 'baby' stage with 'baby' stuff EVERYWHERE! But, what was my style? That is not always easy to identify. It's fine if you like big over-stuffed recliners and I like a club chair with an ottoman. (And, yes, they're just as comfortable.) It's fine if you like sectionals and I like a camel back sofa. It's fine that I like fringe and over-stuffed pillows and you like minimal fabrics and little foo-foo. I want my home to look nice and reflect me. I want to be proud when family, friends, and guests come to my home - not embarrassed that no time and effort was put into my home to reflect my style. If my rooms could talk, I'd like them to say "we look like Gayla."
Some years ago, I was the successful bidder at a silent auction for professional interior decorating services. It was a great way to get professional help at a fraction of the cost - help decorating my home, identifying my style. Finding the kinds of things I like and taking ownership of my style; and to stop waiting for someone else to tell me what I should like. What I discovered was that the placement, lay-out, scale, and balance in a room were more important than the color of the walls.
Interestingly, the interior designer who came to my home was a young lady about 25 years old. At first, I'm thinking we might have little in common, But, she quickly proved me wrong. It was obvious, she was a trained professional. She drew a floor plan of the rooms she was designing for me, and a few weeks later returned with a drawing of what furniture pieces she recommends, along with placement of each piece. She explains why and shares with me some important basic guidelines. I took her suggestions as I proceeded to search for items, and in the end it was money well spent.
Instead of selecting items for my home, she made suggestions on 'what' to buy, and left it to me to go from there. For example, she'd suggest a sofa and two side chairs and where to place them. She did not select the actual pieces - that was up to me. She guided me on the size and shared how to find the right size for the room - helping me to not buy a sofa too big or too small for the room. Her rendering of the room included pictures of sofa styles she recommended, etc. In the end, it wasn't about someone else selecting items and fabrics for me - it was about placement and scale. She showed me where to place rugs, how and why to hang drapes; and how rugs, drapes, and accessories would finish off a room giving it that decorator professional finish.
On a very personal level - and a neat discovery, the young girl tells me that when she drove up to my house, she was flooded with childhood memories. Her grandparents built my home - she spent many holidays and special occasions as a young child in my house. How neat! And, we had indeed, purchased the house from the estate of her grandmother.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following do's and don'ts are from a professional interior designer. Take them for what they're worth to you. Walk into just about any house that hasn't been professionally decorated and you're bound to see at least one of the following decorating mistakes. It's no big surprise really; there are a lot of rules when it comes to interior decorating and we all slip up now and then.
To avoid making some of the most common decorating faux pas, these rules are how NOT to decorate. Just because most people make these mistakes, there's no reason why you should have to.
DON'T use an area rug that is too small. All of the furniture should be sitting on the rug. If this simply isn't possible, the front legs of larger pieces can be on the rug with the back two needn't be. All four legs of smaller pieces should be on the rug.
DON'T choose the paint color first. Paint is available in thousands of colors and can easily be changed. Choose your most expensive pieces first then decorate around them.
DON'T hang chandeliers too high. You want to light up the room, not the ceiling.
DON'T hang artwork too high. People have a tendency to hang art closer to the ceiling than it should be. Artwork should be hung at about eye-level. Obviously this varies from person to person, so use your judgment. But it's better to err on the side of lower rather than higher.
DON'T use short curtains. Curtains and drapes should just skim the floor. It's okay if they're longer and they puddle a bit, but they should never be shorter. Curtains that are too short have the same effect as pants that are too short: they make the wall look shorter than it is.
DON'T use too many throw pillows. Throw pillows are great decorative accents but don't use so many that you have to move them all off the couch, chair or bed before you sit or lie down.
DON'T use tiny accent pillows. The throw pillows you use should relate to the piece of furniture. A tiny pillow on a large chair looks bitsy and lost.
DON'T create a theme room. While they can be fun to decorate, people tend to get sick of them really quickly. Theme rooms look old and outdated very quickly and then you're stuck having to spend more money replacing items you no longer want. Instead try to add elements of the theme you like into a regular room.
DON'T opt for style over comfort. There are a lot of great looking items out there that look great but are totally uncomfortable to sit in. Always think about how you're going to use the piece before you buy. At the same token, don't assume something great looking isn't comfortable. It doesn't have to look like that big lazy-boy to be comfortable.
DON'T push all the furniture against the walls. Sometimes the room size can make this difficult, but try to pull furniture away from the walls to create more intimate conversation areas. This is particularly important in living rooms and family rooms. Some people are hesitant to show the backs of furniture pieces but there's absolutely no reason why this should be so.
DON'T rely on overhead lighting. While it's good to have, it doesn't offer enough lighting, and it's not particularly flattering. Use table lamps, floor lamps, sconces – whatever you like. Just be sure to use a mix. It will provide more light as well as make the room and everyone in it look better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I found this information to be very informative. I am guilty of some of these mistakes, specifically - using too many pillows. I often see drapes which are hemmed above the baseboards - about 4 inches off the floor. And, rugs - oh dear - rugs - I can't tell you how many homes I've been in where the rugs are completely wrong.
It took me a few years to complete my rooms as the designer suggested - I finally finished it about 15 years ago - but, all in all, I love the interior of my home. I do not have tall ceilings and beautiful crown moldings. I live in an ordinary home - but - it is decorated in a manner and style which reflects me. A little over-done; a little too much, a little too ornate; yet, very Southern, classic, rich in taste and style -- warm and inviting! I love my space!
At the end of the day, if you don't want to follow the basic guidelines - don't! :) It reflects you, not me! But, I don't need to hear how you don't care if it's not by the rules. Let's face it - we all want to be proud of our environment. And if following a few guidelines and rules make for a better space, why not? Furthermore, that's a good thing - we should care.
When it's all said and done, it's about surrounding ourselves in an environment which makes us feel good about ourselves, our home, -- reflecting who we are, how we live, and the things we enjoy.
Now, if I could just get my lawn and yard...well, that's another story.
Scale, Balance, and Style,
Gayla
