Dress
Your Surroundings
Donna
Harmon operates Capodimonte Design Studio, a full interior design
studio.
She has been in the design field for 18 years and is a member of both
ASID and NKBA.
When starting your decorating project, consider dressing your room as
you might dress yourself. When we clothe ourselves,
we start with good bones if we’re extremely lucky or bones that
might need camouflaging if we’re like the majority of the population.
The bones of a room involve the floor, walls, and ceiling. There are
classically proportioned rooms and there are rooms where the scale and
proportions are somewhat awkward. With skill and an eye toward balance,
you can achieve a balanced and architecturally interesting room just
as the right clothing will do the same for our bodies.
“Bad bones” might show up in a fireplace with unattractive
brick or oddly placed windows. There are ways, sometimes simple, to
disguise or change these structural aspects. For instance, the brick
may be painted or stuccoed. A new mantle and surround might cover most
of the brick and change the mantle height. Window treatments can compensate
for too few windows, short, high windows or too much wall space.
Moldings and lighting help structure a room’s bones. Dropping a
molding down 18-24” from a 10-12’ ceiling found in many new
homes now and in some very old ones provides an opportunity to change
paint colors. Doing so creates more graceful proportions by visually
bringing the ceiling height down to human size.
Lighting may be the single most important feature of a room. It is also the most often overlooked and under-utilized aspect in building or remodeling. Lack of it kills the loveliest of colors and fabrics. Proper lighting complements colors and structure. Dimmers, for example, set the mood for a room by giving you flexibility to accent a part of the room depending on the time of day.
Like
Dressing Yourself
As we dress we first put on undergarments.
In decorating a room, that translates to how we treat bones: the floor,
wall, and ceilings. How these surfaces are finished sets the backdrop
for the lighting, furnishings, and accessories. Consider what colors
you enjoy wearing, what colors give you a lift when you see them, what
colors are soothing to you. These are the colors that can be spread
throughout your house in wall colors, carpets, or later into accessories
to create the moods and effects that make you most comfortable. If black
and red are your favorite clothes’ colors, then consider neutral
taupe and creams for your walls to form a backdrop for your presence.
If your wardrobe is predominantly pastels, soft muted colors will complement
your presence.
Furnishings are vital to the room just as dresses or suits are to the
body. The importance of their shape and quality of fabric cannot be
overly emphasized. The two most important pieces in a room are your
rug and your sofa. The rug can be the starting point for selections.
For instance, oriental rugs have a myriad of patterns and colors that
can provide your entire color palette, from wall color to furniture
colors. The rug pattern can direct the style of the room. Non-patterned
rugs are more flexible and are not necessarily the starting point for
a room. A good sofa quality. If you set aside $1,500-3,000 for a sofa,
you can find a sofa that will give you a lifetime of comfortable service.
Think Quality
Think quality rather than quantity in a
room. Use varying textures to create interest. Think about scale. A
room is more inviting, more luxurious feeling if you have a few larger
pieces than if you have numerous smaller items. The eye is not bouncing
from item to item and consequently you are left with a restful impression.
Once your furnishings are in place, it is time to consider the “jewelry”
of the room. Lamps, paintings, throw pillows, plants, and accessories
all contribute to this final layer of your project. This is the time
to really let your personality play into the selection of these items.
Hopefully you have collections or objects that you have gathered over
the years which reflect your family’s hobbies, trips, or happy
occasions. Blending these with new decorative accessories can make your
new room feel instantly like home. The entire process is one of layering
beginning with your bones and finishing with your jewelry. Thinking
of it as dressing your room is a fun, creative method of organizing
and implementing your ideas.
For questions regarding this article or decorating related questions you’d like to see answered in future articles, please contact Donna at www.capodimontedesign.com.
© 2000, Capodimonte Design, Printed August, 2000, in the Huntersville Star,
Huntersville, NC
