Ann Moore-Spencer

HGTV and de­sign shows, de­sign books and mag­a­zines make us all think we can dec­o­rate and make us all think we should have nice­ly dec­o­rat­ed spaces. It all seems so easy on TV. But when we are faced with our own space the de­ci­sions do not seem to be so sim­ple. Too many choic­es and we be­gin to sec­ond guess and be un­cer­tain about the op­tions. We get over­whelmed. How do the dec­o­ra­tors and de­sign­ers do it? Fo­cus and plan. Be clear on the dis­crete space you are go­ing to treat with and with what you want to achieve. Dis­re­gard all else. Yes. What is hap­pen­ing in ad­ja­cent ar­eas can im­pact on your space. But make a de­ci­sion as to whether ad­ja­cent spaces should be in­clud­ed or con­sid­ered and how they can af­fect out­comes. Then fo­cus; es­tab­lish the bound­aries and scope of the project. If you do not want a dis­joint­ed out­come, pay close at­ten­tion to this step. Ex­er­cise con­straint. Bud­get. It is very sel­dom that a dec­o­ra­tor is giv­en a lim­it­less bud­get. This is a con­straint that we very of­ten don't give our­selves. Even if we set one, some­thing beau­ti­ful or must-have will cause that bound­ary to shift. We tend to be dis­tract­ed by pos­si­bil­i­ties, what ifs, the 'are'nt they just beau­ti­ful' and the 'I want a ... just like' di­ver­sions. Your bud­get will de­ter­mine the choic­es you make. Let your pur­chas­es fit in­to your bud­get and not your bud­get stretch to meet your de­sires. Some items can be re-used, re­pur­posed or ren­o­vat­ed so that the project stays with­in bud­get. Prac­tice re­straint.

In­spi­ra­tion file. Cre­ate and main­tain an in­spi­ra­tion file. Cap­ture any­thing and every­thing 'de­sign' that tick­les your fan­cy that can be re­lat­ed to the project. You will see def­i­nite themes emerg­ing. This file can be a pow­er­ful tool when try­ing to com­mu­ni­cate your ideas to your fam­i­ly and trades­men such as your join­er or win­dow treat­ment spe­cial­ist. Take pho­tos, clip mag­a­zines and cat­a­logues and down­load ideas from the in­ter­net. Re­mem­ber Can­dice Ol­son? Every de­sign­er has an ar­se­nal of cat­a­logues, sam­ples and in­spi­ra­tional ideas that they ref­er­ence and pull from when de­sign­ing a space. Take pho­tos of your space and place your in­spi­ra­tional op­tions next to and on the pho­tos. When pur­chas­ing and se­lect­ing items for the room, con­tin­u­ous­ly ref­er­ence your in­spi­ra­tion file. Emo­tion. Don't dis­re­gard how you will like to feel in the room and what im­pres­sion you will like the oth­er oc­cu­pants and guests to have. Good dec­o­ra­tors try to de­ter­mine the emo­tion­al and ex­pe­ri­en­tial val­ue of the space. It's not just 4 walls. You live in the room. How you want to feel and re­gard the space is crit­i­cal. How well the room func­tions or should func­tion is im­por­tant and will in­flu­ence how you feel about the fin­ished space. Con­sid­er how you cur­rent­ly use the room. What is work­ing, what is not, how you will like it to work? It is not just the room; it is the ex­pe­ri­ence of the room. It is not just the lamp; it is the emo­tion about the lamp. Don't use it if you hate it. Even though it falls with­in the bud­get you can af­ford. Keep look­ing.

Whole room. Take a whole room per­spec­tive. Not just a beau­ti­ful rug for the floor, paint for the walls, drap­ery for the win­dows or ac­ces­sories for the ta­ble tops. Look at the en­tire room and how every­thing works to­geth­er. Many beau­ti­ful things do not a beau­ti­ful room make. A room can have tons of beau­ti­ful things and still look ug­ly or un­dec­o­rat­ed. A dec­o­ra­tor looks at the en­tire space. What is on the walls should re­late to the rest of the room. Not just in colour; but in shape and size. Don't for­get the 5th wall; the floor. Your floor­ing ma­te­r­i­al and colour should in­te­grate with the d&ea­cute;cor. Al­so re­mem­ber the 6th wall; the ceil­ing. Stark white is not the best colour for all decors. Take risks. Suc­cess­ful dec­o­ra­tors are cre­ative and come up with un­ex­pect­ed so­lu­tions. That's of­ten what makes the space seem dec­o­rat­ed. So no matchy fur­ni­ture sets. Re­ject the per­fect­ly sym­met­ri­cal lay­outs. Re­mem­ber op­po­sites at­tract. Feel safer with cream and beige? Check the paint strip and try the same colour a few val­ues deep­er. The most dif­fi­cult thing about dec­o­rat­ing a room is fig­ur­ing out where to start. Fol­low these tips and you will cre­ate a more co­he­sive dec­o­rat­ed space.

Fo­cus and plan

• Be clear on the dis­crete space you are go­ing to treat with and with what you want to achieve. Dis­re­gard all else. Yes. What is hap­pen­ing in ad­ja­cent ar­eas can im­pact on your space. But make a de­ci­sion as to whether ad­ja­cent spaces should be in­clud­ed or con­sid­ered and how they can af­fect out­comes. Then fo­cus; es­tab­lish the bound­aries and scope of the project. If you do not want a dis­joint­ed out­come, pay close at­ten­tion to this step. Ex­er­cise con­straint.

In­spi­ra­tion file

• Cre­ate and main­tain an in­spi­ra­tion file. Cap­ture any­thing and every­thing 'de­sign' that tick­les your fan­cy that can be re­lat­ed to the project. You will see def­i­nite themes emerg­ing. This file can be a pow­er­ful tool when try­ing to com­mu­ni­cate your ideas to your fam­i­ly and trades­men such as your join­er or win­dow treat­ment spe­cial­ist. Take pho­tos, clip mag­a­zines and cat­a­logues and down­load ideas from the in­ter­net. Re­mem­ber Can­dice Ol­son? Every de­sign­er has an ar­se­nal of cat­a­logues, sam­ples and in­spi­ra­tional ideas that they ref­er­ence and pull from when de­sign­ing a space. Take pho­tos of your space and place your in­spi­ra­tional op­tions next to and on the pho­tos. When pur­chas­ing and se­lect­ing items for the room, con­tin­u­ous­ly ref­er­ence your in­spi­ra­tion file.

Whole room

• Take a whole room per­spec­tive. Not just a beau­ti­ful rug for the floor, paint for the walls, drap­ery for the win­dows or ac­ces­sories for the ta­ble tops. Look at the en­tire room and how every­thing works to­geth­er. Many beau­ti­ful things do not a beau­ti­ful room make. A room can have tons of beau­ti­ful things and still look ug­ly or un­dec­o­rat­ed. A dec­o­ra­tor looks at the en­tire space. What is on the walls should re­late to the rest of the room. Not just in colour; but in shape and size. Don't for­get the 5th wall; the floor. Your floor­ing ma­te­r­i­al and colour should in­te­grate with the d&ea­cute;cor. Al­so re­mem­ber the 6th wall; the ceil­ing. Stark white is not the best colour for all decors.

Bud­get

• It is very sel­dom that a dec­o­ra­tor is giv­en a lim­it­less bud­get. This is a con­straint that we very of­ten don't give our­selves. Even if we set one, some­thing beau­ti­ful or must-have will cause that bound­ary to shift. We tend to be dis­tract­ed by pos­si­bil­i­ties, what ifs, the 'are'nt they just beau­ti­ful' and the 'I want a ... just like' di­ver­sions. Your bud­get will de­ter­mine the choic­es you make. Let your pur­chas­es fit in­to your bud­get and not your bud­get stretch to meet your de­sires. Some items can be re-used, re­pur­posed or ren­o­vat­ed so that the project stays with­in bud­get. Prac­tice re­straint.

Emo­tion

• Don't dis­re­gard how you will like to feel in the room and what im­pres­sion you will like the oth­er oc­cu­pants and guests to have. Good dec­o­ra­tors try to de­ter­mine the emo­tion­al and ex­pe­ri­en­tial val­ue of the space. It's not just 4 walls. You live in the room. How you want to feel and re­gard the space is crit­i­cal. How well the room func­tions or should func­tion is im­por­tant and will in­flu­ence how you feel about the fin­ished space. Con­sid­er how you cur­rent­ly use the room. What is work­ing, what is not, how you will like it to work? It is not just the room; it is the ex­pe­ri­ence of the room. It is not just the lamp; it is the emo­tion about the lamp. Don't use it if you hate it. Even though it falls with­in the bud­get you can af­ford. Keep look­ing.

Take risks

• Suc­cess­ful dec­o­ra­tors are cre­ative and come up with un­ex­pect­ed so­lu­tions. That's of­ten what makes the space seem dec­o­rat­ed. So no matchy fur­ni­ture sets. Re­ject the per­fect­ly sym­met­ri­cal lay­outs. Re­mem­ber op­po­sites at­tract. Feel safer with cream and beige? Check the paint strip and try the same colour a few val­ues deep­er.

The most dif­fi­cult thing about dec­o­rat­ing a room is fig­ur­ing out where to start. Fol­low these tips and you will cre­ate a more co­he­sive dec­o­rat­ed space.