Genie of the Lamp

Blown glass lamp, by west elm. Pretty!

The best thing about decorating with glass is that it won't weigh down a tight space. Solid objects can look cluttered and/or heavy, but glass will seem airy and it's see-through-ness won't cramp you up. Especially if it's a coffee table!

Relaxing

This Ann Wisniewski bedroom design looks so peaceful.

Why include the hideous parts?

Take out rug, remove antler head = deal. Honestly. That rug clashes terribly with the curtains, and as long as Bambi's father's on the wall no one will notice the ceiling lantern. WHY do designers always include nasty stuff when they decorate? So wrong.

Fresh and Clean

Hard lines abound in the tile, cabinets, windows, photographs-- even the lanterns have square shades. The ordered clarity of the lines and neutral colors creates a serene, safe, environment, and allows warm wood, plants, and circular overhead lamps to really pack a punch. I love that those lamps are the only curves in the shot.

So the hallway is wider than my bedroom. :) Doesn't change it's appeal.

I love this room.

It's always hard to believe that this room was designed as a walk-in-closet & powder room*. How lucky is the (obviously rich) lady that gets that comfy auto-man in her closet?


If you took the wallpaper off the ceiling, changed the roman curtain to plain white with a rosy-colored ribbon drawstring, and toned down the excess toile on the windowseat-- it'd be glorious.

*"50 dollars for the powder room!"

Fan of Khaki Paint

Khaki paint: just enough color to fill the wall with, but not neutral enough to be a beige. I am a fan of khaki paint. It's a lovely foundation for any color palette, or many splashes of color as shown here. It isn't plain, but it also isn't overwhelming. The over all effect is a cozy glow so relaxing it makes me want to curl up and read.

I love those pillows, too. They look like *chrysanthemums.

*Sorry, Gil, not chrysanthamum.

Hommina Hommina

I miss my orange bedroom. Perhaps it was was the way light danced across the paint, reflecting warmth and a "welcome home" vibe, but It was actually stress relieving just to walk into the room.

"If I could, I surely would" copy this design of Jeffrey Bilhuber. His choice to use drapes the same color as the wall surprised me, but then decided that it felt as if the warmth of the orange was free to envelope you rather than remain confined to the walls.

People always grimace when I say that I love to decorate in deep color-- specifically orange. But it doesn't have to look tacky. And if you're thinking, "dear me, that's WAY too much orange," there's always this option:

Q: How can I spice up a boring space?

A: Fake architecture. In this case, they used paint as well (which helps,) but even if you can't paint, you still have other options. My favorite example of fake architecture is the use of a freestanding mantle that doesn't cover a fireplace. You can either buy one, or make a shelf out of a giant picture frame and a board. Some fake-fireplaces have mirrors in the spaces, and others are just empty, or have other things layered inside such as pictures, branches, or flowers.


A: Fabrics. Not only can you find color solutions from pillows and throws, but you get instant coziness as well. Fabrics and soft textures make an environment seem both more relaxing, and inviting, and rugs add dimension to a room. Without fabrics your room will feel stiff, austere, and much less comfortable.

A: Texture. Right along with fabric, textures will add dimension to your space. Stay away from too many smooth surfaces, and try for wicker, cork, bent metal, or thick wool. Rough pages of old books also can provide texture. Of course, my favorite use of texture still has to be using newspaper for wallpaper. Mmmm, that's nice.

A: Living things. Add plants, flowers, or a parakeet to your space. They'll add color, and freshness, and won't look like they were factory made. Living things within a space extend their life to the space itself, transforming a static room into something unpolluted and vibrant. Besides, aren't we encouraged to "go green?" Buy a plant. Not to mention that if you have a plant-- you could also get a colorful bin to put it in-- which would give both dimension, pizazz, and aha, you guessed it, more color.


A: Don't neglect lighting. Overhead lamps flush everything (and everyone) out, give the appearance of an institution, lower the appearance of the ceiling, cause harsh glares, and do nothing to make a scene intimate and cozy. Use more lamps: direct light toward the ceiling instead of the floor, and buy "warm" lightbulbs, by which I mean to use incandescent light instead of halogen or fluorescent.

A: Create a sense of harmony. There are several ways of doing this, but the easiest are to A) use light, medium, and dark tones, and B) "gradation" which is the use of progressive sizes of the same object, like nesting circles that get larger and larger in a linear pattern across the wall. Also, I present to you concepts c and d. C) Use natural shapes like circles, ovals, or patterns. D) "Like kind" objects can lump a space together; the phrase tweaked slightly will illustrate-- "opposites distract." Harmony is a harder concept to envision, but rather simple to remember-- small, medium, large, and light, medium, dark. Ta da! Harmonius space.


A: If you wish to make eyes pop, there are three easy ways of doing this. 1. Paint a catchy color on the wall, 2. prominently display a round mirror or large-clock on the wall (the eyes of all will instantly dart to it, I assure you), and 3. use complementary colors. Some think it is faux-pas to use both red and green in a display, or blue and orange, but it can look quite attractive with the right hues.*

*Authors note: I did paint my room pumpkin-orange in high school, and I had slate-blue carpet. No, I did not plan this, and while I don't recommend it-- at least it didn't clash too terribly with the orange.