The Rural Voice, 2002-06, Page 49Home Decorating
Avoid the 5 most common decorating mistakes
Patti
Robertson
operates
Classic
Interiors in
Wingham.
By Patti Robertson
Over the past 20 years I have
taught an Interior Design night school
class, often several times within a
given year. Invariably, I end up
learning as much as I teach through
the questions the participants ask.
Such was the case this past spring
when Donna asked, "Patti, when you
are working on people's homes, what
are the five most common decorating
mistakes you regularly see?" Well,
this question cuts right to the chase
and zeroes in on how anyone can
correct their mistakes and update the
styling of their home ... so here goes!
First and foremost, artwork is
usually positioned way too high.
Correctly an art piece should be
positioned six to eight inches off
the back of one's sofa or two to
three inches above the chair back
at the dining table, and also three
to five inches above the headboard,
etc. The larger scale the piece is the
lower it can be positioned. Once the
key focal point piece is positioned
you can use this as a guide to
position the other works within
the room. Watch very carefully that
you do not "pop" your wall -art up
above the other lines within the
room, i.e. doorways, armoires,
china cabinets, etc.
Now continuing with accessories I
also note the use of too many "little
pieces". This gives any area a very
busy and cluttered look. It is more
desirable to acquire one or two really
interesting accessories rather than a
multitude of minutiae. When
positioning your ornaments and
photographs it's always most
appropriate and stylish to group your
pieces in odd numbers (three to five),
as opposed to stringing all the various
pieces out in single file across the top
of the mantel or entertainment centre.
Next, I find that there is a lot of
difficulty in establishing a correct
ratio with the colour accents within a
room. Most often what I see is a
colour scheme equally balanced
between the chosen background
colouration and accenting hue:
Correctly the background
colouration. is the most appropriate
when it dominates the room by two-
thirds to three-quarters of the total
amount with only one-third to one-
quarter being the accentuating hue.
This adds drama and flair to the
overall effect. I'd also advise strongly
against using coloured lampshades as
your accenting medium as more often
than not they show up very poorly
against the colouration chosen for the
walls. It's much better to pick out
your accent colourations through
your artwork, ornaments and toss
cushions.
Texture within rooms also proves
another area of difficulty. Usually
there is either a blandness through the
lack of texture or an inappropriate
match has been made — for example,
velvet draperies being co-ordinated
with a corduroy or tweed sofa. It's
best to recognize the fact that
everything has texture, and tends to
provide the effect of being either
formal or informal in nature. From
this point analyze your rooms and
decide what "feeling" you are trying
to impart and then work with your
textures accordingly.
What else? Well, too many
borders, too many faux finishes, and
too much floral wallcovering and
artificial floral arrangements. The
more we repeat any one of these
treatments within our homes the more
we invalidate the previously chosen
treatments, making each similar
addition Tess interesting and eye
catching. Remember variety is the
spice of life. We all need to be aware
of the general rule of not overdoing
the colouration within our home.
"Three to five" colours are usually
maximum and I highly recommend
playing with one colour in all the
beautiful tints and tones it comes in.
When you adhere to this theory you
end up with the most professionally -
styled colour scheme.
Finally, I notice a great deal of
difficulty in the distinction of the
ratio of proportion and scale within
one's living spaces. For example
most furniture on the market today is
on a large scale and with a bulkier
style. Therefore the lamps, artwork
and ornaments should also be the
larger scale to add a correct balance
within the room. Bedside lamps
should be in proportion to the bed
and the night table, so in effect the
same sizing as living room lamps.
The ultimately designed home
whether classic or casual will sport a
relationship between all the main
elements as in the backgrounds
(walls, ceilings, floors, windows), the
furnishings, and accenting
accessofies, thereby creating a perfect
marriage amongst all the elements
which make up a room.
So, best of luck in analyzing your
home, and what's already working or
what possibly could use an updating.
And to Donna, thank you for a
most interesting question. Definitely
lots of food for thought.0
PATTI ROBERTSON'S
Unique Residential and
Commercial Interiors
135 Victoria St., WINGHAM
357-2872
• Custom-made Window
Fashions, Bedspreads
& Accessories
• Fine Domestic &
Imported Fabrics
• Select Wallcouerings
• Furnishings, Lighting
& Artwork to suit
any interior...
JUNE 2002 45