The Rural Voice, 2000-02, Page 36Home Decorating
Tips on decorating a rented space
By Patti Robertson
In the May 1999 issue I was
telling you about the third floor
apartment I was working on with a
young professional gal. At that time
we had completed her bedroom
featuring a wonderful hand-crafted
wrought -iron bed, and black satin
furniture. The room was finished in a
French -toned mustard and mellow
gold scheme.
We now have completed the
kitchen and bath and just as I advised
this client, I'd like to pass some wise
advice along to you. If you live in a
rented space, whether an apartment or
a house, this is your home while you
abide there. It is most important to
your well-being to surround yourself
with colours and textures that
empower you and comfort you; yet
being realistic, one must consider that
the decorating one does will stay
behind when you move on and
landlords are not always forthcoming
with funds to cover your project.
Therefore, the most cost-effective
decoration of any rental space is to
turn to painting, faux finishing
techniques, and bargain bin
wallcoverings to achieve the look you
are after for your home. I advise
clients in these circumstances to
spend the major amount of their
decorating dollar on unique smaller -
scaled furnishings, interesting
accessories, eye-catching lamps and
toss cushions, all of which will move
on with you!
So here is the way in which we
made this client's other rooms come
to life without a major outlay of cash,
keeping our flow of the mustard and
golden colour theme uppermost for
the most professional effect. The
corridor -style kitchen is on the small
side — 7' x 14'. It has a quaint little
French door which provides the only
window in the room, and this leads
out onto the fire escape. The walls all
slant at the 4 1/2' level, the floor was
8" x 8" grey vinyl tiles and the
cupboards featured royal blue pulls
and knobs. So we chose to paint the
walls, ceiling and cupboards in a
mellow, yellow cornmeal hue. This
opened up the broken space and
32 THE RURAL VOICE
unified it. Next we picked out a
border which featured a theme of
apples, apple pies and related
paraphernalia in hues of a deeper
cornmeal colour, along with royal
blues and russet reds. The border was
installed at the four -and -a -half foot
level all around the room.
Next we
tackled the tired
grey floor.
There we used
floor and porch
epoxy paint.
First we
bordered off a
section using
the tiles as our
guide and we
painted a royal
blue border
which measured
7'x4'all way
around. Inside
our border we
then checker
boarded the remaining tile alternating
our cornmeal colour with the russet
red, inside the cornmeal tiles we
stamped a perfect russet red apple!
All high on fun and style and low in
cost! The client has some lovely blue
cobalt glass canisters and wineglasses
which heightened the impact! The
French door was softly covered in a
mellow yellow semi -sheer which
allowed the Tight in and yet afforded
privacy.
On to the bath. I will never forget
the impact this room first had on me.
The door opened onto a panoramic
view of Toronto skyscrapers and
quaint backyards! (One must realize
when they've got an accent and work
with it.) Once I recovered from the
initial surprise I realized the entire
bath was only approximately 5' x 8',
into which had been squeezed a large
claw and ball tub, a pedestal sink, and
the loo! The piece de resistance was
this window which completely
covered the five foot width of the
room and included a full length shelf
as part of the pediment. The whole
room was white with a tiled floor in
12" x 12" black and white tiles
(checkerboard style), so although the
space wasn't invaded by colour it
certainly was not warm or inviting.
We were also dealing with a
variety of cracks in the wall surface!
Our first plan of attack was to
smoosh over the lower one-half of the
walls (at the window sill height) in a
black smooshing technique. We left
the plastic on the glaze for an extra
20 minutes to heighten the marbling
effect. This tied the floor and lower
walls together.
Next we chose to add vines that
flowed up and around the mirror and
onto the wall opposite the window.
The vines not only incorporated our
bothersome cracks but.added texture
in tones of black, burnt sienna and
spruce green (we used a fine brush
and did the vines freehand). To the
vines we added Wisteria blossoms in
a cornmeal yellow, thereby tying our
apartment colour scheme in yet again.
We heightened the impact of our
stenciled blossoms by outlining one
side in gold metallic paint. This
created a very one -of -a -kind effect
for very little cost! The client added a
beautiful linen -textured shower
curtain to the circular rod along with
a variety of yellow and black towels
all hanging on custom -crafted black
wrought iron towel bars. (She will
take these with her, replacing them
with the ones that were in the
apartment to start.)
Finally the window was draped in
a soft textured white semi -sheer
'which still allows one the beautiful
view (even more unique at night with
the variety of lights) and yet affords
privacy! The shelf above the window
features a collection of milk glass
containers and a most stunning
ceramic fashion figurine in a sunny
yellow circa 1930s. Viola! ... three
rooms to date all colour co-ordinated
with minimum cost.
So once again my advice is to look
at what you have, what colours dom-
inate, whatstyles are most prevalent.
Through this analysis and with care-
ful budget planning you can create a
space of great joy. Enjoy your spaces
make them work for you!O
Patti Robertson operates Classic
Interiors in Wingham.