home decor

When someone says dining room, what picture appears in your mind?  Try  it.  List the elements. For many of us these words conjure up a dining room set with everything matching, a chandelier and some sort of hutch or maybe buffet.  Probably a picture of some sort will be included.  I bet matching is the most obvious characteristic. It doesn't have to be that way unless that's what you like.  Here are 5 ways you can  make your dining space stand out a little. Mix and match your chairs and table The days of dining sets have moved behind us.  In many magazines you will see all sorts of mixing of styles, materials and colours. I love the look of upholstered chairs with a wood table. They soften the hard edges and provide some relief in the "wood" department. Some adventurous types will go for two different styles of chairs.  Adore magazine  Another option if you aren't too adventurous is to upholster each of your wooden chairs with a differe...

Ah, the dreaded question.  What colour draperies should I have? Part of being a decorator is making informed decisions about design.  Keeping current with trends  through reading and viewing is a must, but trend knowledge is not enough.  You have to understand what affect your choices will have on a space. I posted this picture on Designing Home Facebook Page as an example of a style board I create for clients.  I am not one for vivid colour, but I didn't have to live with the colour, a young lady who loves rich colours did.   Should I have argued with her and said you shouldn't have bright draperies. NO!  I have to balance my client's likes with the principles and elements of design. Vibrant  draperies  Let's look at what this colour choice  did for this room.  You can't ignore this window treatment, it's not only the vibrant colour, it's the placement and amount of it. That means a lot of colour jumping forward in the space. The d...