Blah Humbug!

So here we are once again at the Holiday season. Yes, I love the holidays but my enthusiasm for decking the house out is not what it once was. It's a lot of work to drag out all those boxes of Christmas goodies. And it's a lot of work to do it when you're doing it alone. Yes, I have family and they are wonderful but they are much more into looking at the decorations once I've done them then they are into helping me deck the halls.

Last year was the first year of my adult life that I did not put up a tree. GASP! It was with equal portions of protest (as in I am NOT doing all of this work alone. Again) and laziness. What I discovered-though my family does not quite agree-is that it is definitely possible to make your home look festive without putting up a Christmas tree. This may sound Bah Humbug! but it is definitely not Blah Humbug!

I've found that by pulling out my very favorite Holiday decorations and adding some fresh greens and flowers, I can make the house look pretty festive without dealing with strings of lights and boxes of ornaments. I agree that a lot of the spirit of Christmas is visual, but I've also found that Christmas music playing and the scent of cinnamon and pine really pulls that visceral feeling of Christmas all together. So it is with scented candles and Nat King Cole that I round out my Holiday decorating.

Traditions can change, at least it's okay for the outward signs of tradition to change. Isn't the important thing to remember what Christmas is really all about? And I don't mean ever increasing numbers of gift cards piling up. It's about honoring the birth of Jesus and in doing that, honoring our relationships with our loved ones. At least that's what it means more and more to me.

I'm learning to de-stress the Holidays and by scaling back on my Holiday decorating, I'm doing just that. I love the season: parties, baking, entertaining and being with the people I care about most in the world. But I don't love dealing with the dressing up and the inevitable dressing down of the season. So here are a few of my ideas for adding the Holiday feeling to my home in about two hours rather than the previous two days!

Goodbye OAK!

There are still quite a few men out there, and even an occasional woman, who think there is no more beautiful wood than oak. I've been around for a while and, in my opinion, nothing dates a home more than oak: oak cabinets, oak moldings, oak furniture....Oak is out. That's a general
rule of thumb, of course, and there are exceptions: quarter sewn oak in a beautiful old bungalow is an example. But your standard gold-toned oak is not the premium upgrade that it was once considered. I do remember the days of almost awestruck enthusiasm when one was describing a new kitchen-'It's solid Oak!' was a sign of prosperity. Unfortunately, that's no longer true. Now it's more common to hear-'well, it's only oak'. Poor oak. I almost feel sad for it.

Earlier this year I visited a new client who was interested in doing some redecorating. She was talking new furniture and painting woodwork and new window treatments. I listened to her wishlist as we sat in her very oak kitchen and when she was finished with her list, I asked her what her budget was like and what she was planning to do with h er kitchen. Well, doing anything in her kitchen-other than possibly painting-hadn't made it to her list. My suggestion was that, given her fairly healthy budget, she should consider giving her kitchen an update. She is such a great client! She jumped on the bandwagon almost immediately.

She remembered that she had a neighbor who was in the refacing business and so she gave him a call. With very little mess to her home, his fabulous company (http://www.elitetrm.com/) was able to come in and reface the old cabinets, provide new doors and drawers, update the general look of the room by replacing a catch-all desk area with new glass uppers and counter height lowers. He even refaced the cabinets in the adjoining family room.

While one might think this is a much less expensive fix than new cabinets, it's actually not all that big of a savings in terms of money. What it does save is a lot of time and mess. I'm even thinking she didn't have to empty all of her cab inets! The result is really beautiful and updated the looks of her home tremendously.

And, yes, you will notice that there are also new appliances and painted trim and light fixtures-all part of the plan when redoing a kitchen. But!! She is very happy that she made this investment in her home. Buying new drapery and furniture may make your home look nicer, but it adds no value, and it is my opinion that when faced with the dilema of new furnishings for your home or adding value by updating, the later should always win.

Oak, you symbol of strength and stability, have no fear you will always have fans....maybe just not when it comes to kitchen cabinets.

Colorblocking For Impact and Interest

Trends come and go and that's what keeps the interior design business hopping. A trend that has gained re-popularity over the last couple of years is color-blocking with paint. If done properly, color-blocking your walls can add a lot of impact and interest and vitality to a space that might otherwise be ordinary. The idea of using multiple complementary or contrasting colors on your walls can be a way of charging even the smallest of spaces with vitality (click on 'each and every inch' to see my son's cool version of color-blocking).


The idea behind colorblocking is to take at least two, but up to three and four, colors and apply them to either opposite or adjacent walls. These pictures illustrate what I've done in a den, living room and dining room of a home in Plainfield. You will notice that the colors were pulled from the fabric and art that is in these three rooms. I've used 4 colors. The color in the den is the color from the sectional in the living room. In the den, which is quite small, I used only the taupe from the living room sectional, but as you stand in the hall area between the two rooms you really get the sense of how these two rooms pull together. The orange color on one wall in the living room and one wall in the dining room is in the artwork in both of those rooms and also in the print fabric in the living room.

It's tricky to know which color to put where. I usually make that decision based on contrast. If a piece of artwork has a lot of the lighter colors or a light background, or if there is furniture on that wall with a lighter background, I put one of the darker shades behind it. The opposite is also true: if there is a darker piece of furniture that is going to be on a wall, then that is the wall that will get a lighter shade from the pallet. Generally, you want a balance of color. If there is only a small amount of a certain color represented in either your fabrics or artwork, then use that color more sparingly.

As in all things design, the idea is to make your space uniquely yours and choosing to use color-blocking is a great way to tie your home together from room to room. And the great thing is you can get a really custom look with only the price of a gallon or two of paint. Go be creative!

CYA-order of the day

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I'm creative and I love what I'm doing. But just because I love what I'm doing doesn't mean that I don't have to follow the most important rule of the interior design (or for that matter, any) business. CYA-Cover Your Ass.

I recently have had a flurry of requests for my services. Despite the fact that everywhere you look the economy seems to be on a horrible downward spiral, I seem to be getting consistent business. Believe me, I'm thrilled. The downside to the attitude of some seeking my services however is that, BECAUSE the economy is grinding to a near halt, they expect that I'm going to 'deal' or 'give away my services.' Heh, I would be totally lying if I didn't admit that I've been guilty of the same thing with some of my vendors....but the thing is, my vendors aren't dealing in any significant way, so unless I want to earn less money-which I don't-I can't deal either. I've noticed that in these hard times SERVICE has become much better with almost all of my vendors across the board-my guess is that since there is so much less business coming their way, they have more time to give to the clients who are placing orders.

It's hard to resist any business that comes your way in tough times and it's tempting to go ahead and cut your profit in order to get a job, but the bottom line is the economy is going to come back and if I 'bare-bone' my profits now, will my clients expect me to do that....forever?? And the CYA rule is still in effect. I still make measurement mistakes ocasionally, the workroom still calls with concerns on fabrication that add more money to the project that we just can't pass on to the client, shipping costs exceed our expectations. The CYA rule is that you keep that margin in your quote to cover those unexpected costs.

So, I debate: do I cut my prices to get the business and risk making nothing, or worse- risk losing money? Or do I keep my prices at the same level and just hang in there waiting for things to improve, while at the same time concentrate on improving my service to my clients?.....The latter argument seems to ring true in my gut and I'm pretty consistent in following my gut. My gut has always told me that operating with honesty and integrity and fairness keeps my clients coming back to me whatever the economic conditions and if the current economic conditions give me a little more time to add better service to that list, well, isn't that lucky for my clients? And if I have to work a little harder and have a little more patience in getting those orders, well that just makes me a little more appreciative of the business I do have. Looks like there is a way to create a win-win even now.

Measure twice/ Purchase once

Without a doubt, my number one tip for anyone trying to design a room is to own and use a tape measure. It seems obvious that you would measure a wall before you buy a sofa, yet I have been called to people's homes more times than I can remember because they have either bought too much furniture or furniture too big for the room. It happens all the time. Unfortunately, most of the time there isn't a lot you can do. Buy a 25' metal tape measure, know where you keep it, and use it every time you leave the house to purchase anything bigger than a pillow.

So you need some furniture for your den, what do you do? First you take out your tape measure, a pencil and a pad of 1/4" graph paper. Every square on the pad equals 1 foot in your room. Measure the width and length of your room and draw a box on the graph paper that measures the same as your room; i.e. your room is 12' X 12' so the box on your paper is 12 squares wide by 12 squares long. Once you've drawn the box, measure where each opening in the room is-every door and window-and mark that on your drawing. You will want to erase the line where the doors are so that you are sure to remember 'opening in the line means opening in the room.'

Now there are two things you can do: One is to make several copies of this drawing and start sketching in where you think you'd like to see, for example, a sofa, remembering that each square equals one square foot of floor space. The 78" X 36" sofa that you like in the Pottery Barn catalogue will take up 6 1/2 squares by 3 squares. Color in those squares and then keep adding the essential items that you'd like to see in your space. Don't think you'd like that particular arrangement? Try another.

Another way of doing this is to cut out, from another piece of graph paper, the actual sizes of pieces you'd like to see in your room and then just move them around on your sketch to see how things fit in various positions. My preference is to have many copies of the room sketch and start filling each in-then you can compare one way against another.

This exercise shouldn't take all that long and it is your insurance that you've done what you could to avoid the problem of buying either too much furniture or furniture that is too big or too small (yeah, that happens too) for the room.

BLOOPER: I can't remember any big mistakes in the size of furniture that I've sold to clients-but it took me TWO huge mistakes to remember that you also have to make sure that there is a clear path to getting the furniture that will fit in the room to the room. About 10 yrs. ago I sold a $5000 sofa to a client on the 36th floor in the One Mag Mile building. It was 105" long-perfect for his large living room- unfortunately, the elevator height was only 98." I had to pay an upholsterer to basically cut it in half --$1500 later his long sofa was moved in to his condo in 2 pieces and secured together on site. It was a very expensive mistake and one I will remember. I said TWO huge mistakes, right-the other will be described in a future post about 'furniture options.'

The photo above shows the sofa in the condo I described in this blooper.

Brain Surgery or fun?

I've been an Interior Designer for over 20 years and during that time I've learned a lot of things about people. From an interior design standpoint there are about four kinds of people who call in the aid of a designer:

-The 'I've got a lot of money and a nice house but no time or talent for decorating so just do it for me' people.

-The 'I know what I want and like but just don't have the nerve to pull the trigger without professional advice and guidance' folks.

-The 'I know I should decorate my house and I've heard you were good, but I don't really believe you know what you're doing and therefore I am going to make your life hell until you PROVE you know what you're doing' clients.

-And finally The 'I'm so completely terrified that I will make a mistake that I cannot buy anything' people.

Though the four descriptors have different qualities, what they all have in common is that, at their core, they all must have faith in my ability to be able to read them, understand their needs and provide them with what they are looking for at a cost that is within their budget.

I jokingly say this job is not 'brain surgery' and for me it's not-at least not anymore. As with anyone who has a creative talent it more or less comes naturally and, therefore, easily to me. I do understand however that, at times, it is like brain surgery for my clients as they try to visualize a 6" X 6" piece of fabric covering an 8' sofa and the picture just will not form in their head. I can see what they cannot and, afterall, isn't that why they've hired me in the first place?

It's in that place of not being able to visualize that my client's faith in my ability as a designer comes in to play. I believe this career encompasses all of the skills involved in salesmanship as well as the innate abilities of an artist: the ability to elicit faith from my clients is the salesman part, the design is the artist part.

Lest you think I am completely full of myself, let me remind my readers that it has taken a full 20 years to pull all of these pieces together in my own head and consciously develop the understanding, patience and timing involved in pulling a successful project together.

So thanks for reading the philosophy part of my blog and from here on in I hope to bring my experience, insights, ideas, and fun to your design projects as well as sharing some successful projects, anecdotes and occassionally even some bloopers-I'm good but not perfect!