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.