Decorating Ideas

Hiring a Professional Interior Designer
Do you need to hire a professional Interior Designer? You are ready to start freshening up your home, but you are not really sure where to start. Should you try to do the work yourself or should you hire a professional Interior Designer to handle the project?

Many consumers are somewhat intimidated by the thought of hiring an Interior Designer. They worry that they will lose control of the design, or the budget, and that the finished room may not be to their liking.

If you have felt this way, doing some research on the web should help calm your fears. There you will find many valuable resources to help you get comfortable with the whole idea of engaging a designer, and many more resources that will give you tips on how to find and work with a design professional.

However, using a design professional can, and should, be a good experience. It can give your home continuity, function, and beauty. And it doesn’t have to go over your budget. Working with a designer can save you money in many situations by allocating resources wisely, eliminating decorating mistakes, and increasing creative thinking about your project.

Where should you look for an Interior Designer for your home? One of the best ways may be to find a room that you really like (in the homes of acquaintances or co-workers, decorator showhouses, new housing model homes, furniture showrooms, or pictures in magazines), then find out who designed it.

Alternately, you could ask for recommendations from friends, inquire in retail decorating venues, or search the internet. Another excellent source is a referral service, such as a local chapter of ASID, the American Society of Interior Designers.

Before hiring an Interior Designer, interview them. Review their portfolio. Visit, if possible, some of their completed projects. This will give you a prospective of what to expect from the designer. Also, discuss contracts and fee structures. Ask for references that you can research on your own.

Your designer will not be able to create the perfect room for you unless you are able to communicate just what you want. It’s often recommended that you begin to accumulate photos from magazines of rooms and furniture you like (and those you dislike), since this will give your designer a place to start in creating a design specifically for you. Listen to all ideas, but never go against your heart.

Be able to explain to your designer the style you want, the colors you like, and the activities that will take place in the room. Make a list of furniture you own that you want to keep. Think about your preferences for furniture, fabrics, materials, and patterns.

Decorating Styles

Traditional Style
Traditional decorating is calm, orderly, and predictable. There is nothing wild or chaotic in a traditional room.

• Furnishings are classic. Nothing is a surprise. Pieces match and are consistent.
• Furniture and accessories are placed in pairs and centered in the room. There is nothing out of place or of a different style. Everything has the look that it goes together.
• Traditional rooms are not ostentatious but rather somewhat casual. Furniture pieces are often reproductions.
• Traditional style homes feel comfortable for any age group. It's a familiar look that you'd see in magazines or furniture showrooms. A traditional room is not a place to showcase a piece of modern art or stainless steel furniture.

Here are some of the common elements of a traditional room:

• Upholstered furniture in a traditional room exhibits classic lines and understated details. It is functional, unfussy, and restful looking. Edges are soft, smooth, and blend into the whole.
• In general, a traditional room will use a mix of vertical lines with more restful horizontal lines. Gentle curves are seen in furniture, pillows, and accessories.
• Fabrics in a traditional room are generally neither too shiny nor too textured. Florals, plain colors, muted plaids, understated stripes, geometrics, tone-on-tone and small all-over patterns are common.
• Color in a traditional room is often in a mid-range of tones, though very dark and very light colors can also be used. Pretty multi-color florals are often the basis of a traditional color scheme that uses the lightest color on the walls and deeper hues for upholstery and flooring. Avoid neon brights and jarring combinations.
• The overall ambiance of traditional decor is homey, understated, and non-jarring.
• As in formal settings, furniture in a traditional room is often arranged on straight axis within the room. The sofa will directly face or sit perpendicular to the fireplace and a bed will back up to the center of the longest bedroom wall.
• Wood furniture will usually have a mix of straight and curved lines. There may be light carving details as well. While wood pieces will often be finished with darker stains, a traditional room might also use lighter woods as long as the lines of each piece are classic.
• Interiors in a traditional home will often feature trim and molding that is painted glossy white. Crown molding is common and adds to the formal look. Walls might have a chair rail and simple molding details, with wall surfaces done in a flat painted finish or wallpaper. Ceilings are often white and may have simple beams.
• The dining room in a traditional home is generally a separate room, often with some built-in corner cabinets for china storage. A large area rug sits on top of a hardwood floor. The table is rectangular with a set of matched chairs placed evenly around the perimeter. A matching sideboard, buffet, or china cabinet is centered on one wall.
• Dressmaker details are not particularly important in a traditional room. Trims, tassels, and fringes are used sparingly if at all, in favor of a simpler, calmer look.
• Window coverings in traditional rooms show classic style. Look for narrow shutters, traverse draperies, and under treatments of pinch pleated sheers. Cornices and valances may also be featured.
• Accessories include pairs of lamps, urns, plants, mirrors, framed prints, china, vases, and collections of books. Pairs of objects are usually arranged in balanced symmetry.
• Light fixtures exhibit classic styling. Lamps with silk shades, wall sconces, and floor lamps might all be used. Shades should be fairly plain and in ivory or white.
• Traditional dining rooms can show off a variety of china, glassware, and silver. Plates might be a classic gold-rimmed style or a simple floral design. Use either beautiful tablecloths or pretty fabric placemats and napkins.

Contemporary Style
You might like a contemporary style of decorating if you like to keep current with styles, enjoy things that are modern, of today, right now.

While it's been thought that modern interiors are cold and minimalist, today's contemporary interiors are comfortable and welcoming without being cluttered and dark. It's a style that is equally appropriate for offices and stores, lofts and homes.

A contemporary style home can be a quiet and comfortable retreat. To achieve the look of a contemporary home, it's important to stick to some basic rules.

Fundamentally, simplicity, subtle sophistication, texture and clean lines help to define contemporary style decorating. Interiors showcase space rather than things. By focusing on color, space, and shape, contemporary interiors are sleek and fresh.

Learn about some more of the characteristics and elements of a contemporary style of decorating and how you might bring the look into each room of your home.

• Color
  • Neutrals, black, and white are the main colors in contemporary style interiors. The palette is often punched up and accented with bright and bold color. Black is often used to ground and define a contemporary style room. With walls painted in a basic neutral, you have a wonderful backdrop for bold colored accessories. If the walls and windows are painted in pastels, the trims should be neutral. If a wall is a bright, bold color, neutrals should be used everywhere else.
• Line and Space
  • The most obvious and distinctive element of a contemporary style interior design is line. It's found in architectural details, use of bold color blocks, high ceilings, bare windows, and geometric shapes in wall art and sculpture. The bare space, on walls, between pieces of furniture, and above in upper areas, becomes as important as the areas filled with objects.
  • In contemporary interiors, less is more. Each piece stands out as individual and unique.
  • Take advantage of structural elements. Air ducts may hang from a ceiling, broken bricks provide texture and stability, and exposed plumbing pipes are perfectly acceptable in a contemporary style interior. To draw the eye, paint these structural details in bold contrasting colors, or to diminish their importance, blend them with the walls.
• Contemporary Style Furniture
  • Smooth, clean, geometric shapes are essential for contemporary style furniture pieces. Upholstered furniture often wears black, white, or other neutral tones in textured natural fibers. Cover it in a neutral, black, or bold fabric. Fabrics often have a natural look found in wool, cotton, linen, silk, jute, and add textural appeal.
  • Furniture pieces should be simple and uncluttered, without curves or decoration. Sofas, chairs, and ottomans have exposed legs. Beds and chairs usually have no skirt, trim, fringe, or tassels.
  • Pillows add a shot of color and texture in clean geometric shapes.

Keep in Mind

• Use furniture and accessories to make a bold statement in contemporary style interior. Use a basic background and shout out with your favorite color on a piece that will stand out.
• Less is more! In a contemporary style interior, don't use ruffles, excessive carved details, fringe, or floral prints. Abolish cute and small. Go basic, bare, bold, and structural.
• Floors in a contemporary style home should be bare and smooth in wood, tile, or vinyl. If you must use carpet for sound control or warmth, choose commercial grades. Add color and texture with plain or geometric-patterned area rugs.

Casual Style
Do you long for a casual style room that is homey, warm, comfortable, and inviting? Who doesn't want to be comfortable in their own home? If you want to put together a casual style room, learn the basic elements that combine to create a truly casual room.

For starters, casual rooms have simple details, textured elements in fabrics and accessories, restful horizontal lines, soft upholstery, low-luster surfaces, and arrangements that avoid perfect symmetry.

Details are simple, and elements are rectangular or softly curved.

A room decorated in a casual style is the perfect place to have a touch of whimsey. Use an old or reconstructed birdhouse or wooden candlestick for a lamp base, stack pieces of old luggage for a side table, use a low vintage ironing board for a coffee table.

Casual decorating is easily incorporated into rustic, French Country, cottage, Shabby Chic, or American Country decorating styles.

With people enjoying more relaxed lifestyles, many homes today are totally decorated using the elements of casual decorating. But any home can incorporate the elements into a guest room, country kitchen, guest room, or bath. The elements of a casual style of decorating can sneak into most any room and make it feel comfortable.

The elements of a casual style of decorating are discussed below. Use any or all of these tips to bring the casual decorating style to your rooms.

• Furniture in a casual interior is soft and comfortable. Upholstered pieces are usually oversized and slipcovered.
• Many pieces of upholstered furniture are covered in neutral colors, such as tan, gray, beige, or off-white. But other colors are used, too. Soft pastels give a peaceful feeling. Or try darker tones such as navy, rust, olive or forest green, wine, and cranberry for punch.
• Fabrics on furniture and pillows are usually textured, rather than shiny. Interesting weaves of natural fibers like cotton, linen, wool are typical. New synthetic weaves give a natural look and add durability.
• For special accents on upholstered pieces, add ruffles, pleats, buttons, ribbon, or cording. Contrasting colored details incorporate the full range of colors in the room.
• To achieve a casual look, pieces are often long, large, and horizontal, rather than vertical and tall and petite. Tables are chunky and of a large scale, which gives a comfortable feeling, while providing space for storage and spreading out. This helps to create a restful look.
• A room decorated in a casual style is the perfect place for found items of wicker, iron, and rattan, or flea market finds. Old antiques fit in well.

Formal Style
If you love the look of elegant Ritz-Carlton hotels or public buildings such as the White House, you're probably drawn to their formal style of decorating.

While homes today are not usually constructed with 18" deep baseboard moldings, hand-laid herringbone-patterned hardwood floors, or elaborate carved plaster ceiling and wall decorations, there are elements of the formal style of decorating that can be added to more modern homes.

One of the most distinguishing features of interior spaces and homes decorated in a formal style is the symmetry of windows, furniture, artwork, and flooring. These elements are most often arranged in exact pairs on a straight axis around the room.

In a formal style interior, a central focal point draws the eye. It might be a beautiful picture window looking out to a perfectly manicured lawn. The focal point might be a fireplace in the center of the longest wall. Or the focal point might be an exquisite piece of furniture.

A formal style of decorating fits best in a home with high ceilings, large and tall windows, and architectural features such as a large fireplace mantle or beautifully paneled walls.

Since formal style interiors are decorated to attract the attention and possible envy of others, highly polished woods, glistening mirrors, luxurious and sensual fabrics, sparkling crystal chandeliers and wall sconces, highly polished brass window and door hardware, and unique and interesting pieces of furniture are important.

Furniture and accessories in formal interiors are often antique or fine reproductions. Woods used are generally dark and rich looking, but lighter woods are often used for decoration. Imported Oriental rugs cover polished hardwood floors. The original artwork is often elaborately framed in hand-carved gilt frames. Crystal light fixtures sparkle on the walls and hang from the center of the ceiling.

The details of formal style decorating are:

• Pairs of furniture and accessories
• Shiny wood, fabric, and metals
• Tall windows with elaborate coverings
• Antique furniture and accessories
• Original oil paintings and lithographs
• Persian carpets and Oriental rugs
• Chandeliers and light fixtures of crystal or brass
• Decorative trims of tassels and fringe
• Carved details on wood furniture

Of course, just because you love the look of a formal interior doesn't mean that it will suit your home or lifestyle. But you can use some of the elements to create a formal home for today's living.

• Soften tightly upholstered furniture pieces with decorative, comfortable pillows.
• Choose lush-looking durable fabrics in place of silks and velvets.
• Feature one or two uncomfortable formal pieces, but place more practical pieces of furniture around the room for everyday use.
• Incorporate formal trim and fringe on sensible upholstered furniture, comfortable pillows, draperies, and valances.
• Add ruffles and tassels on accessories such as tablecloths and table runners, but make them out of easily-cleaned fabrics.
• Instead of searching for perfectly matched pieces to create a perfectly symmetrical room, find pieces that are similar in size, density, and style.
• Or arrange the furniture for a formal look by having pairs of chairs, pairs of tables, and pairs of lamps. Arrange them on either side of a sofa, picture window, armoire, or dominant work of art.
• Decorative painting techniques can imitate the look of upholstered silk walls and are much more practical.
• Wooden furniture (case goods) is usually of a dark tone. Mahogany, walnut, and oak, as well as exotic hardwoods are used for their fine grain and elegant look. Wooden furniture pieces are polished to a high shine. For an active home, use several layers of lacquer or polyurethane to create a durable finish.
• Wooden inlay and marquetry, gold-leafed ornamentation, and polished brass hardware are hallmarks of formal pieces. Achieve the look of hand-carving by applying die-cut decorative pieces on furniture. Period or reproduction pieces might have leather trim or a marble top.