Now what do those letters stand for? Paint, Plants and Light. "PPL" Remember those three letters as the cheapest decorating tools in your design arsenal.
I have found that those three items can change a look of a room more
quickly, and less expensively than almost any other element.
Paint is always an obvious change in
any room but lighting, and plants were a surprise to me.
This is how I discovered what a difference a plant could make in a room...........
One day I took out two plants
that I had in my living room to water them at the kitchen sink. As the
plants were draining in the sink I walked by the living room and I
actually gasped!
The room that had looked warm and inviting now looked
cold, and empty. What??!! How can two $10 plants make such a difference?
Well trust me they did.
I discovered that plants would
then become one of the elements I could always afford in my decorating
arsenal.
Now for lighting, this is a vast
subject so I will touch on the high points. Do you know how many light
sources an average room should have?
I
read a little formula a long time ago that said find your square
footage (example 12ftx16ft = 192sq.ft) then multiply your square footage
by 1.5 (192 x 1.5 =288) so that means your room will need 288 watts of
lighting sources.An average room should have approx. 4-5 lamps.
In my own family room that
measures 17 x 20 I have 6 lamps,2 sconces and 2 uplights in the
corners.
Do you have enough lighting sources in your room? Most people
don't so don't feel badly about that, just become a little more aware
and it will help you see your rooms differently. I am going to show you a
few rooms that have a good use of "PPL".
The first picture is done by Brown
Design Inc, now imagine this room painted in the wrong color, no plant,
and maybe only the bedside lamps. Boring!
Look
at how many lights just in this one section of the room and the color
of the paint keeps the room simple and fresh.
Without that one plant and
the bouquet of roses on the nightstand the room might actually look
bland. This is a great example of using "PPL"
In
this next room the lighting is amazing. The over sized chandelier and
the use of the strip lighting above the cornice molding absolutely
breathtaking. Take away one of those lighting sources and the room is
not nearly as spectacular.
Notice
the use of the plants, if those were not in the room the room would not
have as much life to it. The subtle color keeps this room soft and
inviting. I love the "PPL" in this room.
In this next room we have an all white kitchen with some great old school lighting
fixtures, perfect choice for the look of this room.
The plants in this
room come in the form of a beautiful floral bouquet and a bowl of crisp
green apples on the counter top.
You see, bringing life to a room with plants doesn't always have to be the potted variety.
This
is a bright and cheerful room with a lot of good natural light, but that
did not stop them from putting two lamps on the console table, and a
great overscaled lantern above the black table.
The
plant life here is of the potted variety but they are placed in just
the right areas to make your eye travel around the room to the pops of
the fresh green.
So remember PPL, Paint: is it time to make a change?
Plants: Do you have any in your room? Lights: Do you have enough in your room?
