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Tuesday, September 22, 2015

It Is Okay To Make A Decorating Mistake!!






Often times when we decorate a room, we are absolutely sure that an element we love will work in the room, but sometimes  it just doesn't work!

This recently happened to me while designing my family room.


WHEN IT IS “NOT” ALRIGHT

It is NOT alright to make a mistake, and not remedy the problem. 

Sometimes we can overlook the reality of the situation because we want the item so badly, and we won’t make the proper changes to the room.

Leaving a mistake in a room is a bad choice to make.


KILLING YOUR ROOM

 In my career I have often seen a homeowner who wants the newest color, or trend, and they will try their hardest to incorporate it into their existing design, and it just does not work, but by golly they are going to make it work if it kills them.  

It won’t kill them, but it most likely will kill the room that they were trying to make look better.


MY MISTAKE

I made such a mistake in my past when I was trying to make an addition to my family room in my previous home.

The room reads very fresh, crisp, and airy. I wanted to make a few changes for the summer season, and a sailboat seemed like the perfect addition.

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When I received the sail boat I was disappointed in the actual color of the sails.
 
In the images the sails read as an off white, but in reality they were a khaki, and in my room that really did not work.

The actual sail boat was rich looking, and beautifully crafted. It would look better in a very traditional setting with a warmer color scheme, but not in my room with it's Spring-like color scheme.

Trip To Los Angeles (23)
( I left the light linen shaded lamps on the console so you could see just how dark the sails are.) As you can see even the scale is off. We could have used the one that was closer to 5 ft than this 4ft. size.

I still would love to incorporate a sailboat somewhere in my new home and will be on the lookout for the right one. That is why it is important to study your mistake so you can remedy the problem the next go around.


Study Your Mistake
By studying the right, and wrong of an element you can make a better choice the next time around. If you ignore what you are learning from the mistake, chances are you will repeat it again.

Trip To Los Angeles (22)

Study the scale, color and texture that the element brought to the space as well as the feeling it gave the room.

Write down what you need in the room that this particular element did not give you.

What I learned from my mistake:
  • The ship is just too heavy for the room.
  • I realize the scale is also off, it needs a larger piece.
  • The colors need to be light, and airy.
  • Maybe something a bit more whimsical for my style would work better.
  • The textures were nice, the rough texture of the sails vs. the smoothness of the hull of the boat. So I should vary my textures in this area.

LESSON
So remember even designers make mistakes, but they are not afraid  to admit it, and they have no problem eliminating the mistake. Nothing is worth ruining the look of a room in your home!!

   
 
 

5 comments:

Shirley@Housepitality Designs said...

Love this post...Have a great week Kathysue!

Donnamae said...

Really good advice Kathysue. I've made lots of mistakes...fortunately I could put my mistake in another room...and it looked intentional! ;)

Karena said...

These are all really excellent thoughts kathysue! A good reminder that no one is perfect, we can all do better and learn from mistakes though!

xoxo
Karena
The Arts by Karena
Painting Central Park

Mary said...

Great advice. From my mistakes I've learned you can't mix clean & dirty colors.
So...what did you do with the sailboat?

Ivy Lane said...

Great post Kathysue! I am working on correcting a pretty big mistake now! I bought a beautiful, comfortable Henredon couch recently. The problem is the carpet now looks like a pinky beige and the couch has a more green/gold cast...I am not giving up the couch as it is so comfy and lovely.... going to have to look into new carpet! ( at least it is due! )

Have a GREAT weekend!

xo,
Ivy