It Is Okay To Make A Decorating Mistake!!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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.

( 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.

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!!

 

 

 

Garage Sale As An Event!

Ever since I read the book by Carolyne Roehm, “A Passion For Blue” it made me want to find out a little bit more about this amazing woman. 

In researching, I ran across an article in Veranda magazine about a garage/tag sale that she had. Now you must understand this was not a typical sale. 

This sale has been elevated to a level like no other garage/tag sale that I have ever seen. 

I know the summer months are full of garage sales on every weekend. Somehow I doubt that I will ever see one like this:

Over-sized vases full of sunflowers were brought in, and also sold at the end of the sale.

I have seen these at Homegoods, and Cost Plus. I think I need these for my patio.

Preparing items for pricing.

Everything you might need, or want for a 4th of July celebration!

I will take five of each please. Notice how all the picnic tables have been given a coat of white paint. Nothing but the best going on here.

Pretty amazing wouldn’t you say?!

There are garage sales, and then there are events! Oh to be able to attend such an event, now wouldn’t that be wonderful?

I know you can find amazing items at garage sales whether they are displayed this wonderfully or not.

I just had to show you the way a professional does it. You can read the full article in Veranda here.

“Enjoy the Process” Of: 

Finding a treasure at a Garage/ Tag sale this summer!

My Designing Brain Is At Work Again!!

I love to read books about Interior designers. What intrigues me is how they think. I love to read about their process in design.

One particular client was always very curious about how my mind worked. Of course she was a professor of psychology so naturally she wanted to know the  thinking process I used when I was designing her home.

She wrote this.......
As the comments indicate, you have a real talent for illuminating this kind of work by providing information on your vision and thinking about how to “get there”.

By making your thinking visible (that is, by explaining how you go about the design process) you provide scaffolding and appropriate support that allows others to think about  similar work.

Your comment about there being no right or wrong in the design world then allows people at all levels of expertise to buy-in to the process, and begin thinking about how they will approach their own project.  

Not sure you realize what an incredible gift that is, but in the world of cognition, teaching and learning, what you do, and how you think is EXEMPLARY!

WOW!! To say I was taken aback would be an understatement. So this post is dedicated to this lovely lady.

Since I am about to add a new element to my family room for the summer months I thought I would take you through my process in hopes that it might help you with your own design journey.

FIRST

I start by collecting images of the element I want to use in a room. I have been doing this process for the past year. You can see my collection of images, HERE!

SECOND

I examined the images closely to figure out what I liked, or disliked about each image. I then chose three of my favorite looks.

The three looks that I chose are pictured below………

I like the color of the wood and the contrast of the white. I also love the striped detail in the sail itself.

I did not even realize that this yacht is almost the same as the other yacht pictured above. This one has more detail in the sails and the stand is a  wee bit different. It is also facing a different direction. I do love the scale of this one.

I like the simplicity of this one, but I am wondering if it is too simple for such a large scaled yacht with so much of it being the sails. 

This has a stripe in the sail which I also love. It has a darker wood with a very dark blackish, green/blue paint. One thing I really love about this one is the green painted wood stand. I think that makes it interesting. This feature can be added to any of the yachts we have chosen.

THIRD

Now the fun part begins, the sourcing!!

FOURTH

Once the sourcing is done I will then have the measurements to try out to see just how large I want to go.

Here is my live-in Handyman making a template on the wall approximately the size of the first yacht pictured. The size is approximately 42w X 45h.

Remember I am the Big is better, less is more gal!

I am a very visual  so this really helps me get a grasp on the scale of the yacht.


Sails and even the yacht and stand!! Now I have a really good idea that this is the size we need for sure!!

FIFTH

Now for the price shopping,  shipping cost and availability.

Once we have all this information on hand we will sleep on it, and make our final decision between………

                OR