How to Live With Imperfection
Keeping it real: 'redesigning' a client's living room, Blackmon placed a shawl over a frayed sofa back. 'Don't fix it, feature it,' she exhorts.
[credit:]
Lydia Gonzales
In the ideal world, any time a room needed a shot of life, your own personal interior designer would come by and inject some flavor into your room. Unfortunately, idealism isn't always a reality in today's world. But interior redesign is.
Debra Blackmon, an IRIS instructor of redesign from Bakersfield, Calif., has compiled techniques and tips from 19 Interior Redesign Industry Specialists and put them together in an easy-to-reference book for the befuddled homeowner, "IRIS in the House" (Trafford, 2006).
"Basically, I wanted the client or potential reader to have an understanding of what redesign and staging is all about," she says. "We teach conventional design precepts ... then we teach them how to break them."
Blackmon offers these tips for the at-home designer:
The Power of Place and Placement
Get off the wall and into the room. Every room has a sweet spot, says Blackmon, and finding it means treating the room like a giant 3-D jigsaw puzzle. Don't plan on paper - break the room down and redesign. "Live in the room and not around the perimeter," she says.
Can't Fix It? Feature it
Blackmon had a client with an old brick-red linoleum floor. Instead of an expensive floor overhaul, the client took that same brick red into the valance and some canisters she placed in the kitchen. The floor went from detriment to shabby chic.
Pragmatic Color Solutions
Painting the walls always is a solution, but accessorizing helps problem-solve, too. Bad-colored carpet? Find pillows in the same color for the sofa. Bringing that color up instantly solves the disharmony in the room and makes it appear to be done purposely.
Make Mistakes; Fix Them
If you bring home a new piece of furniture and discover it's too big or small or the wrong color, correct them visually and proportionally. If an entry-way console table is too small, place a plant next to it to make it appear bigger. Couch is too big, place less stuff around it. Add or removing "weight" in the space can make all the difference.
Most of all, possess a willingness and openness to change and try new things. When you open up, says Blackmon, it's amazing how the universe responds.
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