interior design

[ebm1224]

i've never been much for decorating. i've tried a few times and, while i like the results i've gotten, they haven't really been anything to write home about. i will say i am good at figuring out placement of furniture in a room (thanks, in part, to reading a book on feng shui back in high school...i love and still own that book and refer to it every time i move).

but, as i get older, i want to make my home look more "personal" and "attractive." i've used the excuse of not having money to decorate properly for too long. but it's been a good excuse. at this point, my furniture is almost all hand-me-downs or craigslist. and i own pretty much no art. or curtains (i had some in my last place but i sold them in a yard sale since i don't have windows to fit anymore).

but now i have an assignment at work: i get to decorate a model apartment(!!!) so i figured i would use this opportunity to really push myself to get better at decorating. to develop a sense of personal style in furnishings. first, the caveats:

1) some of the furniture/accessories are from previous models the company has done so, to some degree, the "style" is sort of set.

2) other people, obviously, have a say in this. one of these people is my friend who helped me get this job.

3) there are some things that are being put in the model because the owner of the company does not want them in his house. i know that's weird but apparently these things have been taking up space for quite awhile.

i spent most of the day today shopping. i went to ikea and target. the problems i keep running into are:

1) i know that things don't always have to match, they just have to go together...but how do you know what goes together? how do you know when you have enough/too much variety of color/pattern?

2) how do you pick out art and knicknacks that will make a space look good? is it just a matter of what you like? or does every piece need to fill some kind of purpose or connect to the room/home in some way?

3) how should the various rooms relate to each other? should simliar colors be throughout? or should each room have it's own color scheme?

i know this is a long post. and, to be honest, i'm pretty happy with my selections thus far. i guess the big question is:

as someone who is not a "designer" how will i know if i've done a good job? how will i know if it looks good???

any help/advice is really appreciated. i'll be back shopping again on monday and most of the furniture should be in on tuesday (at which point i will probably get to put it together). so i'd love some ideas of ways to make sure i do this well.

[fiOWNya]

I use houzz.com for ideas.

[Elastigirl]

I say if you and your boyfriend like it, it works. I did ask my friends for advice. But you know you ask 6 people and get 8 answers so... Some people compliment me on my house and say they like it, others said maybe itl''l look better when it's all done (true statement said when I showed them my newly decorated living room) I did try and get advice from people who I think know how to decorate.

[Oogiem]

1) i know that things don't always have to match, they just have to go together...but how do you know what goes together? how do you know when you have enough/too much variety of color/pattern?

2) how do you pick out art and knicknacks that will make a space look good? is it just a matter of what you like? or does every piece need to fill some kind of purpose or connect to the room/home in some way?

3) how should the various rooms relate to each other? should simliar colors be throughout? or should each room have it's own color scheme?

i know this is a long post. and, to be honest, i'm pretty happy with my selections thus far. i guess the big question is:

as someone who is not a "designer" how will i know if i've done a good job? how will i know if it looks good???

My opinions:

First on the basic design questions:

1. you know what goes together when your eyes and brain relax when you see it. What goes together will be different for each person.

2. Art is art, it should speak to your soul. Again each person's art is different.

3. IMO roms have a purpose, if the items in the room support and nurture that purpose then whatever they look like it's ok. The only caveat is color, if the room can be seen from another space easily you do need to be sure it doesn't clash.

But that is for personal style. I don't think that is what you are doing so the rules are a bit different for your job.

The bigger issue is the reason for the redecorating. Show rooms are necessarily not what someone will usually live in. Your job is to make the room look good enough that it looks like someone could live in it but also not to be so distinctive a style that the viewer can't imagine their things in the room. You might want to get a bunch of stereotypical women's magazines (the kind found at the checkout counters in grocery stores) and cut out pictures. Those rooms are all staged and it may help to see what is in style now. If you can go visit any real estate open houses this weekend and see how they stage their showrooms to get ideas. Steal er adapt any that look appealing.

Good luck and post some pictures!

[Alfred8100]

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