Pretend Trends = Yes + No

I remember helping a friend to paint faux marble veins on her countertops with a feather. It was the days where decorating shows were obsessed with Venetian plaster, and we all wanted to create colorful Italian walls in our new 1990's homes; when spackling on random texture was closely rivaled by the irresistible impulse to dab painted sea sponges onto the nearest empty wall. Honestly, we must have all been suffering from bad eyesight, because I think Venetian plaster should stay in Venice, and that sponge painting is far more fun in the bathtub.

Trends are like fashion; some create wonderful memories, and others are truly cringe-worthy, but they all seem like such a great idea at the time.

My least favorite trend is the bad pretend trend; when we want something in our home, and not only does it not suit us and our house, but we opt for the inexpensive version that really looks like the inexpensive version. If we're going faux (I think I just like saying that) then it should look (and feel) close to what it is supposed to be, or, if it is a glaring imposter (and just begs to be prodded, poked or scraped with a curious fingernail) decorate with it discreetly, and place it in a spot where it doesn't scream that it is pretending to be something that it isn't.

I will be the first one to admit that I have linoleum tiles in my kitchen that look like they are slate, but they're not. Do I love them? No, but the original was white, sprinkled with tiny pink and blue flowers that matched the white wallpaper that also had tiny pink and blue flowers. One of them had to go, and as much as I yearned for slate, or a gorgeous, aged brick, my tendency to drop things and my need for warm toes in the morning, made me choose the faux slate instead. Fortunately, my kitchen is the size of a large postage stamp, so if you are in it you are probably covering most of the floor anyway, and you wouldn't notice what you were standing on.

One place where I couldn't do the imitation thing was on my front porch. Again, it is a small space, and I was advised to get it made out of this great new composite material that looks like wood but lasts forever. As my house is basically built out of glue, hope and plywood, I was a little unsure about using such a modern product on it, but I was open minded, and was happy to look at it when the contractor brought over the sample.

From a distance (ie. my neighbor's living room) if you squinted, it looked exactly like wood, but up close it looked too new and plastic-like for my house. Being something that I would walk by every day, I knew it would bother me; I wanted the reassuring tap of wood, and to be able to screw in a cup hook for my hanging baskets wherever I wanted to. It was a very good imposter, but I could still tell the difference. 
The contractor did a wonderful job, and the paint has held up for more years than I could have hoped, but it was truly a design choice to go with the real wood, not a practical one.

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I think, that when it comes to most things authenticity usually looks (and feels) better...

Photograph from: www.plentyofcolour.com

Stuck on Design

"I am so annoying; I sometimes give myself a headache". This is one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite people in the whole world (the same person who also told me to never, ever write about her in my blog). So, I won't, but I love what she said, and it makes me laugh when I find my brain wheels spinning in pointless details.

Decorating is one of those things that we probably shouldn't over-think, and usually, our first instinct is right; what we like, is plain for us to see, and if we hesitate, it's best to leave it alone. So why do we think so much?

For me, I will not hesitate to do something in my own home, but with a client's, I want them to adore everything about it, and my perfection kicks into overdrive. I don't want their home to be perfect, but I want it to be perfect for them; I think, if I could, I would move in with them, and do all the work myself, just to see the smile on their face!

The comments I hear the most often are, "Why didn't I do this ages ago?" and "I can't believe the difference it made". The answer is simple, it's the same reason that my desk looks like a dog's dinner this morning; I feel short on time, and I imagine it will take me hours to tidy it up properly, but really, if I spent more time doing than imagining, it would be done by now.

We all get stuck, either because we are aiming for perfection, or because we don't know where to start, so here are some ways to get you unstuck.

• Forget about waiting for the perfect time to begin (it doesn't exist).   
• Think of something (anything) that you can do now, by yourself, quickly and easily. Crossing things off a list is the best motivation.
• Do try to do as much research (and measuring) as you can before you make an expensive, important, or gigantic purchase.
• If you're truly stuck, ask for someone else's opinion. You don't have to take it, but they might give you other ideas that you hadn't thought of.
• Plan your time if you have to, but, if you don't want to plan the time, accept that it won't get done.
• Be realistic, and let the worst (and best) case scenario guide you. e.g. If I don't remove the Anteater from my Living Room soon, it might change the channel on the television.

In the world of design and desks, we often imagine their importance to be far more than they really are, so make a plan, take care of a few things, and don't give yourself a headache.....


Photograph from: http://www.varrell.com/fascinating-stylish-scandinavian-living-space-entertainment-arrangement-ideas/stylish-living-room-entertainment-arrangement-ideas-in-scandinavian-image-13-anteater-tech-in-the-cozy-living-room-design/

5 of the Best Decorating Secrets

Someone asked me the other day if I could just write about design ideas this week, and not go into a long story. Oops. I swear, I honestly do base all of my blogs around a design thought, but sometimes the thought takes a detour, and I find it wandering along the scenic route.
So, as requested by one of my favorite reader's, here are some design ideas....
 






NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A RUG

Rugs give purpose to your furniture
arrangement, and add warmth and character to a room.
By the way, it's okay to have rugs in the kitchen, bathroom and foyer, even if they aren't specifically made for that space.

ADD INTEREST WITHOUT COLOR

If your room seems boring, but you don't want too add a painted "pop of color", make it more interesting with something organic. A live plant, a bowl of rocks or pine cones, a bunch of flowers - even some twigs in a vase perks up a room without almost any effort at all.

 
 







     
                                            
HANG ART WITH A FRIEND

If you're stuck on knowing exactly where to hang your art, recruit some help - let one person hold it up, and the other step back to see how it will look. Take turns, until you're both sure of where it should go; standing by yourself, with two crooked elbows and your nose glued to the wall, skews your perspective, and isn't nearly as much fun.





PLEASE COORDINATE, INSTEAD OF MATCHING

Once you start matching your chairs to your curtains, and your pillows to your rug, you begin to fall down a designer rabbit hole; it will feel uncomfortable, things will start to blend together, and your home can feel dated very quickly.
Try to coordinate your styles and colors instead (which is actually easier). 



SCUFF UP YOUR SHINY

Homes should look as if they have been collected over time, not as if you bought everything from the shop yesterday. Mix old treasures with new finds, and shiny hardware next to dull.
Don't be afraid to change what you already have; scuff up a metal finish with a piece of fine sandpaper or kitchen scrubby, remove the jackets from all of your books, and dare to paint the inside back wall of your dated china cabinet.

Photographs from:
Yayoi Kasuma http://littleaesthete.com/yayoi-kusama-my-life-is-dot-lost-among-thousands-of-other-dots/
Bathroom -  http://www.popsugar.com/home/Midday-Muse-Bathroom-Rugs-1896372, 
Living Room - Atlanta Home via http://www.nikiebarfield.com/ 
Bert and Ernie - http://www.kids-coloringpages.com/74/sesame-street/Coloringpages-Bert-And-Ernie.html
Buttons - https://www.pinterest.com/barbiedoll7/buttons-bows/ and http://www.katekessling.co.uk/blog.php

Just Add Plaid

 

I bought some eggs the other day, and when I went to use one it was frozen solid; just an icy plop into my mixing bowl. It was weird, and apart from the odd sound that it made, I couldn't stop looking at it. There was something very disturbing about starting to bake a cake, only to have a solid mass fall out of my gently cracked shell. Sugar, Butter, Flour, Baking Powder, Plop. Not a happy start to my cake.

 

So, I called the supermarket, and they told me to bring them back. Seemed silly really, because they probably would thaw out during the car ride, and how could they check to see if the other eggs on their shelf were frozen? Not like you can open them up, and put them back together again, but perhaps they had a special supermarket egg thermometer that they kept in a secret vault especially for such occasions. Who knows.

 

Anyway, as I was returning them, the lady at Customer Service said she loved my bag. It's a red plaid, and she said she liked plaid, but it wasn't that easy to find. We chatted about whether or not you could get sick from eating frozen eggs, but in my mind I was really thinking about giving her my plaid bag as a gift. But I loved it too, and I didn't have another, so me and my bag went home again.

 

Always a trend in Scotland (maybe the lady was Scottish?) plaid occasionally has Interior Design moments, and is often teased for being the favorite clothing of lumberjacks and people who can start a camp fire with a piece of tin foil and a sunbeam. But, did you know that plaid is actually the perfect pick-me-up, because you cannot look at it, or say the word, without having at least one of these random, plaid thoughts........

 

• I wish I was curling up next to a fireplace, with a plaid blanket around my shoulders and a cup of hot chocolate.
• Are plaid and tartan distant relatives, or the same person?
• Does everyone who sits in a horse-drawn carriage, riding through Central Park, wrap a red plaid blanket around their knees, or did I just see that in a movie?
• Alexander McQueen wore a lot of plaid.
• How cold does a log cabin in Alaska really get? 
• Why does a Burberry scarf cost a lot more in England than it does in America?
• How did I miss the worldwide celebration of plaid on October 3, 2014?
• I wish I was picnicking in a field, sitting on a plaid blanket, with dandelions and a sandwich.
• Men in kilts.

By the way, do you know that there really is a difference between plaid and tartan? Apparently, all tartans are plaid, but, not all plaids are tartan; it is a geometry, vertical, horizontal thing, which is best explained by Designer, Scot Meacham Wood in this little Q and A from House Beautiful.

 

p.s. The photograph at the top is from my favorite plaid website, www.plaidurday.com