Decorating 101
It Doesn’t Have to Be All or Nothing Yes, custom design can be expensive. One way you can keep your budget in check is by paying more for permanent architectural features and finishes and less on furniture. This living room by Jeanne Campana Design features custom built-in cabinets and shelving on the fireplace wall and and a custom coved ceiling detail. The simple but elegant slipcovered sofas were bought retail. If you’re going to splurge, it’s never a bad idea to put your money into design that will increase the value of your home.
Save Mix-and-match accessories. When it comes to pieces such as throw pillows and blankets, it may feel as though you can never have enough. Keep an eye out for deals on pillows and other trendy accents to update your look with minimal investment. Don’t be afraid to choose pieces that don’t perfectly “match.” Instead, pick up on a family of hues or add a new design element altogether. If you want to change the look down the road, you can move these pieces to a different room or store them away for a season.
Splurge Tailored window treatments. Whether you opt for fully custom draperies or prefabricated panel curtains, there’s one thing you should splurge on: a bit of tailoring to make sure the length of the panels is just right. Floor-to-ceiling draperies make a room look polished, but this effect goes away if the fabric is excessively pooled on the floor (possibly even sweeping up dust) or hanging several inches above it. Splurging on having your curtains professionally hemmed will ensure a correct fit for a priceless, sophisticated presentation.
Save Shaded table and floor lamps. What’s the first thing you notice in this room? It’s probably not the pair of table lamps flanking the sofa. You can find many artistic and striking table and floor lamps on the market, but if you already have other points of interest in the room, all you really need is a source of light that can blend in. Simple table lamps with classic drum or cone shapes are timeless and mix into any decor seamlessly.
Splurge Dazzling suspended lights. Suspended lights, such as pendants and chandeliers, are natural focal points. They hang down close to eye level and radiate light, so they tend to command attention. Splurging a little here can elevate the look of the whole room, as you’ll naturally focus on them instead of other, less-exciting pieces.
Splurge A cozy and comfortable bed. As it’s often said, we spend about a third of our lives in bed. So it makes sense to splurge on a bed that will properly support your mattress and a headboard that can help you read in comfort while anchoring a focal point for the room. It’s easy to fill out the rest of the decor with basic accents like paint or a single wall of wallpaper and let the bed be the star of the show, so go on and splurge a bit here.
If you want a vanity with more personality, you still don’t necessarily have to spend much. Look to refurbished-furniture stores for wood cabinets and chests that can be turned into a vanity by adding a vessel sink. This will cost a bit more than a prefabricated unit, but if you shop creatively, the result will be more luxurious-looking than the sum of its parts.
Splurge Time-tested plumbing essentials. When it comes to your plumbing, cutting corners is risky. A poor-quality fixture can be responsible for a leak whose repair costs far outstrip any up-front savings, so it’s definitely best to invest in a quality piece. Essential fixtures such as toilets don’t change quickly with trends like some other home goods, so there’s no reason not to choose a well-reviewed model from a reputable brand that has stood the test of time. Ask around for personal testimonials and recommendations rather than hunting for the lowest deal.
Save Classic wood dining chairs. Wood chairs come in a range of prices, are timeless and suit any decor style. They also hold up better to dropped food than upholstered chairs because they’re so easy to wipe clean. This is definitely one area where you can look for low-cost options without a significant drop in quality.
Splurge A well-crafted dining table. The dining table, like your sofa, is a key piece of furniture that sees a lot of use — and suffers a lot of spills. White laminate tables are trendy but, depending on how they’re treated, can start to show wear and tear quite quickly. An elegant wood or stone dining table can suit any decor and can last for decades.
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Create a warm glow indoors and out. If you change just one thing about your home to make it more warm and welcoming, let it be the lighting. To create a warm, welcoming glow, aim to have lots of soft light sources rather than a single bright one. Indoors, put dimmers on overhead fixtures, and supplement them with table and floor lamps, ideally with at least three light sources per room.
Choose materials that improve with age. Good-quality natural materials such as leather, solid wood, woven baskets and pure wool blankets tend to age well. In fact, the dings and scratches that come with their normal wear and tear actually put guests at ease — instead of worrying about where to sit or set down a cup, everyone is free to relax! If you’re shopping for new furniture, consider going with reclaimed wood, vintage leather or new pieces that have that imperfect, wabi-sabi look.
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Generally, thinner strips of wood, and species with more knots, will appear more cottage-inspired, while wider planks or sheets, often with a less-grainy finish, will carry a more modern appearance.
Paneling Wood planks are most often seen on the floor, but they look just as beautiful above. While wood-paneled ceilings are often associated with cottages and farmhouses, they can work with a variety of styles of home. Panelling works well for transitional homes, especially in controlled doses like the small strip seen here, bringing texture and richness to the ceiling that a solid color can’t match.
Lining up the edge or edges with another element in the room will help it make visual sense, like how in this room the ceiling stripe ends at the same point where the wall finish below changes.
Two-tone paint. Using a dark or dramatic paint color on the ceiling doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing decision. Like the opposite of an area rug, painting just part of a ceiling can help define a particular zone, like how this open-concept home has a gray paint used over just the kitchen, ending roughly at the edge of the island.
Matching ceilings and walls. Painting the ceiling to match the walls may sound overwhelming, but sometimes it can actually be the more subtle choice. When the ceiling and the walls (or even just a few walls) are the same hue, the lack of contrast makes the ceiling less of a dramatic feature and more of a singular background color. Of course, this applies best to softer hues like gentle pink, watery blue or heritage butter yellow.
Accent colors. For a room with a unique personality, adding an accent color to the ceiling infuses a lot of drama in an unexpected spot.
For a fun, trendy take, cheat the ceiling line a bit, like in this room, by starting the ceiling paint 12 to 24 inches down the wall (or only painting the walls up to that point, whichever way you think of it). The result is a breezy modern effect without using any bold hues or new materials.
Exposed-brick kitchen. Quite often the kitchen, as the home’s main gathering spot, is an ideal place to install a beautiful ceiling treatment. Here it’s done in the form of brick veneer, which, in conjunction with the exposed wood beams, gives the kitchen a rustic vibe. The rough look of the brick and wood on the ceiling presents a striking counterpoint to the elegant, glazed backsplash tiles and dainty faucet and cabinet hardware.
Dark and stormy dining room. This dining room is moody and dramatic, with the ceiling, walls and trim painted the same deep blue-black. But the touch of extraordinary here comes from the mirrored tiles on the ceiling. As a daring backdrop for a unique ceiling fixture, they bring the room reflective sparkle.
Calm and dreamy bedroom. This room’s taupe-and-white decor gets a soft accent from the pale blue-and-cream ceiling wallpaper. The pattern offers a fanciful, dreamy canopy for gazing at and, as a design choice, supports the room’s restful vibe.
Graphic office. Even a little bit of wallpaper can have a dramatic effect.
Standout Ceilings Give Rooms a Lift Ceilings with mirrors, polka-dot decals and tin tiles help these rooms look pulled together
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High Gloss Ceiling Not sure I'd do it in the living room. But the bathroom, yes.
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You can also take a simple, relatively inexpensive retail sofa and add custom pillows to give the room a luxe and collected feel. A few hundred dollars in custom pillows is a lot less expensive than a custom sofa costing thousands.
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