Dear Marc:
My husband and I have been saving up for about a year in order to be able to spruce up our living room. I have the colour picked out and will be using some of the existing accessories in the room. I have to purchase a new sofa and 2 matching chairs and the last time I purchased furniture is when we bought the house 10 years ago! We had bought an overstuffed sectional sofa that I now regret ever bringing into my house! How do I go about looking for a good durable designer sofa?
Sherry

Dear Sherry:
Today, homeowners seem to think that the overstuffed look is the way to go for furniture. Many people will shop for the comfort of a furniture piece and forgo any desire to have esthetically pleasing furniture in their space. I’ve had the opportunity to sit on many designer sofas and I have to say some are even more comfortable than the overstuffed ones.

Now let’s take the concept on an overstuffed sofa. You sit on the piece and your body will sink into the furniture due to the surplus of foam. This is where we see situations like the following; “Honey, can you come and pull me out of the sofa, I sat down and now I can’t get up.”

Overstuffed was a good concept 10 years ago where the size of one’s home wasn’t as important. Today, homeowners are trying to maximize the square footage they have in their homes and utilize every inch of space. It’s no longer about who has the largest sofa, but rather who has the most comfortable compact sofa.

Designers are also finding the need for multifunctional furniture where homeowners have the opportunity to store extra throw pillows, books and toys in their ottomans and even at times in part of the sofa. Homeowners have less space to work with so every square inch of a room has to be both beautiful and functional. The key to finding the perfect sofa is to determine the functional needs of the room prior purchasing the piece.

In order to determine the functional needs of a room, look at the primary usage of the space. Will this room be used in a formal or informal setting? If the space will be used for both the formal entertaining of guests and for informal family nights, I suggest looking for furniture that will give you storage for toys. As a working parent, what’s the first thing that runs through your mind when guests are coming over for a formal evening? Toys! Where am I going to put all of Jimmy’s toys so that my guests don’t trip all over them? This is where multifunctional furniture really comes in handy.

Furniture should be seen as an investment as opposed to a big-ticket purchase. When shopping for furniture, look at the quality and craftsmanship of the piece. Ask the retailer some of the following questions: What is the quality of the fabric and leather? Fabric comes in a variety of different grades with the grade reflecting the lifespan of the fabric. If the fabric is of a higher grade, the fabric will usually endure more wear and tear than its lower grade counterparts. Also, when shopping for leather, be sure you are actually buying a genuine leather sofa and not a bonded leather sofa. There is a big difference between the two types of leathers. Genuine leather consists of carefully chosen quality leather hides and has been traditionally used on sofas and chairs to prolong their lifespan. It has a very durable finish for furniture. Bonded leather is a man-made product that is composed of leather fibres, essentially leather scraps bonded together with the use of latex binders. This man-made material was traditionally used on smaller accessory pieces that didn’t have to withstand much wear and tear. Although, today consumers are now able to buy entire sofas made of bonded leather. The reason one needs to know the difference is that it all comes down to the old saying “You get what you pay for. If you are looking for a temporary furniture piece, then bonded might be right for you but if you are looking for a long-lasting durable piece, then genuine leather is the way to go.

Furniture shopping should be an enjoyable experience. It should be an exploration of different styles and finishes and how these components will be integrated into your design.

Dear Marc:

I have successfully designed my entire home with the use of advice from your column. Now I would like to work on what you like to call “Taking your indoor design outdoors”. I have seen you talk about this on TV but I am not sure where to start. I would like to give my existing curb appeal a face lift. The front of the house looks horrible. The previous homeowner was an avid gardener and the flower beds are full of dead annual plants which I don’t have time to replant every year. Any suggestions.
Tina

Dear Tina:
They say one needs to dress for the job they want, not the job they have. I think the same can be said for design. If the curb appeal of one’s home doesn’t reflect the prestigious designer space that you are thriving to achieve, then the balance of the overall design is not in harmony. One wants to have everything work together so that whether a guest is standing at the end of the driveway or sitting in the front room having a glass of wine, the design is consistent.

In order to truly master this consistency, look at the existing indoor design of your home. What designer style does it reflect? Is your design low maintenance? If so, then the outdoor design should be the same. If you don’t have time to dust a million accessories inside, you won’t have time to replant every year a million annual plants outside. There are a number of different ways to create low maintenance landscape design. For starters, visit your local greenhouse and inform yourself regarding perennial plants. Perennials as opposed to annual plants grow and produce flowers every year from the same roots therefore the annual chore of replanting your landscape features is not necessary.

While purchasing plants for your new landscape design, be sure to follow the same basic rules as interior design. Therefore, choose a colour scheme and draw up a landscape “floor plan”. Yes that is correct, landscape design has colour schemes as well. Although the colour scheme of an outdoor landscape is a little more technical than one of an interior as the landscape’s colour scheme will change from season to season as the plants grow and mature. You want to be sure that your design doesn’t look great in the summer and horrible in the Fall. The design should gradient from one colour scheme to the next in a harmonious way from season to season. It is also very important that the look of the end product is decided upon prior to purchasing new plants. Be sure to know the look of a plant for each season when selecting them for your landscape. If the design is not planned, you will end up with an “all over the place” look and possibly a few dead plants.

The look of your landscape will also change depending on the amount of natural light it receives during different parts of the day. Certain plants you’d love to integrate in your flower beds might not work depending on how much natural light they need to survive. To educate yourself on the plant’s needs, look at the labels found on each plant. Each label will state the ideal exposure to natural light needed and the plant’s mature height and width. The plant’s height and width information will be used during the planning stages to ensure one plant won’t overpower another plant.

The key to a successful colour scheme is to have a primary colour which is traditionally your greenery and accent it with a few different vibrant colours. While choosing the colour scheme of your landscape design, be sure to keep in consideration the colour scheme of the exterior finish of your home. If the exterior finish of the house is blue, then blue flowers as accents in a flower bed found in front of the house will be lost in the overall colour scheme.

Landscape design takes a lot of careful planning but when done successfully can increase your home’s overall value. Take your indoor design outdoors and you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.

Dear Marc:

I am horrible at designing my home. Every time I try to design a room in my house, it doesn’t turn out quite right. I then get discouraged till I get the design bug again and give it another try and still fail miserably. What am I missing? I follow all the design rules to the tee and still the spaces seem to be lacking something. Help!

Kate

Dear Kate,

Have you ever seen an abstract painting that was painted by the rules? It looks like a paint by number. The strokes are predictable and the end result lacks spontaneity and vibrancy. The same can be said for design. It you want to design a mediocre space, follow the rules to the tee but if you want to push the boundaries of design and create a true designer space learn the rules, then throw the rules out the window. Although, I must caution that it is important that you fully understand the rules of design prior to throwing them out the window as only a well trained eye can pull this off. As you have designed numerous spaces before, this project will be a perfect fit.

There are certain rules in design that do not change with the trends and must be used in all design projects whether it be a french villa, a vacation cottage or a personal home. The rules of design that apply to the function and flow of traffic in a room should always be embraced as there is no use for a pretty space that no one can use. A room without function is an awkward room and nobody likes awkward.

To determine whether the design rule applies to the function of a space or the esthetic elements, ask yourself the following question. “Will this rule make the space usable or better the experience of its occupants?” If yes, then the rule applies to the function of the room and should be used in all future projects. If no, then the rule can be altered and modified to fit your personal style.

To find your personal style, look at your wardrobe. Fashion seems to be the obvious expression of one’s personal style. If you like to mix and match certain things and make them work to make a statement, then the same can be done in your designer space by mixing and matching patterns, colours and textiles. The key to successfully integrating different objects in a space is to have everything blend together, yet stand on its own. For instance this can be easily achieved by using a red lamp in your space because your accent colour is red, but having the lamp reflect a different era than the chosen sofa. Successful designers use this technique in many spaces. This is what we call a transitional design style. Transitional design utilizes eclectic elements in a space and the designer places these objects in a manner to have them work together and create a unique look.

As you browse through design magazines, you will find that every space is different. Nobody wants a cookie cutter space anymore so why are we still using cookie cutter design? Technology today gives us the opportunity to experiment with different design styles, room layouts and looks prior to integrating the design in our space. Many stores sell computerized design programs that you can easily install on your computer in a few minutes and manipulate your room in numerous ways by changing around the colour scheme, textures and fabrics at the click of a button. I would suggest purchasing such a program and playing around with different looks. What these programs let you do is truly see what the space will look like so that you are not disappointed with the end result. There are a number of programs available and many were designed specifically for general consumer use which makes them affordable and easy to learn.

Design today is about pushing the boundaries and creating something truly unique. What many designs lack is simply spontaneity and a will to experiment.

Dear Marc:

I am working on the design for my living room. I am going for a contemporary setting. I have chosen my furniture and a beautiful pastel colour scheme for my walls. I am now shopping for light fixtures. I have no idea where to start. Is lighting that important?

Pauline

Dear Pauline:

There is a restaurant where the hallway going to the washrooms is so badly lit that women end up in the men’s washroom and vise versa. During my first visit while entering the washrooms, I was welcomed by dark coloured walls with a small source of light trying to illuminate the entire room. You can imagine my surprise after trying to find the men’s room for what seemed like forever; I walk in  another badly lit room. The entire journey to the men’s room was like an obstacle course and a race against time might I add! As a designer, I just had to look at the space and see if the horrible lack of lighting was due to their small design budget for washrooms but it was not the case. The washrooms fit quite nicely with the entire décor of the restaurant. So why would they choose to renovate the washrooms and not have anybody see them? It just doesn’t make sense!

The same can be said for a residential space such as a living room. If one is going to spend hard earned money on a space, it must be properly lit so that the design is visible. Very few homeowners leave room in their budget for lighting. The majority of the design budget is spent on furniture, accessories, textiles, paint, wall and floor covering. Then, once all the items are purchased, the homeowner spends whatever pennies are left on light fixtures. This should not be the case as proper lighting can make or break a space. I have seen expensively designed spaces look mediocre simply because the light fixtures seemed like an after thought.

In lighting, there are three different categories – general, accent and local. General lighting provides light for the overall space while accent lighting is used to accent certain features in a room. Local lighting is for practical uses and illuminates parts of the space such as reading areas. A designer space will maximize the use of all three categories.

In order to successfully integrate proper lighting in a space, draw up a floor plan. This will help determine which areas should have accent and local lighting. If it is an existing space, the general lighting will already be set in place therefore you have the option of keeping the current lighting plan or upgrading it with the help of an electrical engineer.  Prior to upgrading current fixtures, be sure to consider the amount of light the fixture will exude and balance that factor with the esthetic look of the fixture. A pretty fixture exuding very little light will have to be complemented by numerous accent and local light fixtures therefore this must be taken into account prior to integrating the piece into the space.

There are many other factors to keep into account while choosing light fixtures such as energy efficiency. While visiting your local light store such as Living Lighting Home Decor, ask the representative on staff about the energy efficiency of the chosen fixture. While shopping for fixtures, be sure to also bring along measurements of the room being designed.

The chosen fixture’s size should be in proportion with the overall design and size of the space. Nothing looks worse than having a small fixture in a large open space. Same goes for small spaces. If your “dream” chandelier is too large for the space provided, than opt for the pendant version of the chandelier from the same lighting collection. Pendants come in smaller formats than chandeliers and many times they are large enough to look perfect in small spaces.

A badly lit space is like dressing up for a party and staying home so nobody will see you. Sometimes you just have to put the lime light on your work of art.

Dear Marc:

We bought an old country church and are in the process of making it into our home. I am going for a modern/retro look for the house. In the living room area, our ceilings are still the original 12’ height. The windows are quite high in proportion to the height of the wall and the bottom of the windows start at the 4’ mark, are about 5’ tall and approximately 24” wide. In the future we are planning to replace them to update the look of the house. Because of the height of the walls and the size of the windows, I keep thinking I should take the curtains to the floor. People think I am nuts but I think it would look better than having “flood” curtains which only go halfway to the floor. In your opinion, should they go all the way down to the floor? Any advice would be great! By the way, I love Canadian Home Trends Magazine!!
Lyn

Dear Lyn:

With today’s trend of using neutral colours as our primary wall colour and adding punches of colour with accent hues, the use of window coverings has made a comeback. Window coverings are no longer simply a means for privacy; they have become an important element in one’s design. With the use of bold patterns and a variety of different textures, simply changing the window coverings can dramatically alter the look of a space.
Before determining which type of window covering to use, one must understand that various types of windows are seen in today’s homes. A clear understanding of the types of windows will help you determine the window covering that will best suit the design’s visual appeal. In modern homes, we often see three popular types of windows, sliding windows, casement windows and double hung sash windows. Consider the window’s function when selecting window treatment so as not to have the treatment interfere with the function of the window.
Sliding windows are usually composed of two windowpanes that slide horizontally to open the window while double hung sash windows do the same in a vertical fashion. Casement windows open outward like a hinged door with the use of a crank. Once you have taken into account and understand the function of the window for which you are selecting a window covering, selecting a fabric and style for the treatment will be much easier.

The second step to selecting window coverings is to determine whether you want formal or informal coverings. Formal window coverings used in traditional design come in a variety of different styles such as shirred curtains and draw draperies. Shirred curtains hang right in front of the glass and are used in settings where the homeowner wants to deflect a portion of the natural light coming into the room without using an opaque fabric. They are often used when a homeowner wants a little privacy while still enjoying the view. Draw draperies on the other hand are often made of opaque fabric and traditionally used on southern walls to stop the excess of natural sunlight coming in during the day and offer a more private alternative to shirred curtains.

Informal coverings on the other hand offer a more casual look to a design and come in a variety of styles such as shirred, ruffled, and café window coverings. Shirred curtains are much like the ones found in formal window coverings although they are mounted directly onto a rod and hang down naturally. Ruffled coverings are made of sheer or semi sheer material with added ruffles on its edges. Café styled window coverings are two tier curtains hung on a rod that allows the curtains to slide in a horizontal fashion.

Now that we have determined your drapery options, we start our search for the perfect window coverings. I know you are eager to purchase your new coverings but before even stepping out of the house, you must properly measure your windows to ensure your end product looks professional. To measure your windows properly, use a steel tape measure as cloth measuring tapes will not offer as accurate a reading of the measurement. Make sure to write down all your measurements, double check them and measure all windows, including the ones that appear to be the same size. In older homes, they might appear to be the same size but in reality, they might not be.

Whether you are buying pre-made window coverings, are having them custom made or are making them yourself, proper measure will be of the utmost importance. As a rule of thumb, the covering should be double the width of the window when the fabric is not pleated.
Now that we have determined all your options for your living room design, I would suggest using an opaque fabric for your curtains and bringing them down to the floor. The reason being is that your windows are tall, narrow and quite high. Therefore small, window sill-length window coverings will not make a large enough impact on your 12’ high ceiling. It will look like 2 small windows drowned in the large surface of the wall. What I do suggest is using an old designer’s trick of installing a curtain rod that is longer than the window is wide. This will create the illusion that your windows are larger than they are, thus making that much needed statement on your walls. Avoid using a sheer fabric for this particular design, as the illusion will not work if you can see the actual size of the windows. Therefore, use an opaque fabric and have a tie back at the “sill” height of the window which will also help create the illusion that the window is larger than it actually is in reality.

In design, the reality of an element whether, shape or size is not always the determining factor for an esthetically pleasing design. It is most often what the eye sees and what emotions it evokes from the homeowner. Experiment with different textiles, colours and patterns till you find something that truly speaks to your personal preferences.

Dear Marc:
I am a mother of three and have a full time job. When it was just my husband and me living in our house, I found it easier to maintain and clean. There was less traffic and I had more time available to dust and clean because I didn’t have my kids to take care of. I have to say with my kids being at a young age, I want to spend time with them when I get home, as opposed to having to clean for hours at a time, and then put them to bed. I don’t want to be remembered as the mom who never spent time with her kids! Can you give me tips on how I can make my home easier to maintain so that I have more time to spend with my kids?
Beatrice

Dear Beatrice:
It is understandable that you want to spend time with your children when they are young because in reality, they won’t be young forever. Ever homeowner struggles between having a designer space and being able to maintain this beautiful space they have created. Let’s face it, some of the spaces we consider “chic” would take us hours to clean and dust!

As a working mother, you must prioritize and customize your design to fit your lifestyle. Your first step to modifying your design is to figure out exactly how much time you have to maintain your home. Once you have determined the amount of time you have to clean and maintain, you will be better able to decide what stays and what has to be changed.

The first thing that most parents have in their homes that is not necessary is an excess of accessories. Why so many accessories, Mom and Dad? They clutter up our homes, take hours to dust and the kids usually end up dropping them and they break! So, why do we clutter up our homes with accessories? The answer is quite easy: homeowners think the more accessories they have, the better. Well, this is not the case. Examine the designer spaces seen in magazines. These spaces are usually simple and use distinct accessories that add to the overall design. Each accessory is carefully chosen and placed in the room. They are not there because the designer had an extra piece that didn’t fit into any other room in the home so they decided “Why not place it here?”

The trick to decluttering your home is to prioritize your accessories. Which ones actually fit into your colour scheme? If an accessory doesn’t fit into your colour scheme, then it doesn’t belong in your design! There is one exception — if the accessory is a family heirloom or a painting from the kids, you probably want to keep it. Even these elements can easily be modified to fit your design. If grandma’s antique chair doesn’t fit into the colour scheme, have it re-upholstered. If it was grandma’s chair, it’s probably due to be reupholstered to cover up the years of wear and tear and it will look great once it’s redone! In another scenario where it is a child’s painting, change the frame or the matting of the piece to suit your colour scheme. With a creative mind and an eye for colour, every design element can easily be modified to fit one’s colour scheme.

Let’s also look at different colours and textiles when modifying your design. One colour every family should avoid is WHITE. Let’s face it: no matter how much we try to keep it white, it’s just not going to happen. I have white leather chairs in my home and even I, with no children, have to be extra careful because I could stain them simply by sitting on them when wearing blue jeans. White leather is just too much maintenance!

Another maintenance friendly idea is to try to have patterns in your fabrics. Nothing camouflages a stain like a busy patterned fabric. Why do you think restaurants always go with patterned fabrics for their chairs and booths? If a customer spills his drink on the fabric, the restaurant does not have to re-upholster the entire chair. Let’s take this tip of the trade and use this in our homes as well.

There are a number of ways to create a low maintenance design. The key is to keep things simple and take into account your family’s lifestyle when designing. Ask yourself this question, who will essentially be using this space when I am done designing it? The answer to this question will guide you in the right direction to creating your family friendly design!

Dear Marc:

Love your column! My question for my home is: How do I blend our living room/dining room to make it feel like one cozy living/seating room. We chose to use these two spaces for a T.V and visiting room. They are side by side but the room opening between them shows that they are actually separate rooms. I’d like to have them blend together yet have them stand on their own. Any suggestions?
Lori

Dear Lori:

Living rooms are a wonderful way to reflect your style and apply your interests to your design concept. Prior to starting your design project, make a list of all your interests and see how these can be integrated into your spaces. For instance, I personally love abstract art and music therefore if this were my space I would integrate traces of these interests in the space’s design elements. Having your design reflect your interest is the first step in creating an esthetically pleasing design.

The second factor to consider while designing your spaces is to take into account the space’s functions. In this particular situation, we have two spaces with two very different functions. One will be used as a formal entertainment space and the other as more of an informal TV space. The challenge in designing these spaces is that their functions are both quite different with one needing a formal design while the other will need an informal design. They best way to find a happy medium is to choose between the two designs and stick to it for both spaces.

In other words, choose between formal or informal design and reflect this design style in both spaces. In this situation, I would suggest a formal approach to your design. The reason being that today’s television “flat screen” technology has given homeowners the opportunity to successfully integrate the television in more formal designs. Televisions have traditionally been used in informal designs as they were harder to camouflage and blend into designer spaces. They were big black boxes sitting in oversized entertainment units which ended up being the focal points of the rooms. Today, we are able to blend the flat screen televisions into our design concepts as their given size is less obstructive. One can add a little formality to their TV space simply by mounting their flat screen on the wall and treating it as an art piece by framing the television in a thick moulding. I have seen this technique used many times and it looks great! If a fireplace is part of your design, many have successfully hung their flat screen televisions atop their mantel. Although, remember that the rule of thumb stating that a piece hung atop a mantel should be 25% less of the width of the mantel itself still applies to your flat screen television.

Other designer tricks you can utilize in this design setting is the use of area rugs. An area rug will help tie together the seating area. They are a great way to breakup a large open space into smaller conversation areas. I suggest using two area rugs, one for the TV space and the other for the seating area. The TV space’s seating area should revolve around the television as this is the main function of the space. Be sure to include adequate hard surface areas for the serving of beverages and snacks during movie night. Remember, a successful designer space is not only a pretty one, it is a functional one. Wherever a family member is sitting in the room, they should have access to a hard surface area and a clear vision of the entertainment system.

In modern living rooms, we sometimes blend the two functions, sitting/entertaining area and TV space into one small space. To successfully do so, we would blend the room’s furniture placement together to accommodate both conversation and television viewing areas but in this case, the homeowner chooses to keep these functions separate.

As this space calls for separating the room’s functions, the seating area will need to offer guests adequate hard surface space to set down their tea during conversation. The focal point of this room can be a fireplace, a bay window or even an art piece. This will all depend on the current architectural features of the room. To find a focal point of a room, look for the space’s strongest architectural feature. It is only natural that we would want the strongest feature in the room to be highlighted and the seating area to be arranged so that the guests have a clear vision of the feature.

Once you have found your focal point, set down your area rug and place your furniture in conversation areas surrounding the focal point; be sure to integrate both design concepts together so that they don’t clash together. Since you want the two rooms to “feel like one cozy room”, you will want the colour schemes for both spaces to be similar. A great way to do this without having your design seem “boring” is to invert your primary and accent colours between spaces. For instance, if you have a mossy green as your primary colour paired with a golden yellow as your accent in one space, the other space can have the golden yellow as its primary colour with the mossy green as its accent colour. This way, we see a variation between the spaces without creating an abrupt change in scenery as we step into the second area.

Successfully designing a space is all about having fun. As long as one takes into account design’s rules of thumb, the process will be much smoother and enjoyable.

Dear Marc:

My husband and I own a 3 bedroom home in the city. I would like to replace my floor coverings this summer as part of a design project. I have a 3 year old son, Sammy, who has lots of energy and a tendency to spill things on the floor so I am looking for a product that is durable and easy to maintain. What should I consider when buying my new floor coverings?
Rosanna

Dear Rosanna:
Floor coverings tie the entire content and colour scheme of a room together. It is the second largest hard surface in a room where you can potentially add a splash of colour. Many designers will use the floor covering to tie the entire colour scheme together with the use of a soft surface covering such as a patterned carpet.

This type of carpet is often seen in design that is tailored for a family residence. Patterns in carpet will help camouflage stains left behind by an accidental spill of a beverage we often see during the early years of raising a child. Avoid the temptation of getting a white product. Believe me it will won’t last and will end up looking horrible for years to come.

In design, we must always consider who will be using the space we are designing. Ask yourself, “In any given day, how many people use this room? Who will particularly use the room – a child or an adult?” The answers to these questions will help you determine how much traffic and wear and tear the room will be exposed to while in use. If the homeowner is a couple with no children, a white or light coloured solid (no pattern) carpet might work. But in your situation, it should be avoided at all costs because your room’s wear and tear exposure is too high. Thus, while browsing patterns for your carpet, look for dark colours. This will in turn ensure the lifespan of the product in a family household.

Another great easy to maintain product for families is hardwood floors. They are easy to clean and practically stain resistant. The surface will last for years and comes in a variety of different stains and wood grains. The key to selecting a hardwood floor covering is to consider  the room’s function. In traditional design, a hardwood floor is avoided in high moisture areas such as the kitchen and bathrooms. Imagine your new hardwood floor covered in water from Sammy’s tug boat exploration in the tub. Wood and water do not mix well therefore you end up with water stains on your wood floor which will in turn make it look worn out and outdated.

Hardwood is a great product for dry areas such as your family room, living room, dining room and master bedroom. One can also use an area rug in all these rooms to soften up the heavy presence of the hard surface in the room which will help make the space look warm and inviting. Again when choosing an area rug, the same family friendly carpet rule apply – pattern and dark colours.

Other great hard surface options that fall into the eco friendly flooring options are bamboo, leather and cork. These are natural “green” products that add that special something to any design project. If a homeowner is conscious of his footprints on this planet, then these types of products might be what you are looking for when designing your home.  This type of flooring is also more accessible to general consumers as national flooring retailers such as Carpet One Floor & Home carry these types of eco friendly floor covering options across the country.

When shopping for floor coverings, be sure to take along your paint swatches. I was shopping for a design project the other day, and I made sure to have my colour swatches with me to eye how well the floor covering would look alongside the chosen colours. Homeowners tend to trust their eye for colour a little too much on their first design project and end up disappointed when they get home with floor covering that doesn’t match or complement their wall colour.

Trust me, no one will look at you funny if you come into the store with paint swatches. Even the best designers walk around with swatches. The importance in design is to do it right the first time and not how good you look while doing it.

Dear Marc:

I am buying new furniture for my living room which is 20’ x 20’ with a 12 foot high ceiling. It can be described as a grand space with lots of potential. The entire home is ultra modern so I know I have to stick to that design style when looking for furniture pieces but is there anything else I should know before making my big purchase?
Jane

Dear Jane:
Often homeowners fall in love with a furniture piece they find in a store without considering whether the piece would actually fit in the scale of their space. The scale of furniture can be defined as the relation the said furniture piece has with the other design elements and the space itself. For instance, a large open space such as your living room will require large scale furniture. If you were to place a small sofa in your living room, it would look out of place. Have you ever walked into a room and asked yourself “What’s wrong with the furniture in this room? It’s the right design style for the room but it looks like it doesn’t belong in this space.” Well the furniture was probably not to scale in relation to the rest of the space and that is why it looked out of place.

Scale can also be applied to many different design elements in a space. Let’s take another scenario where we find a large sofa with large side tables. On each side table, we place a small lamp. Therefore, we have a large sofa, large side tables and in the centre of each table we have a lamp small enough to fit into a jacket pocket. Now this example might be an extreme, but it does show that scale does not only apply to furniture, it also applies to every element in a space including accessories.

When accessorizing a space less is more. Take time hand picking each accessory to ensure they make a statement. Yet each accessory should complement the overall design as opposed to cluttering up each surface. The fewer accessories you have, the better the design will look. Besides, who wants to spend all their spare time dusting all those extra accessories!

Although, when it comes to creating scale for your accessories, one may take a few smaller accessories and place them in a group to create a larger scaled “grouping”. To create a group of small accessories to be used in a large scale design is as simple as grouping the accessories and ensuring that the spacing between each accessory does not surpass the accessories’ size. For instance, if you are placing accessories together that are eight inches in size each, be sure to leave less than eight inches between each piece. This will fool the eye to pair the accessories together when looking at the overall design. Therefore, as opposed to seeing a few small trinkets on the side table, one will see a group of pieces that look in perfect scale with the large lamp found on the other side table.

Even with perfect scale of furniture and accessories in a space, there are other considerations when choosing design elements. One should also consider the proportion of the furniture. In design, proportion is different from scale. Scale is the relation between different objects in a space however proportion is the relation between the different elements of one piece. For examples, let’s take a large scale chair that is overstuffed. Now let’s add small long legs to this same chair. Is there something wrong with this picture? Indeed, the top of the chair is not in proportion with the bottom of the chair which makes it look funny and out of place. When choosing furniture, look for proper proportion between the different areas of the piece. You can fine tune your eye by browsing through design magazines and looking at hand-picked furniture in designer spaces.

Design with no scale and proportion is like having a cottage with no lake. The cottage will still be a vacation home but it won’t have the genuine look and feel of a “real” cottage. Same goes for design, if you want the real deal, don’t forget the small details.