Some things that are overlooked in home decorating

Thanks to online resources and increasing home and garden shows, it seems almost everyone knows a thing or two about designing and home decorating. Here are some things that are often overlooked and are still so important to giving that professional look.

Lighting: I cannot stress enough the importance of choosing the appropriate lighting for the room you are decorating. Whether it is functional or mood lighting, a layering of different sources of light is always recommended and shows that your decorating skills are pushed to the next level. You want to choose a variety of sources such as overall lighting as ceiling lights, focused lighting such as a table lamp on a desk, or a floor lamp next to a reading chair, as well as accent or mood lighting that will create diffused light such as upward floor lights or under cabinet lights.

Kitchen cabinets: For the longest time, kitchen cabinets wouldn’t go all the way up to the ceiling, and you can still find this trend in more common homes. However, if you want to get that refined look, try choosing cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling. Even if the space is unused, the fact that the kitchen cabinets run up to the ceiling will create an elegant space and you don’t have to worry about the dust that gets trapped on those cabinet tops. The only exception to this rule is if you have cathedral ceilings; then you want to choose the cabinets with the maximum length to allow for height and fill that unused space without going all the way up.

Textures: The refined look of magazine showrooms will always feature various textures. Don’t be afraid to mix various patterns with textures. Humans are tactile, so you want to introduce into your decorating soft materials as well as interesting textures to keep it interesting. Faux furs, velvets, silks, as well as cotton and linen are all materials that I encourage you to explore and incorporate into your spaces.

Draperies: Another design detail that is often overlooked is the floor length draperies. If your decor permits, always choose draperies and curtains that cover from ceiling to floor. This has two effects; one — the lines that are created are long and straight increasing the upgraded design features, and two — you will eliminate awkward cut-offs and weird lines that might occur if you hang draperies just to fit the size of the window.

Grounding furniture: When decorating living rooms, one of the greatest mistakes people make is to not ground their pieces of furniture. What I mean by this is the impression you get when you walk into a room and you feel that the furniture is “floating,” or is just so lonely. One important trick is to ground your furniture around an area rug, meaning that the front of your furniture is touching or overlapping the edges of the rug. This way, everything appears as a unit and you do not have the floating furniture impression anymore.

Moldings and baseboards: If you want to add elegance and style, add ceiling moldings and larger baseboards. Even in more modern decorating, large flat baseboards are integrated into the design to upgrade the look. You want to choose a molding pattern that suits that rest of the home’s style as well as opting for the correct scale. People will choose molding for the overlook in the store without accounting for scale. The higher the ceilings, the bigger the moldings you will need.

Colour: Almost everyone I know will choose a wall colour in the hardware store without checking at home. Or if they do check, they will bring home a small paper swatch and hold it up to the wall. Please stop doing this! The best way to choose a wall colour is to narrow your choices to a few that you think you want then buy a small can of each (two or three at the most). Many paint companies now offer the sample cans to try it out before you buy. Paint a large swatch directly on the wall that covers at least one-foot square, better if you can do twoor three-foot square. Then wait until it dries, and look at the colours over the course of the day and night, under various lighting conditions. I cannot say how many times my clients have told me they realized they made the wrong colour choice after painting the entire room, and then not liking the colour because it looked different in the store. My advice, although I realize it is a longer process, will reduce extra costs of choosing the wrong colour and time for having to re-paint a whole room.

I hope this advice will serve you well next time you decide to delve into home decorating. Or you can just call me up and avoid the hassle of figuring all these things on your own.

— Tayna Bardati is an Interior Designer, Home Staging Expert and most recently, a residential real estate broker in Brome -Missisquoi (www.creationstayna.com), follow her on Facebook @ Tayna Bardati courtier immobilier résidentiel, or on twitter #deco21girl.