Decorate a Great Room: Begin with the Basics

Envision how you want your room to look, what mood you want to express. This is your starting point in a room. Without knowing what mood you would like to express you can do little more.

How do you know which mood is best for a room? Firstly you need to know what is liked. Do you enjoy casual living? Or are your tendencies towards formal living? Do you fancy modern, traditional, old fashioned or eclectic surroundings? What is the architectural style of the space (or home)? Let the room speak to you. How does it feel, could the architectural elements of the room support the mood? Once you have decided upon a mood suitable to the space you will need to decide upon the types of furnishings that will accompany it.

Examples of furniture types:

Country - American Farmhouse, French Country, English Country, Cottage Style, Shaker.

As you see while there are several types of furniture that will convey a country mood, they can also be combined. You do not have to pick say Victorian furniture and stick with only Victorian furniture you will find other period furniture that will blend nicely. One aspect is of course making sure it is suitable in Mood. You do this by selecting the proper styles of furnishings for the space.

The next is making sure a piece or furnishing is suitable in function and or cost.

What do I mean by this? You would not by a simple farmhouse chair set worth 100.00 with scratches and heavy wear and placed them around an original Louis XVI Italian renaissance table. Firstly they are not suitable to each other in mood; one is country, and the other grand Louis XVI fit for large grand rooms which a room with a country setting would not accommodate. Also the price for this original piece would not be suitable. It would make no sense to place an 8000.00 antique monstrosity in a room with 100.00 chairs. Not even a reproduction piece would be suitable in cost or function. Most likely we would be pleased with a simple country plank table to seat four. Costing around 300.00.

In short make sure a piece is suitable in quality and cost. Never place cheap furniture in a grand room or extravagant furniture in a modest room.

The next step is proportion. Is the furniture acceptable to scale? To big? To small?

Scale is of utmost importance, remember the Louis XVI table, not only was it inappropriate in function and cost it is most definitely inappropriate in size! This will be much easier after you have learned about the periods of furniture and what their trademarks are. So besides size as a proportion you must be aware of style proportions. The heavy Italian renaissance table tops would not match with the light simple straight lines of country furniture.

In general you would not place a delicate Queen Anne chair next to a country ladder back chair. Firstly, the mood, style, function and cost are incorrect, but very lastly they would have nothing in common proportionately but size. The legs on a ladder back chair are straight, whilst the legs of a Queen Anne chair are curved and ornate, same with the backs of the chairs. Not a suitable theme. So although they may be proportionate in size they are not in style.

Lets talk about scale though (or size) as this really the focus of proportion. Mostly when you think in relation to proportion the obvious things like monstrous tables and tiny chairs will be easily noted. How about the smaller things? Like Lamps, side tables, bookcases, armoires, make sure you have not placed any items in a space that are out of proportion as a whole, small sofa - small side (end) tables - small lamps - small lampshades and so on.

Ask yourself the following when dealing with furnishings:

1. Is this piece of furniture appropriate in function and cost?

*a little note, obviously lawn furniture in the kitchen has no function ;)

2. Does it have the right style, look and feel? Simple enough does a piece convey the proper tone, mood and style.

3. Is it of the same quality to the other pieces?

4. Is it in proportion to the other pieces?

Now it is important to remember, however that all things must be in harmony of style, function, mood, cost and color.

Again I suggest you look through your favorite magazines, books and even watch design t.v. shows to get a sense of these concepts.

Think to yourself when you see a room that works...

How is this room harmonious? Look at Style, Quality, Color, and Proportion!!!