Whether you're ready to re-design your entire home or just intend to redecorate a single room, make sure you have a master plan. Here are the top 5 decorating mistakes and how you can correct them.
- Solution: Try moving the large sofa off the wall and position it in the center of the room facing the focal point whether it is the fireplace or entertainment unit. Re-orient all the other furniture pieces to work off that sofa, creating a more intimate living space where great conversations can happen.- Mistake: If your bulky sofa, heavy wood cocktail table and your inherited bombe chest are gathered to one side of the room with a pair of club chairs, all of those "bottom heavy" pieces create an imbalance in the space, both physically and visually.- Solution: Make sure your overall layout and conversation area is balanced. Then introduce some lighter pieces into the mix. By all means use your sofa, but introduce glass, iron or metal combinations for cocktail tables and end tables.. If you have a very tall unit or hutch in your space, balance it out with a beautiful tall tree or an art arrangement.For instance, there are some rockers that look great on patios but they have a note attached that they are not suited for outdoor use. Something like this must be brought in whenever it is not in use. If you decide you just must have it any way, make sure you have a place in your home or storage to hold it until its next use.- Solution: If you have two openings into and out of your space, then move the traffic behind the seating, not through it. If you have a sofa floating within your space and away from the wall make sure there is at least 30" to 36" of clear floor space to walk around between the wall and other furniture pieces. The ultimate solution is to arrange your furniture so that you direct traffic through the space.- Solution: A good rule of thumb to follow is to look for the most dramatic element in the space. In the family room or great room, the focal point is either the fireplace, windows to the view or the entertainment unit. Make sure that your conversation area somehow faces the area or at least part of it.. If you lack a focal point - create one!- Solution: Large-scaled furniture works best when fewer pieces are used. In construction, there's a saying: measure twice, cut once. The same should apply to decorating. Measure (your space) twice and purchase (the right pieces) once..1. Poor Furniture Placement. A bad furniture layout can set the tone for the room and is still one of the most common mistakes that many people make.- Mistake: You don't want to walk into your family room and immediately be faced with an aisle just wide enough to squeeze through, then knock into the corner of that lethal weapon called an end table.... bruising your thigh again, in the exact same spot as you did yesterday! Always keep the doorways at the top of your list when thinking about traffic patterns in every room of your home.ody that had ceased to represent the individual countries in the club, and struck out on their own, representing only themselves. Lincoln ignored history and today we are starting to see the results of his ignorance of history in the actions of our current president, who has not bothered to find the real story behind the myths.If you decide to buy wicker or rattan furniture, check to see if the manufacturer has warnings against outdoor use. Some wicker and rattan furniture is not meant for use outside, but other wicker and rattan has been specially treated for outdoor use. It comes down to checking the label or packaging to know for sure. If you have any doubt, contact the manufacturer. As the store from which you purchased it for the contact info or look it up on line if you can�t find it elsewhere.Around 1776 a group of colonies, �owned� by Great Britain, got together and formed a club, called the United States of America. Membership was voluntary, but they all recognized that they�d be better off as a member of a group, so they joined, secure in the knowledge that they could always leave if they wanted to. The contract, the Constitution, said so. They banded together to fight a common enemy, the British, and miraculously won that fight. They had a country, and the future seemed bright until around 1860, when a hack politician named Lincoln imposed unacceptable economic policies on some of the members in the form of onerous import duties on their exports and they exercised their membership rights and left the club. He ignored the lessons of history and the country paid the price in over 600,000 Americans dead, in an unnecessary war. Rome couldn�t pull it off, the British certainly couldn�t, nor could the dozens of other empires that had grabbed power for a governing b!Our current president is an avowed fan of Abraham Lincoln, using Lincoln�s bible at his inauguration, recently speaking at Cooper Union in New York City, where it is said that a speech Lincoln gave there wrapped up his nomination for president. Lincoln�s influence over Mr. Obama�s actions and policies as president seem to be quite strong, and as dangerous as his idol�s were. He has set the country down the same road that the USSR travelled, which eventually came to a dead end. He is amassing power for a central government that increasingly is not representing its members, just as Lincoln did. He is ignoring history and will inevitably suffer the same fate as all the others, which is the dissolution of the club, the country. The stitches that have bound us together are unraveling. The citizens of the individual states/countries are telling him this in voices that get louder and louder but this man who is ignorant of history does not hear them. He is deaf to all voices but hisown, and will be the most surprised person in the country when he calls a meeting of the club members and few, if any, show up.5. Identifying A Focal Point. Every space needs to have a focus or anchor for other design elements revolve around. This highlight is the glue that holds the room together, and creates a sense of interest.
- Solution: A good rule of thumb to follow is to look for the most dramatic element in the space. In the family room or great room, the focal point is either the fireplace, windows to the view or the entertainment unit. Make sure that your conversation area somehow faces the area or at least part of it.. If you lack a focal point - create one!
Author: Lori Gilder
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