Selecting Your Focal Point in Design

We often hear that every room should have at least one focal point. Exactly what is a focal point you may be asking? A focal point in a room is a place that naturally draws your eye to it. It is the place in the room that creates the most interest and where you can make your talents shine.

Sometimes the focal point is an architectural feature like a beautiful bay window overlooking your garden or a lovely or commanding fireplace. The true nemesis for most decorators and designers is that it is often the TV. Ugh! Some rooms have more than one focal point. The first room below is an example of that.

You have a fireplace, a big window and a TV. In this room the sofa is facing the TV but there are also views of the fireplace from the sofa and other chairs are placed to also enjoy the outside. The more focal points the more fun you can have making it all come alive. 3 is probably the limit though as more than that and your eyes are just confused.

In this room it is the TV area that ranks first, fireplace and then the outside. Form needs to follow function. What that means is what you do in the room is just as important or more so that the aesthetics. The trick is mastering both.

This was one of the most challenging rooms I have ever done. It is a long and narrow room and the fireplace is placed in an odd place. Not centered but at the end of the room. Logistically the TV had to be the focal point because if I used the fireplace all the furniture would have been at the end of the room and very unbalanced. Why do builders do things like that? Arrgh! I remember my frustration and that Laura did about five other rooms while I struggled with this puzzle.

This room is in one of my most favorite houses of all times. Staging this house for sale was amazing. This house was eye candy at every turn and sold the first day on the market. One of the many things that I love about this room is no TV and thoughtful architecture. That made placement of the furnishing so easy and created a very welcoming home.

If you are decorating a room with none of these possibilities then you need to create a focal point. As an example you can choose a beautiful piece of art, a beautiful mirror with a table or buffet beneath it and a pretty floral arrangement. A focal point is eye candy. It should automatically pull the eye there.

Entryway Focal Point

This kitchen area has the most beautiful garden outside the window which is the focal point but you also have to make it look great on the inside. I could have moved right into this house.

Other things that can serve as focal points are what are called "case goods" in the industry. They would include large pieces of furniture like a grand piano, an armoire, buffet, etc. In a bedroom the focal point is almost always the bed.



The thing that cannot be a focal point is an upholstered piece like a sofa or chair. Why? Because they disappear when you sit on them. Makes sense, right? This room's most outstanding feature was the pair of antique overstuffed tiny sofas. This small room had no focal point other than the window looking out to the street. That wasn't too interesting so the room is designed with the two little sofas facing each other with exceptional art above each as the focal points of the room. It is so cozy and comforting.

This was a fun room to decorate. Here the window and armoire are the focal points because the TV is in the armoire. It was fun to come up with something that made this room a little different by placing the drop leaf table behind the sofa.



When arranging your furniture in the room~follow this simple rule for best results. Choose or create a focal point and then address your focal point with your largest piece of upholstered furniture. You can be creative and do your own thing of course, but if you neglect these two things your room will always feel a little off. Have fun creating your own little world at home! It is a great place to be and the stage upon which you live your life! Enjoy it!

Writing this post renewed my excitement all over again in having the profession of my dreams. I am excited to leave my keyboard now and go to work on another beautiful home today! See ya later

HGTV Remodeling Your Kitchen

In case you are about the do a kitchen remodel and missed this great article on HGTV.com I wanted to share it here. Lisa has some fantastic ideas for organizing your project.

As host of our online-exclusive guide Getting Started: 10 Steps to a New Kitchen, interior designer Lise Simms knows kitchens are all about the people who use them. "Our homes are our jumping off point for everything we do in life, and when you walk in the door you should be inspired, comforted and renewed!" she says. Simms' recent design clients include the Los Angeles offices of ACME Talent and Literary, a 1937 Spanish estate also in Los Angeles and a three-story mountain retreat in Vail, Colo. Her home has been featured in Woman's Day magazine as well.

Find Inspiration for
Your New Kitchen
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Plan Your Total
Remodel Budget
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Locate, Hire and
Manage a Contractor
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Determine Your
Kitchen Layout
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Choose the Right
Flooring Material
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Decide Whether to
Replace or Reface
Your Cabinets
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Buy Appliances That
Match Your Needs
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Pick a Countertop
Surface That Fits
Your Lifestyle
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Select Faucets and
Sinks With Style
and Utility
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Complete Your New
Kitchen With Proper
Lighting

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Light My Fire~Seeking Motivation

I have been having a real problem finding the motivation to get going on Christmas and I have been hard pressed to figure out why. I love Christmas and always have. But for some reason I am dragging my feet this year about just nearly everything. It has been perplexing me and for a moment yesterday I felt a little twinge of what it might be. I found the above picture* here, and it gave me an idea of what might be happening in my head.

This picture just evokes in me total peace and comfort. I love the colors, the coziness, the feeling that you can just sit down and enjoy it~all the work for the day is done. This photo is the epitome of what we, as home stagers strive to create. It isn't really real but, it is part of my made-up, fantasy world and I love it. Everything in this home is perfect, peachy and lovely and you just don't want it disturb it. This beautiful place has no leaking faucets, no need of paint, no curling, yellowed wallpaper that needs removal, no cat hair on the $100.00 throw. The landscaping is perfect, the family is perfect, and everyone is deliriously happy all the time. No one is sick or fat or annoying~Mr. & Mrs. Wonderful live here.

That is secretly what I want our house to be like, and I have never achieved it...oh yeah, maybe once in my mind I came close for about two hours. And that did not include the people, just the inanimate objects. This picture also helped me realize that I do not like my house in disarray. That always happens when decorating for Christmas, right? I furthermore do not have a great way of keeping track of the things I put away for the season and things invariably get misplaced, sometimes never being reclaimed! A lot of it has to do with a too small cottage with limited storage and a huge bunch of Christmas stuff. I need a group for people addicted to Christmas decorations.

So the inkling that I had was that there is a huge gap between my fantasy and what is real. And then the thought followed that in order to get anywhere near that fantasy that I love I have to do a major ton of work~and that is the thought that is holding me back. It is just me~ being lazy!

I have come to realize that what I use to be able to get done in a few weeks now takes me a few months! Part it is getting older but the bigger part is too many choices about when I will do something. When the kids were little I did it when I could...want to or not. But now I have a whole day and I can do it when I want to. Hmmm, I know it sound like a dream to a lot of you but really it requires a lot of self-discipline! Like right now I am supposed to be cleaning out the bathroom closet according to my scheduled 'to do' list for the day. Clearly, that is not happening.

How do you do it? For me it is matter of making a plan and sticking to it. Instead of staring down the trunk of the elephant and finding it so overwhelming, I need to take it one bite at a time. I have got to stop procrastinating and just jump in. First, I am going to get the deep cleaning and organizing done. I have to move a bunch of things out of the guest room just so Jim can get into the crawl space to get the stuff. I printed out a calendar just for that. Then I want to organize the gifts and get that finished up. Then plan the family party, the Christmas letter, the fun activities, the trip to Utah, etc.

If you are a woman you know there is so much more. We all have a big Christmas elephant in the room right now. The trick is to enjoy it and pace yourself. OK, so I blew it on the bathroom closet today but I am going to get going on it first thing in the morning~no matter what! I am not going to let Mac draw me away from my list tomorrow~no not me!

Oh wait, Jim is off tomorrow and I am working on my client's furniture purchase and design plan. OK, then Wednesday for sure!! And so you see how it goes around here....

flickr

Help!!
I Have Got to Get Some Visions
Of Sugar Plums Dancing In My Head!

*no attribution listed

Empty Spaces

On October 25th I posted my first in a series of Decorating Ideas. I want to elaborate on each one in future posts. Today I am talking about~

2. The space you leave empty is as important as the spaces you fill. Your eyes need resting places in a decorated space.

Over the years we all collect things we love and want to display in our homes. However, when we put up too much is becomes just that...too much! Too much stimulus is not at all restful or inviting. Not every square inch of floor, wall, and table tops need to be filled.

Here is an example of a home we were hired to stage for sale several years ago. This home was owned by a beautiful, very artistic lady and she loved a lot of everything in her home. For living there it was fine and really brought out her personality. Of course for staging a lot of it had to go.

The point of this is to show you that too much stuff creates too much visual confusion for most of us. Take a look...

Double Click for a Larger View

By adding so many pictures and accessories nothing stands out. The wall opposite the sofa was a series of bookcases with so much stuff you would not have believed it. By removing about 2/3 of the things in this room it looked so much better and the house sold rather quickly.

This client was so charming but her threshold for a lot of visual stimulation was higher than for most of us. Be selective about the things you want to surround yourself with in each room. It is great to rotate things and that way you can use all the things you love, just not all at the same time. The trend in the 80's and 90's was a lot of little groupings. The trend now is more towards larger pieces and less accessorizing.

This is another client's home and where a similar problem had to be addressed. The two photos that follow are the same room!

Before

After

These are just a few suggestions to update your look, declutter, and simplify your environment.

You will notice that in a lot of our staged houses we use a lot of pillows on the sofa and chairs. That is to keep people walking through from having a seat and messing things up! It is great that they feel "welcomed in" but we do not want them to sit down and relax while they tour the homes. It would be fine if they put things back as they found them, but....you know how that goes.

Is Your Glass Half Full?

With Special permission from Sandy Dixon I would like to share these wise thoughts from the director of IRIS:

Ideas to Share -- From The Director's Chair TWO TIP TUESDAY...helping you build a better business (LIFE)!

The NØ Moan Zone

Dear Bonnie With all the bad news we are bombarded with daily from the TV, radio, and newspapers it's no wonder we are affected by all the negativity and tempted to look at things with a 'glass half empty' perspective. However taking such an approach is not only bad for your mental and physical well being, it can have a detrimental effect on your business (and livelihood) as well. So how do you overcome the tendency to grumble and complain when you are surrounded by less than positive media AND negative people you may come in contact with every day? By creating and practicing a No Moan Zone philosophy both in your personal and professional life.

Tip #1: Watch Your Words

First of all, it's important that we monitor our conversations on an ongoing basis. Listen to yourself---do the words coming out of your mouth sound positive or are they instead complaints laced with a few moans and groans? Sometimes we get caught in a pattern of negative thinking and complaining without even realizing it. Pay attention to and spend time with upbeat people---the ones that make you smile, turn your day around and who make you feel better being around them. Their positive demeanor and outlook have an influence on those around them and will rub off on you. Ask them their secret to staying positive and then put that information to good use! IDEA: Start your own 'Positive Posse' and make a point of sharing a half full (or better yet 'brimming over'!) attitude with friends, family and strangers alike. Encourage others to do the same. Make a pact with friends, family and coworkers to stop one other from negative talk when you catch each other in the act. Reinforce positive conversations by refusing to participate in negative ones. Sometimes all it takes is someone making us aware of our behavior or habits. Next, turn off any source of negativity that you can control. Take a hiatus and don't watch TV news or read the morning paper. Instead of listening to the radio, opt for a no-news option like satellite radio, CD's or your MP3 player.

Tip #2: Laugh, Linger and Lend a Hand

Keep a sense of humor and eliminate time you spend with people who feed the naysayer in you. Take some time off to rejuvenate. Spend some time outdoors or doing something you have always wanted to do. Volunteer for projects working with nature, animals, or people in need. This will not only give you a renewed sense of purpose and a fresh perspective, it will confirm that you can make a positive difference. IDEA: With the holidays just around the corner, consider working in a soup kitchen during Thanksgiving, visiting a local nursing home, being a Secret Santa for a family in need, walking animals at your local shelter. When we find ways---big or small---to help brighten the day or life of another, it has a way of brightening our life as well.

Quotes to Note

What happens is not as important as how you react to what happens. - Thaddeus Golas Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results.---Willie Nelson Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; love more and all good things will be yours. ---Swedish Proverb Sandy Dixon 2008 IRIS Executive Director

Composition

1. An object by itself is only an object.
Juxtapose it with something else and it becomes a composition.

This post will discuss the first Decorating Idea from the post on October 25, 2008.

Composition is an important aspect of decorating in much the same way as it is in photography. When you look through that view finder I am sure you take a good look at what will actually be in your photo. In the exact same way you should stand back and look at your room from the door way and ask yourself if the composition of the furnishings, art and accessories are pleasing to the eye.


Beautiful things must work together to create the atmosphere, ambiance, and feeling you want to evoke in the room. Things don't have to match but they definitely need to blend. Does the room invite you in and make you want to stay awhile?

Doesn't this room look comfy and invite you in for a nap?

The style and elegance is carried through out
this whole area of the entry and living room.

Make sure that different areas of your room
blend together and compliment one another.

A word about accessories and collections. Find a fun and interesting way to display your things. This is a photo of a collection of pears that I have in my dining room. Over the years I have enjoyed collecting pears from various places we have visited and I have also received several from friends and relatives. Imagine how silly my room would look with all these pears scattered around the room. I found this great copper tray and just started piling them on and people always comment on how fun this is and how they enjoy looking at them. Be creative and take a chance on something. The worst thing that can happen is you decide you don't like it and then you can try something else! Use a little whimsy in your decor and add that little element of surprise to each room.

All of these rooms have been redesigned or staged by Interiors by Design.