Dvorine  Associates

Interior "Dia-Blog"

Design Tip Series

July 5th, 2011

Dvorine Associates: Design Tip Series

  1. Always draw a scaled floor plan of your room with windows and doors.  Use 1/4” graph paper.
  2. Stop with your floor plan. Reflect.
  3. Shop with it!
  4. Look through design magazines and select 10 or 12 rooms that appeal to you.  You will see that there is a common thread.
  5. Visit showhouses.
  6. Select a starter item – a painting, rug, or a favorite fabric as to help determine your color scheme and style.
  7. Think about your lifestyle – Do you entertain at your home? How much seating do you need in rooms where family and friends would gather?
  8. Start with backgrounds including construction moldings, etc. (Begin with the construction phase of the job)
  9. Do you want rooms to be multi-functional?
  10. Once a floor plan is chosen, consider lighting.
  11. There should be several sources and levels of lighting: recessed or track, lamps, pictures, etc.
  12. Use dimmers whenever possible for flexibility.
  13. Consider length, depth, and height for all furnishings when you are making your selections.
  14. If your home has high ceilings, you might want to consider larger scaled furnishings.
  15. Balance is important. Tall pieces should have opposing tall pieces.
  16. Mix Styles. A few antique or traditional pieces in a modern room will be more interesting than all of the same style.
  17. Don’t be afraid of dark colors even in smaller spaces. Consider contrasting trim.
  18. Never select your paint color from a small swatch or chip.  Most paint stores will provide a large sample of your color for you to pin to your wall.
  19. Always decide on your paint color by looking at it in the room where it will be used.
  20. Multiple tones of a color in a room are more successful than just one shade of that color.
  21. Fireplaces and bookcases make effective focal points for furniture placement.
  22. Be careful of fads for they are just that. Buy classic pieces and you won’t need to repurchase when the fad is over.
  23. Use accent pillows and accessories which can be changed to refresh a room less expensively than changing the larger pieces.
  24. Books are wonderful in almost every room. They serve as a cozy and relatively inexpensive accent!
  25. Ask for help if you are not sure.  Furnishing mistakes could cost you much more than a designer fee.

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