Free Advice Friday!

Posted on September 9, 2011 by DishOnDesignGal

Have a decorating question? Ask away!

Yesterday I started Three Tip Thursday, so today I thought…Hey! Why not a Free Advice Friday? I love answering all of your decorating questions so I though this would be a great way to have some fun and answer some pending questions! Addressing decorating questions is actually one of my favorite things to do! Here are some answers to some of your questions…

Valerie asked…

Q: I want to have an arrangement of Greek tiles and plates over the fireplace mantel. Is it okay to have the arrangement be a little wider than the mantel?

A: My initial thought was no, but as always, you have to sit back and think outside the box. The problem is not going wider than the mantel, it’s creating an arrangement that is “heavier” than the mantel. By extending the arrangement outside the width, you automatically are creating a “feeling” that it is heavier than the mantel which then takes the focus off of the area as a whole. BUT, as always, there are not rules to decorating – just rules of thumb. What I would suggest is if you want to go outside the area above the mantel, make sure you “extend” the width of the mantel with something to the left and right that balances it out such as furniture, large vases with arrangements, low bookcases that look built-in, etc… The one thing I would avoid (unless it’s built-in looking bookcases) is putting anything too “hard” next to the already “hard” fireplace. I always prefer alternating hard and soft. When I say soft I mean upholstered furniture, plants, etc.

Shirley asked…

Q: In my living room, I have a large window that is in a recessed area that is 88″ wide x74″ tall. It’s sort of like a bay window, but not curved. I would like to hang drapes on the outside, from floor to ceiling, but the problem is that across the top of the opening, it’s just the ceiling – there is nothing across the opening at the top, if that makes sense. The ceiling goes straight through to the recessed area. So, even if I hang a rod as close as I can to the ceiling, there will be a gap at the ceiling that goes through to the opening – won’t that look weird? Any suggestions?

A: This makes perfect sense Shirley. I actually have the same situation in a guest bedroom that I am working on in my home. You really have two solutions. The first is to locate the rod on the walls to the left and right of the window. The key is to hang the rod as high as you can and to use a drape that will have some material above the rod. Hang it so the top of the drape will almost touch the ceiling. The only issue you have is you really can’t use a support in the middle with a traditional rod, so the rod needs to be extra long so the extender in the middle doesn’t sag. Also, the drapes cannot be too heavy or they will cause it to sag as well. The second option and probably the best one, is to get a ceiling mounted rod – JC Penney and Ikea both sell them. This will allow you to put a support in the middle and will avoid any potential sagging problems.

Example of ceiling mount rod

Carol asked…

Q: My great room has 1 love seat (solid fabric) and 2 occasional chairs(solid fabric). I would like more seating. Do I purchase another loveseat or 2 more chairs and solid or print?

A: This is probably better answered if I could see your floor plan, but generally speaking, here are my thoughts… When planning your seating, there are three considerations. 1) traffic flow, 2)) conversation areas and 3 beauty. Your first consideration is make sure that you know where your main path of traffic will be and to not interfere with that. The second is that you never want to put a single huge seating area around the perimeter of your room. Ideally, you want to create a main seating area with one or perhaps two smaller conversation areas with the same room. The first is perfect for your immediate family or a small gathering.The second and third areas are great for reading, writing in a journal, playing games or intimate conversations.

I like two loveseat on either side of a fireplace with two chairs that are facing the mantel. I also like a love seat with two chairs across from it. I would avoid a love seat with four chairs in the same conversation area unless you have a really large room and can have additional conversation areas as well – it’s really too many chairs in one place I think, but they could go in a smaller arrangement. Maybe a loveseat and three chairs would work better. I worry about four chairs overpowering the loveseat. Additionally, think of creative ways of adding seating such as ottomans tucked under a side table or in front a hearth or even hung on the wall as I did in my house.

Thirdly, this is where the beauty comes in…as far as solid or print, I’d say add some punch with either a print – floral, plaid or stripe or introduce some nice textures. If you do add chairs with a pattern, make sure to balance it out on your solid upholstery with complimentary pillows or throws!

Good Luck everyone and let me know how your rooms turn out! Amy xo

Creating A Cocktail Area – Part I, Selecting Draperies

Posted on May 24, 2010 by DishOnDesignGal

Ready-Made lined draperies from Z Gallerie, and yes, that's dolce and sami checking it out. Nosy aren't they?

I have an area that is kind of sorta attached to my living room and shamefully it has never been used. Even worse…it’s never had furniture in it except for when we set up card tables for a occaisional graduation party or two. I have always envisioned it as a cocktail area; a place that guests can spill into for a cozy conversation or two. Of course if it’s a family gathering, that conversation may be a bit livelier, haha! Family is always entertaining isn’t it?

I don’t have a before photo of the room, but below is a “before” photo of the dining room that’s nearby with the previous owners furniture. The room I’m working on had dirty white walls, blue/grey carpet and the same floral draperies… at least that is, until I moved in. They came down the second I took a breath. Actually, the day I moved in. We later replaced the blue carpet with hardwood and painted the walls gold. That was as far as we got until recently.

Picture dirty white walls, those floral valances and yuk gray-blue carpet...that was what we started with. It still makes me shudder

Here’s was my thought process…

I want the two rooms to flow…the paint is already the same and I want the same fabric for all the windows in both rooms as well. This will help create visual flow and continuity between the spaces.
Draperies for three sets of french doors and 5 windows (10 panels) = pricy
To stay within a reasonable budget, I need to stick with ready-made
Because there are so many windows, the draperies need to be subtle enough that they don’t take-over the look of the room
I needed to find lined draperies not only for a consistent appearance from outside looking in, but to protect the fabric from the sun that comes in every morning.
My color scheme is gold, chocolate, and creme.
I have 9 foot ceilings and want 108″ long draperies so they puddle like the one’s in the Dining Room.
I need to order two extra panels to have classic valances made for the 6 doors (3 sets of french doors).
The more I spend on drapes, the less I have to use somewhere else…I need a deal

TIP: Getting a “deal” does not mean sacrificing style or look. It means looking deeper and sometimes longer than normal to find exactly what you want at a great price. NEVER sacrifice the look for the price. Be patient and you will find it. Kind of like that baseball movie…build it and they come…or something like that – haha!

I have three of these windows plus french doors to work with. The windows are getting ready-made panels and in the future, the doors are getting custom valances.

A DESIGN DILEMA

Although the future cocktail area and the living room have many similarities: identical windows, matching french doors and walls painted with Gold Buff from Home Depot, there is one significant difference. The cocktail area has beautiful crown molding and the living area does not. Since adding crown molding is not on the current agenda, I had a problem with the length of the draperies. I wanted my drapes hung close to the top of the ceiling and for both rooms to have the same size puddle on the floor. The crown molding put a bit of a crimp in this because it means the rods in the cocktail area will be installed several inches lower than the one’s in the living room.

THE SOLUTION:

The solution actually was quite simple. In the room with the crown moulding, I slipped the rod through the sleeve in the top of the drapery…

Under the crown moulding the drapes are hung directly from the rod using the sleeve of the drapery

In the other room that didn’t have crown moulding I attached the draperies to the rod with rings. The rings gave me an extra few inches or so of length which allowed me to hang it higher and closer to the ceiling, but still have the same puddle effect. Obviously, It would have been nice to just add crown moulding, but it isn’t on my list of priorities right now and truth be told, I have to say I really like it.

In the main living area, the drapes are hung with clips; adding a few precious inches for a quick solution

Here you can see the difference in this photo. The draperies make such a difference don't you think?

Here's another shot...tomorrow, I'll show photo's of the furniture! I am falling in love with this room...

The fan will be replaced eventually, and the mirrors have already been relocated…it’s a work in progress, but what do you think so far? Amy xoxoxo

My Dining Room Makeover – Part III

Posted on July 23, 2008 by DishOnDesignGal

If you have been following my Dining Room Makeover, I am sooooo happy to tell you that it is 90% done! I painted into the wee hours a few weeks back after work and shopped in record time to find the final things I needed to at least have it 90% done for the graduation party. Sorry it took so long to get you more details, but I have been really busy getting a new product out. I’ll tell you about that soon! I’ll have more pictures in a week or so, but here’s a sneak preview.

Since my last post I have finished the paint, found carpet and had it installed, purchased really beautiful fabric for the chairs (for $39.00 I might add!), decided on draperies (which are bought and hung) and found a perfect oversized picture to pull it all together.

I still need to re-upholster my chairs, purchase a chandelier, hang the medalion, and take some more pictures. I’ll give you more details too! In the mean time…here’s a sneak preview.

The carpet is a cut/loop combination in gold with a diamond pattern. Since the room is monochromatic (one color with varios shades of it) I made sure to pull in lots of patterns and texture for interest. The silk drapes are ready made from linens and things in a large plaid pattern of ivory and gold. They were $89.00 a panel, 96 inches long and fully lined – not a bad deal!

Above you can also see the reversible fabric for the dining room chairs. Of course our beloved Beanie had to get in the picture. He’s a cat that my son brought home from college one day that somehow became ours. My new neighbors actually asked me the other day if our invisible fence would work for beanie. Apparently, he is quite social thing and greets their indoor cats at their window every morning. He’s even left a few moles at their doorstep, which anyone who has cats knows tha it’s his way of saying welcome to the neighborhood. Tell me, how can you not love him back? Anyway, back to the dining room.

My last picture for the day is one of the painting I found at Linens and Things as well. I actually saw it first at Kirklands and couldn’t decide on it, then saw it when buying the draperies and decided to try it. It’s huge, in fact it wouldn’t fit in my car and my husband had to pick it up in his truck on the day of graduation. It turned out to be quite perfect with shades of creme and gold. I really like that it is oversized and pulls together the room. I know you probably want to see the whole room, but I can’t stand to give you a final shot without the chandelier and new seats. I’ll try to get that done soon!

Oh, and here’s the graduation girl – hooray for Ashley…my first college graduate! Isn’t she fabulous