When Designing Your Space, Start from the Ground Up
Photo by Zac Gudakov on Unsplash
Few things are as intimidating as a blank slate. Confronted with an empty room, where do you start when considering decor? Our friend Jim Gallagher of Garden Court Antiques/Epoca offers some simple tips to overcome the overwhelm.
You’ve perused design magazines, scrolled through Houzz, and built your mood boards. In your head, you’ve created a space that is homey, beautiful, and speaks to your aesthetic. So why is it so hard to turn that into reality?
When conjuring up a dreamy design, it’s easy to leap directly to the minute details: Accessories, pillows, lighting, and so on. However, the reality is these things are the most fungible. Paint colors may seem like a good place to start to set the tone, but that too one of the most changeable things in a space. To create a look that is both authentic and durable, start with a few fundamentals. You literally need to start from the ground up.
The floor sets the stage for the entire room. Before you decide anything else, look at what’s right under your nose, and consider:
What kind of floor is existing? Is it what you want?
If you have hardwood, is it the color you imagined? Sanding and staining a floor is an easy way to reinvent its look.
If you don’t have hardwood and want it, you can have it installed. As a bonus, wonky old uneven floors (ahem, hi, Victorians) can be leveled before the new ones are installed. Sound buffering is also a sensible option if you live in a multiunit building.
Do you want your floors exposed? If not, do you want full carpet coverage, or area rugs? Rugs create a sense of warmth, and help create intimacy within the space.
If the room is very large, consider using area rugs to break up and define modular spaces.
The colors of a rug will start to define the palate of the room. Antique carpets are amazing, but they will move the aesthetic in a particular direction.
If going for carpet or rugs, what is the look you’re going for? Ornate and traditional, like a Persian rug, or more austere and modern? Do you want to anchor the room with heavy designs and colors, or lift it with cool, light tones?
If you don't have a strong idea of what direction you want to go, sisal rugs can be a great option. They help to warm the space but leave the palate for the room much more open to introduce colors through artwork, fabric and accessories.
Next, it’s time to consider your furniture. Quality pieces can be expensive, and reupholstering is even more spendy, so choose carefully.
For maximum flexibility, pick pieces with clean upholstery lines and simple colors. This will reduce the odds of you getting fatigued of them, and allow you to refresh the look with pillows and throws.
Leather furniture is a great option. It’s both neutral and rich, and improves with age as you use it.
If you really want a “wow” piece, go for it, but ask yourself first if you think it’s something that you will consider too trendy or dated years down the line.
Avoid introducing too many colors and patterns on the upholstery. You don’t want the pieces to fight with each other.
Floors, check; furniture, check. Now’s a great time to think about wall color. The easiest thing is to go with a light neutral. There’s still plenty of opportunity with artwork and accessories to make the room pop with color. That said, this is an opportunity to really splash some personality into the room.
Take a look at your floors and fabrics. Tease out the colors you like, Start with those for your palette.
Don’t feel like you have to paint the entire room one color. Consider painting an accent wall one of the more adventurous colors.
If the room has trim, do you want everything painted all the same, or in contrasting colors? Also think about different textures like gloss vs. eggshell.
It may seem counterintuitive, but dark colors actually can make a room feel bigger. Light colors advance and dark colors recede, so they can be very effective in small spaces like powder rooms.
And then there’s wallpaper, which comes in a kaleidoscopic array of options from the simple to the psychedelic. It’s a little more labor intensive to apply and change, though.
The heavy lifting is complete. All that’s left is to accessorize your space with the things that bring you joy.
Bring in window treatments that tie in the palette.
Give your sofa a pop with some exuberantly colorful pillows.
Artfully arrange heirlooms, small collections, and unique finds on tables and mantels.
Add some houseplants to bring a breath of life into the room.
Hang expressive artwork on the walls.
Place lamps thoughtfully to imbue the space with soft, even lighting (and don’t forget the dimmer switches).
Don’t just look at contemporary shops with pieces that are in the moment. Peruse antiques galleries and vintage stores, or places that sell more unique furnishings, and look for pieces that really speak to you. Take the time to talk to these purveyors; they often can help you find what you’re really looking for.
Years down the line, if you get weary of some of these pieces, they’ll be easy (and relatively affordable) to replace, but the bones of your room will remain timeless.
Still overwhelmed? Check out my tips on working with a designer. There’s no shame in bringing in a professional.