A DECORATING BOOK - Part 1

This is kind of a pet project for me and a rather long one, so it will be presented in parts. Decorating is my passion. I want to share with you some of my ideas, information and experience.

What is a home decorating book?
Basically it is a collection which will help you determine what will fit into your home decor. It gives you the necessary tools to make good decisions when decorating and buying things for your home. Many of the purchases you will live with a long time so you do not want to make costly mistakes.

Making a home book does take time and organization, but it will make your life a lot easier for many years. If you are building a new residence, redecorating, repainting, buying furniture or just adding accessories you will appreciate the convenience of having a decorating book.

Why do you need a home decorating book?
Having worked in a fabric store, a drapery department and several furniture stores, I have seen a need for people to get organized so they have the information to make good buying decisions, save money, time and energy. This is especially true if you are design challenged and want the help of a professional sales person or friends.

These are true life examples, which happen more often than you may think.
Having room measurements is a great help, as is the measurement of your old sofa etc. as it aids you to buy the right furniture. Think of how disheartening it would be to buy a new sofa and find the delivery people can not get it into your home; the doors are too small, or there is not enough clearance to take it up a flight of stairs or there is one too many corners to go around. (Furniture seems to looks “smaller” in a furniture store than in your home due to the large area it is setting in.)

You get the new furniture delivered and find there is very little room to walk or it looks out of place because it is too small or large for the space or does not look right with what you already have. I had a couple buy a sofa, loveseat, large chair and ottoman, only to find the room did not have room to walk. The loveseat and ottoman were returned. If they had taken the time to draw a floor plan, I could have helped them see how the furniture would fit. Even sketching or taking measurements of where the windows, heat vents and plug-ins are, you can save yourself a lot of grief. Having the measurements of how high the windows are from the floor can be helpful, as then you know how high a sofa can be etc.

When people would come in to buy window treatments they would say they wanted curtains to fit a “standard” size window. Yes, windows do come in a variety of sizes and shapes, so it is imperative to know the correct size and how much wall space you have on each side for the draw of the drapery, also the correct width of the window to know how many panels you will need. It is also good to know what length you want. Do you want them to go to the edge of the window sill, to the floor or from the ceiling to the floor? Draperies and curtains do come in standard sizes, but you need to know how many panels you need and the lenght to give you the look you want.

Another instance is people think they have a good idea of what color something is that they want to match or coordinate. A couple wanted to purchase a sofa in a neutral “light brown” and a chair in a coordinating print. They stated they had new carpeting that was beige and the walls were painted off white so any light brown tones would work. I asked them if they had brought a carpet sample in. They replied they had not, but KNEW (in their mind’s eye) the color of the carpeting.

Well the human eye can distinguish about 10 million colors, so do not think there is anyone will actually remember a specific color. Also there are a number of factors which affect colors, as other colors in the room and the natural and electrical lighting. The couple picked out a sofa and wanted to purchase it on the spot. I insisted they take a few samples of fabric home and see how it looked with the paint and carpeting. Very begrudgingly they did and the next day they came in and thanked me for making them take samples home, as the fabric looked terrible. They still did not bring in a carpet sample, but took a number of samples home until they found just the right shade. They could have saved themselves a number of trips if they had a carpet and paint sample with them, as we could have eliminated a number of samples before they took them home. (A good sales person, who has your interest at heart, will ask you a lot of questions and make suggestions based on the info you have given them... the others are just there to sell you something.)

To buy flooring, paint or wall paper you need to have the dimensions of the room to determine how much you will need.

Different types and colors of paints may cover more or less square footage. An example is if you are going to cover a light colored wall with a deep color you might want to buy a pre-colored primer to use before then you will not have to use as many coats of paint. Carpeting comes in 12 and 15 ft rolls and is sold by the square foot or square yard so you will need to have the square footage of the room to see if you will need several pieces and where the seam might be placed.

For most of us decorating is an ongoing process and we can not afford to buy everything at once. Most of us decorate in stages and add just the "right pieces" as we find them. Some of us do not have a decorating gene, so you need the decorating info to take with you for assistance. This all will save you alot of grief and from making a costly mistake you might have to live with a number of years.

Ok, so I have I convinced you that you need to have your very own decorating book?

In the next part I will give you examples of what you need to put in YOUR book and why, then ways you can put your information together to use.

OLD CHAIR RESCUE

I am not sure how it has happened, but old chairs seem to be drawn to me...
ok, I love old chairs.

For years I made all of my own clothes and did alterations for awhile. Now that clothing has gotten so cheap, patterns and fabric expensive, I fit "clothes" on furniture. For anyone who slipcovers, you know what I mean. It is pin, measure, pin, pin, pin and sew for a good fit.
In 1983 we bought a good quality dining room table and chairs.
The chairs to my dining room set were very out of date and not very comfortable. I still love the round pedestal table, but the wooden chairs with all the spindles were not comfortable and a pain to dust. (They look like the ones in Miss Kitty's Long Branch Saloon.) I was looking for new chairs, but did not want to spend alot of money to get quality chairs that would hold together for the rest of my life


A few years ago I was passing the local hotel liquidators and saw parson’s chairs stacked in a pyramid in their front window. I could not pass without stopping. I made a deal with the owner came home with 8 of them. I really only needed 4, as I do not entertain much anymore.

Over the past few years I recovered a few of them and sold them, as they were a nice chair for small spaces. Mine just sat in the dining room looking tacky. They were turquoise and a bit stained, but I wanted just the right fabric for them. They are comfortable and very sturdy. (The legs were originally a dark blonde.)





I decided to start out with a removable and washable slipcover. I loved them, but after awhile the wall color was changed and I wanted a more old world look. The fabric covers were too cottage looking. Notice the little pillows for back support. Of course the diningroom curtains matched for a custom look.




I found the tapestry fabric, but unfortunately there was not enough for the backs and seats. The light stained wood on the legs did not lend itself to being very old world, so I sanded, painted and faux finished a dark wood look on the legs. (I did try to remove the stain and restain, but it just did not work.)

Got the backs done and started to look for the perfect olive green fabric for the seats……I really wanted a dark olive green. That should not be too hard to find, right? WRONG!
Several times I bought yardages in different colors thinking it would work, but I did not like them. A color in the store does not look like the same color when you get it home! (Anyone like spicy coral or teal?) But you can never have enough fabric, right?

2 years later….well, I found some, but it was not upholstery fabric. It is the perfect olive color, but it was not upholstery grade or decorator fabric. Yesterday….I decided that I was tired of looking at the turquoise with the tapestry and just DID IT. I am very happy with them and this will work. They do not get a lot of use, so they may last my lifetime, who knows.

So the point of this chair saga? Decorating is an ongoing process. Once again….recycle, reuse, repurpose, redo! (P.S.My old chairs have a new home at my daughter's house.)