Apartment Therapy is all about sharing the wealth, or at least the proverbial design wealth. So we thought it was time to turn to our readers as we compile a list of "favorite phrases" that have guided you through the design of your home. Here's a list of our favorite words of decor wisdom...
• Rather than seeking to put together a whole room all at once, invest in one interesting and coveted piece of furniture, and let it set the tone for the room. As time goes on, build your furniture collection around it. Our first piece of furniture as newly weds was a solid teak bookcase with glass windowed doors and a beautiful rustic finish. At the time we didn't even have a sofa, but we fell in love with this shelf, and every time we walked into the room it felt perfect...much better than a room filled with unloved, purely functional pieces. 
• Don't think of decorating your home in terms of a linear process with a start and a finish. There will always be something that needs to be fixed (and re-fixed), edited (and re-edited), so think of it as cyclical and take pride in the process. 
• When in doubt, use Benjamin Moore's Linen White. Stephen Drucker of House Beautiful fame, has given this advice many a time, and for good reason. I never thought of myself as a white paint person, so I was skeptical when I first read this. But then we moved into a home where the north-facing living room was painted a cool white, and it felt chilly all the time. While I wanted to preserve the air feeling of the room, I knew that I wanted the room to feel warm and inviting. So I took Drucker's recommendation, and have since recommended it to many others who are stumped with similar dilemmas. Linen white is warm, soft, but also clean. It looks especially good when paired with medium to dark toned woods and crisp whites. 
• Pick paint in terms of color flow. This doesn't mean you have to paint your home in five shades of green, but it does mean that adjoining rooms should have a good color relationship whether it be they are complementary or coordinating colors. For example, a red room adjoining a green room works because red and green are opposite colors on the color wheel, and placed together they create a pleasing contrast. However, if your looking for smooth transitions between rooms pick colors that are in the same color family— i.e. gustavian grey and french blue. (Restoration Hardware has a beautifully coordinated color palette for their line of paints. For example, any of their greens look fabulous with any of their blues, lavenders, grays, and greiges. I use their paint colors mixed in Benjamin Moore's aura paint, which is of superior quality.) 
• "Have nothing in your home that you don't know to be useful or believe to be beautiful" — the golden rule of decorating by William Morris, father of the craftsman movement. He is extremely quotable, but this is one of his most popular for obvious reasons. This is not a call to minimalism per se, but if you follow this advice you will learn how to create a home that truly reflects your life, not the latest trend or the latest Pottery Barn catalog.
Now share yours!
(Images: 1: Blueprint Magazine, 2,5 : Domino, 3: Garrett's Small Cool via Apartment Therapy, 4: Metropolitan Home, 6: Martha Stewart)
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Comments (51)
This is super basic, but it still startles me how many people have not yet grasped:
Don't shove all the furniture against the walls.
"Not too much."
My advice?
1. Decorate with what you LOVE, not what you think other people will like/appreciate/hate/whatever. You should feel happy and comfortable in your space, and that should have nothing to do with labels/brand names/price-points.
2. Just because it's expensive, doesn't mean it's beautiful (or even well made).
3. Quirky individualism is ALWAYS more fabulous than generic or uber-branded rooms that look like they are ripped form catalogs. No "this is Ikea's/Pottery Barn's/Crate & Barrel's Room #29," please!
The William Morris quote is my design mantra! The other piece of advice that I give my clients is that they need to design for the way they actually live, not the way they WISH they lived. This means if you know you like to snack while sitting on the sofa, perhaps white is not the best choice for upholstery. Be honest about your design needs, budget and lifestyle and you'll make much smarter decisions.
it's ok to put large scale furniture in a smallish space.
Every room needs a touch of black.
don't be afraid to repurpose. something you don't "love" in one place anymore might be better served using it in a new way or very different location.
have stuff that makes you smile.
Less is more.
A trip a week to Goodwill is good for the soul.
Live in a place for at least six months before you make any serious changes/purchases/purges.
1 - There's more to life than retail: Accessorize your rooms with personal mementos & framed photographs, vacation souveniers, flea-market and vintage finds, local artists, etc.
2 - Nothing says "Cheap" like rugs that are too small or draperies that are too short: Always get the largest rug that will fit within the walls of your room - If you can't afford the larger sizes, get sisal/jute/seagrass in the size you need until you can afford better, or do without. Draperies should hang from just below the ceiling and just graze the floor or have a few extra inches to puddle on the floor.
Study the room and how its used before plunking down lamps. Lighting is not easy but staying away from overhead lighting and instead softening with lamps and dimmers makes such a difference. Look for the dark lost spots, add a small lamp and it make such a difference to the feel of the room.
My pet peeve is don't hang art work so high, look at the scale of the room, height, furniture height and the size of the art. I see so many cutesy size art hung high and drowning on a large wall.
Some piece of nature in a room is always nice.
3 - Every chair and sofa needs an end table, and every end table needs a lamp. End tables should be no higher than the arm of the chair or sofa that they're next to, and no lower than 2 inches below the arm height. Lamps should be at leat high enough that direct light will emerge from under the shade to illuminate a book in your hands while seated.
4 - Every bed needs a nightstand/table, and if two people are sharing a bed, then there should be a nightstand/table for each person. Those nightstands should be no higher than the height of the mattress or no more than 2 inches lower. At least one should have drawers and other enclosed storage for kleenex, etc. - and each should be at least large enough to hold a book, eyeglasses, waterglass, and a lamp.
By things one at a time. Get the new piece in the house and live with it a little before you buy the next one.
"Have nothing in your home that you don't know to be useful or believe to be beautiful"
This is my all time favorite piece of decorating advice -- useful or beautiful -- and over time, hopefully everything you own will be both useful *and* beautiful. It's the best way in the world to prevent clutter, utilize space, and make sure that every room in your house feels like it's an extention of yourself.
Get your carpets cleaned! Wow what a difference a professional service is over the home model!
Ottomans are so comfortable.
Have a woman around. Women always make a house a home (apologies to those this will probably offend, but this applies to me, I who am lucky to have a wonderful wife).
Flowers and a cat make the home cheerful.
"It's only decorating" (Don't obsess -- live in and enjoy your space.)
"Be sure that you really love what you have, because you're going to see if for a very long time" (This was about choosing the right couch).
got with your gut. if you love something, get it and find a place for it.
if you don't use something or love it, no matter what a bargain it was, no matter how many times you moved it or what story is behind it, sell it or give it away.
It's not a home if you can't live in it. Have kids? Don't get a white couch. Have cats? Nubby fabric is a no-go. Don't entertain? Use the dining room as a craft room, then. None of this "don't touch that couch" stuff. Have a home you can use.
"One should never be the oldest thing in one's house." -- Thanks to Patsy Stone for that one.
Make your large purchases (like sofas) simple, classic and neutral so you can change the rest of the room around them.
A single large piece looks better than a lot of little pieces.
Use hand-me-downs or (for a couple) merge furnishings. A room always looks richer if there's more than one person's aesthetic involved.
Do not go to Design Within Reach, spend $20 000 and consider it "finished". Nothing is less-interesting than a room chock-full of expensive stuff. Mix it up. Shopping is not designing.
I can't choose just one, because all have served me well, so in addition to the William Morris quote:
a. If you're combining furniture from different eras make certain there are 2-3 decades separating them.
b. Starting out, inexpensive bolts of basic linen, used to unite disparate pieces of furniture. I still have much of my original and it's now embroidered, pleated, plaited, tucked, some of it was dyed in beautiful colors... $4 a yard bought in bulk. The same can be done with a mid-to-heavyweight muslin or canvas which can be had for $1-2 a yard (leave it plain, dye it, paint it, embroider it).
c. If you don't love that heirloom, that you either inherited or felt guilt-tripped into accepting, please let it go find someone who DOES love it. In my case, if noone else in the family wants it, I'm auctioning the unwanteds off and sending the proceeds to that late family member's favorite charity org (better something be done with it that benefits the living, human or wildlife!).
Start with a crisp and clean palette, i.e., fresh antique white walls and add your pops of color through furniture, accessories and flowers (a room always looks better with flowers). And always, always decorate your space with items you looove and will love 5 or 10 years from now. Don't buy things just because you need to fill up space and corners.
Debbie
http://girlwhimsy.blogspot.com
May I be so bold to say tha only keep things that are beautiful and useful seems to be too restrictive. What about pieces that are sentimental?
Having said that "Less is more" is certainly one of my favorite decorating advice.
No accent walls... and not every flat surface needs to have something on it. Embrace what you cannot change, challenge creates unique interiors. Do not buy everything in one place or at one time. Make your bed!
Consider how much furniture weighs, and go with lighter weight pieces. You can almost always achieve the same results with smaller scale furniture over massive pieces. Husbands get old, and don't like moving heavy things around, but they don't like paying the young bucks to move it either :)
I'll second cedargr0: Furniture pushed against the walls leaving a large space in the middle of the room usually looks bad. Arranging furniture in little groupings generally works better.
Pick a few main colors for a room, but don't stick exactly to a palette. That looks artificial.
Accessories make all the difference (but don't overdo it). Books, vases, art and textiles and pillows can really warm up a room. Try to collect these here and there rather than all at once and don't get so much that you can't appreciate the beauty of what you have.
Acquire things you love rather than over-thinking how everything will fit into your decorating scheme. You'll find that things tend naturally to harmonize if you go with what your gut (and heart).
Plants! These are cheap and do SO much for a space. Every home needs that natural element.
Paint is your best friend.
Sheer, light-colored or neutral curtains work almost everywhere. They filter light and provide privacy but don't make things dark at all. They're also so romantic and lovely when you open the windows and the breeze comes in.
don't worry too much about what other people think is always a good mantra, for decorating or other purposes. I find all the "rules" of decorating to be hilarious. If it's art, there are no rules.
For fellow young adults from my friend: "You are young. It takes time to gather pieces you love." I'm so impatient, and she always reminds me that it takes time to build a home full of things you love.
The odd-number thing - always group things in odd numbers 3, 5, 7 etc: Screw it! I applaud the frank statement of objects grouped in two.
Unless you MUST have a particular color, choose paint color last. There are an infinite array of paint choices available, but fewer choices for fabrics, finishes, etc. So, plan those items first and match your paints later.
One of those photos is my apartment! How cool ha. Made me smile.
I love this post and thread. Just saying.
If you have a collection of anything---whether quirky, expensive or found---group that collection in a central place (i.e. table, cabinet, wall etc). It adds visual impact and keeps other areas of your home uncomplicated and/or un-clutter with too much of one type thing
"A designer knows when he has reached perfection not when there is nothing left to add but when there is nothing left to take away."- Antione de Sainte-Exupery
Thank you for the advice about the white paint! I've been trying to figure out what white to use in my bedroom.
Learn to sew a pillow cover with a piped edge. It's a very easy skill to master and it gives you much more freedom in your decorating, not having to depend on pre-made covers or pillows.
Don't buy cheap stuff just because you can afford it. Buy fewer things that you absolutely love, regardless of the expense.
I try to live by this rule. I fail a lot, but that doesn't mean the rule isn't fair.
Don't have bare walls. A home looks completely soulless without artwork, even framed posters will do the trick, but whatever you do, don't co-ordinate your paintings with your decor it looks extremely contrived (Think bad TV home makeover shows).
Don't hide away your books. They add character and make a house look homely.
And this isn't really a rule, but it's something I live by... absolutely no fixed carpets.
I like this thread too.
Love the BM Linen White. Ralph Lauren's Tibetian Lily is a similar white. It seems to look good with all colors and you can get it at Home Depot.
Be strict with yourself and think. Meaning, don't buy something just because it's cheap or you might need it. Evaluate each purchase so that you are sure you love it and are not being influenced by a trend or a sale.
If you love it, go for it. You are the one who has to live with it. There shouldn't be "rules" when decorating your home.
http://www.makemineeclectic.wordpress.com
"Everything has a place, and everything in it's place."
I agree with beautiful or useful - and I put sentimental in the beautiful category.
Homey, not homely. The latter is probably not what you want your home to be.
Totally agree with Rucy: don't feel guilted into keeping family "heirlooms" no one else in the family wants. I had a dining room table/chairs that I grew up with but was on the "country" side. I did not want it but felt guilty getting rid of it. My parents didn't want it and my sister didn't want it. Why did I feel guilty?? I ended up selling it rather cheaply to a man at work who was very poor and didn't have any furniture. You should see how much he loves this thing! More than anyone in my family did.
Also, what someone else said about making rooms into what you need. Once I got rid of the DR furniture I realized I don't need a dining room and turned it into an office/art studio. Do what makes sense for you!
I agree with Tiamat_the_Red and Kim_and_Matt (decor you can live in, don't hide your books & NO fixed carpet).
My addition: Don't buy things because you're bored! Make a habit of moving your current things around, retiring some, reorienting others when you begin to feel stale. Oh, also, limit the accessories. Not every empty space needs filling.
So true about how decorating is a constant and long journey. My first "nice" piece of furniture was a coveted but secondhand, large, dark wood dining table. I bought it at a steal for $60 but for about a year we never used it because we didn't even have dining tables.
That was the start of my addiction for solid, dark wood furniture. Since then, we've gained 6 dark wood and rattan dining chairs, a wooden coffee table with rattan drawers (which we stained dark to match), a dark chocolate leather lounge suite, a solid wood dark stained mahogany bookshelf and finally, a full bedroom set in dark wood. It's been 5 years of bargain hunting and DIY but totally worth it.