Kimberley Pacholko (Stager/Gardener/Landscaper)

Home Accessorizing Tip #20

(20 Tips For Accessorizing Your Home series)

Choose Accessories That You Love Or That Have Personal Value To You

Choosing the most effective accessories for your decor utilizes all of the principles of good design, but what would be the value of a beautiful well designed vase if it was not beloved by its owner. Therefore another important ingredient that will help to determine the success and enjoyment of your decor is to choose accessories that you personally enjoy. An exception to this rule would be if you were staging your home to sell. In which case you would depersonalize your space and go with attractive on trend accessories that compliment the decor. Otherwise choose accessories that will reveal a little bit about yourself and the other occupants of the home. What are your interests, hobbies, likes and dislikes? Choose accessories that tug on your heart strings and bring you much joy. Remember that accessories are the glue that pulls the entire decorating scheme together. Choose them wisely and they will bring you many years of service and enjoyment.

1. Start With a Plan

2. Accessories Should Serve a Purpose

3. Use Accessories To balance The Colour Scheme

4. Accessories Should be in Scale With The Room And The Furnishings

5. Accessories Should Enhance The theme Of The Room

6. Use Accessories To Strengthen or Create The Main Focal Point In The Room

7. Place The Largest Accessories First

8. Vary The Height Of Accessories In A Grouping For More Interest

9. Vary The Size And Shape Of Accessories In A Grouping

10. Use Symmetrical Arrangements for Formal Decors and Asymmetrical For Informal

11. Match Paint Chips to Your Furnishings and Accessories Then Take These Colour Chips With You When Shopping for New Accessories

12. Repeat a Colour at Least Three Times in a Room

13. Hang Art Work At Eye Level

14. Place Mirrors So That They Reflect Something Beautiful

15. Group Collections Rather Than Scattering individual items around the room.

16. Think Outside Of The Box. Use an Existing Accessory In a New and Exiting Way

17. Do Not Over Accessorize

18. Choose Lamps That Not Only Coordinate Well With Your Decor But That Also Provide Adequate Lighting For The Rooms Needs

19. Use The Golden Mean to Assist You in Choosing Accessories With Pleasing Proportions and to Guide Your Placement of Them in Your Decor

20. Choose Accessories That You Love Or That Have Personal Value To You

Home Accessorizing Tip #19

(20 Tips For Accessorizing Your Home series)

Use The Golden Mean to Assist You in Choosing Accessories With Pleasing Proportions and to Guide Your Placement of Them in Your Decor

The Golden Mean also known as Divine Proportion is a mathematical formula for spatial relations. It can be use to both determine and create the most aesthetically pleasing proportions both in the design of your accessories and in their placement.

The formula can be successfully applied to many areas of the decorating realm including:

* The creation of art

* Furniture design and placement

* Accessory design and placement

* Choosing wall paper

* Choosing colours

* Choosing patterns and prints

* And of course in architecture

To determine the golden mean measure the length of your line in inches. This line may be a walls height or width, the height of an accessory or fireplace mantel etc. Take that measurement and multiply it by .618. The number attained will be the best proportion to use in combination with the whole.

To better understand this principle and its uses in decorating your home I will give a couple of examples of how to use this equation to solve your decorating needs.

Example #1:

Let's say you have a typical ceiling height of 8', converted to inches that would be 96". Take 96 and multiply it by .618 this will equal 59.328; this would be the best height at which to place a point of interest like the focal point of your art work, a vase or a lamp. A second pleasing point of interest would be 36", which is the overall height minus 59. To help determine the best accessory to place on an end table subtract the table's height from 36". This will give you the height at which to place a point of interest (it does not have to be the actual height of the object just a visual point of interest that will draw the attention of the viewer).

Example #2:

A wall measuring 10' long should be covered with approx. 74" of furniture and accessories. (10'x12=120" 120x.618=74.16) This would mean that a 60" loveseat paired with a 14" side table would full fill the golden mean.

Other examples of this ratio:

* A 90" sofa would look best with a 55" sofa-table backing it.

* The most pleasing height for a lamp shade placed on a 20" tall lamp would be approx. 8" (20"x.618= 12.36) (12" base + 8" shade= 20")

* An 8' high wall with a 36" buffet table placed against it would full fill the golden mean with a 23" vase displayed on it.

Note: Your proportions need not be exact use this formula merely as a guide. Once you understand and learn how to apply this formula you will be able to mentally determine pleasing proportions without the use of a calculator. To further develop this skill, observe nature and the proportions you find within. Nature has both mastered and inspired the formula for the golden mean.

Home Accessorizing Tip #18

(20 Tips For Accessorizing Your Home series)

Choose Lamps That Not Only Coordinate Well With Your Decor But That Also Provide Adequate Lighting For The Rooms Needs

A well thought out lighting scheme has the power to transform an entire room. On the flip side a poorly executed lighting scheme will detract from the overall look and enjoyment of a room. So choose your lamps with care.

Before your begin shopping you will need to determine how much lighting your room requires. To answer this question you will need to multiply your rooms length by it's width (i.e. 8'x10'). Multiply that number by 1.5 to determine the number of watts required to provide ambient lighting for the room. For task lighting the multiplier is 2.5. (Note: It is estimated that the average room requires a lighting source every 10 feet.)

Once you have determined how much lighting you require there are many other factors to consider before selecting the lamps for your decor, such as:

* What will be the purpose of the lamp? Will it be used primarily for a decoration, for task lighting or for over all ambient lighting. You will also need to consider the purpose of the space.

* What is the style of the lamp? Will its design coordinate with your decor?

* What is the mood of the room you are trying to establish? Your lighting choices need to enhance and strengthen that mood.

* What is the theme of the room? Again your lighting choices need to support your rooms theme.

* What is the height of the table on which the lamp will sit? A shorter table may require a taller lamp. You do not want to be looking up into a lamps hardware. To guard against this ensure that the bottom of the lamp shade does not rise above eye level when seated. Ideally the bottom of the shade should be at ear level for a reading.

* Consider the wattage of bulb the lamp will take. For reading you will require a minimum of 60 watts most people require 100 watts.

* Consider the lamps shade. White color shades let the most light through and are ideal for ambient lighting. Darker coloured shades tend to direct light downwards. Fabric shades cast a warm glow but be sure to consider the fabrics texture. Silk shades look best in intimate bedroom settings. While linens and other more textured fabrics tend to have a more rustic feel making them better suited to family rooms and informal settings. In general, drum shades tend to look more modern, while conical ones look more traditional. Another tip to remember when selecting a lamps shade is that the width of the shade should never extend past a table's perimeter.

Selecting the right lighting for your room will not only enhance your decor but will bring you many years of enjoyment to come.

Note:The pictured lamp is the Conrad Table Lamp from Bellacor.

Home Accessorizing Tip # 17

(20 Tips For Accessorizing Your Home series)

Do Not Over Accessorize

Almost nothing will kill the appealing qualities of a room faster than clutter. Carefully scrutinize each and every accessory before you include it in your decorating scheme.

Ask yourself these questions before including it in your decorating scheme:

* Is the accessory beautiful in and of its self?

* Will the accessory serve a purpose?

* Will the accessory be in scale with the room the furniture and the other accessories in the room?

* Will the accessory strengthen the focal point in the room?

* Will the items colour serve to balance out the colour scheme in the room?

If your answer is no to any of these questions consider leaving the piece out of the decorating scheme.

One of the biggest mistakes I see many home owners make when accessorizing their home is to include to much stuff. They feel compelled to find a place for everything that they currently own as well as all the new pieces they wish to add. Consider moving the unneeded accessories to another room or donate them, give them away or sell them. You will enjoy what you have so much more in a clutter free environment. Live by the motto when something new comes into your home something old must go out. In that way you will better be able to keep clutter in check and enjoy your decor to the max.