If you would have your rooms interesting as well as beautiful, makethem say something, give them a spinal column by keeping allornamentation subservient to line.
Before you buy anything, try to imagine how you want each room to lookwhen completed; get the picture well in your mind, as a painter would;think out the main features, for the details all depend upon these andwill quickly suggest themselves. This is, in the long run, thequickest and the most economical method of furnishing.
There is a theory that no room can be created all at once, that itmust grow gradually. In a sense this is a fact, so far as it refers tothe amateur. The professional is always occupied with creating andrecreating rooms and can instantly summon to mind complete schemes ofdecoration. The amateur can also learn to mentally furnish rooms. Itis a fascinating pastime when one gets the knack of it.
Beautiful things can be obtained anywhere and for the minimum price,if one has a feeling for line and colour, or for either. If the loverof the beautiful was not born with this art instinct, it may bequickly acquired. A decorator creates or rearranges one room; theowner does the next, alone, or with assistance, and in a season or twohas spread his or her own wings and worked out legitimate schemes,teeming with individuality. One observes, is pleased with results andasks oneself why. This is the birth of good taste.
Treat your rooms like "still life," see to it that each group, such asa table, sofa, and one or two chairs make a "composition," suggestingcomfort as well as beauty. Never have an isolated chair, unless it isplaced against the wall, as part of the decorative scheme.
Author: Marjan Zemljic