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Intelligent interior redesign can help
pull a room together
I just returned from the annual IRIS conference, (Interior
Redesign Industry Specialists; www.weredesign.com) this
year in Seattle, Washington. This was my third conference
and the best one yet. Being among redesign specialists
from across the country provided great opportunities
to learn more about the home decorating industry, as
well as rekindle friendships. IRIS membership has increased
dramatically during the past few years to over 500 trained
redesigners. It seems more and more people are becoming
familiar with the concept of redesign, due in no small
part to the HGTV program Decorating Cents. During the
conference I had the opportunity to make an audition
tape with the producer of Decorating Cents, so if luck
is with me, I’ll get to make an appearance during
the redesign segment of the show.
nterior redesign, also referred to as one-day decorating,
means using the client’s own furnishings to create
a professionally decorated, pulled together room. Redesign
specialists, such as myself, enjoy the challenge of
incorporating all of the homeowner’s treasures
in the design. We rearrange furniture, bookcases and
china cabinets, reposition accessories, and hang artwork.
The result is a room that reflects the homeowner’s
tastes and style, but with a designer look and feel.
I had the pleasure of redesigning a home last week
for a client who was preparing to host a party for 30
friends. She wanted a new, fresh look for her home and
wanted to incorporate a few sentimental pieces she had
inherited from her mother. My redesign partner and I
angled the sofa in the back corner of the living room
to open up the space and make it feel even more welcoming.
We placed her chairs across from each other on either
side of the sofa to complete this conversation grouping.
Angling the sofa gave us space in the room to create
another seating area, so we shopped the house and found
two matching side chairs in the bedroom. A small antique
round table was perfect in between the chairs. Her mother’s
painting was given a place of honor above the fireplace,
and the mantel was decorated with antique books, photos
and other sentimental items.
What makes a redesign so special is the care we take
arranging accessories. In this client’s home,
her beautiful tea service now sits on the coffee table,
and a grouping of family photos, greenery and a silver
box rests on the end table. Every surface in the room
provided an opportunity to create small vignettes with
accessories. Your eye is invited to travel around the
room, pausing at each grouping. When my client came
in and saw the results, she became so emotional her
eyes welled up with tears. She loved the inviting new
seating arrangement, but she especially loved how we
had successfully mixed her mother’s items with
her own, creating lovely displays for her and her friends
to enjoy. She loved it so much that she invited us back
to redesign her bedroom. I love this job.
This article first appeared in Alameda Newspaper
Group papers on April 30, 2005.
Go
back to the list of decorating columns.
All articles copyright 2003-2008 Anna
Jacoby.
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