Interior Decorating: An Eye for Finishing Touches
Contributed By Mary Gilliatt
An eye for detail is the factor that lifts competent decoration to the memorable level and, as such, it should clearly be cultivated. It is the ability to choose, place and arrange objects in a compelling way, grouping them so that they are seen to their best advantage. It is a feel for balance; the juxtaposition of texture and color; form and scale; height and width; solidity and lightness.
ARRANGING OBJECTS
Actually, there are two quite different schools of thought on the possession and display of objects: the school of simplicity and the school for comfortable clutter. The offering up of one or two exquisite and interesting pieces; or an accretion of possessions and collections that is often called, rather aptly, memorabilia.
The trouble about the first school is that a few beautiful or singularly interesting objects really must be beautiful or singularly interesting. Or at least made to appear so by the way they are displayed or mounted. The difficulty about the second is that the ‘clutter’ or enthusiastic accretion of possessions must also be organized to display it to its best advantage. This involves a careful assemblage of texture and shape and color not to mention placement.
Collections of small objects should always be grouped together rather than scattered sparsely around a house or an apartment. Very small things like decorative shells or stones or marbles can be put into large glass goblets or specimen jars and displayed on windowsills or on shelves. Slightly larger objects, however different, should be grouped so that they have something in common such as color, national origin or period, or, alternatively, contrasted with larger, quite different things for the interest of the juxtaposition. Add a plant for example, or a simple arrangement of flowers, or dried grasses, or a big bowl of dried lavender, or a pile of books. If arrangements are grouped on tables that are also used for the practical dumping of drinks, food, or whatever, leave appropriate space so that the composition will not be ruined.
If arrangements are on a glass shelf or table, lighting them from underneath with a small up light is effective. If they are not on a transparent surface try lighting them from above with a table lamp or down light recessed into the ceiling, or a miniature spot to give extra brilliance. Interestingly, serious or at least energetic collections of quite commonplace or ordinary but unexpected objects often make for more memorable rooms than much rarer items.
Something sculptural, (whether it is from a young contemporary sculptor, or African or Oceanic, pre-Columbian or Oriental, classical figurative or abstract bronze, kinetic or a two-colored construction) will always add to the interest of a room. Almost all sculpture except standing pieces looks better on some sort of plinth made to scale, whether it is lacquered, painted or natural wood, marble, plaster, fiber or Plexiglas.
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