Artwork properly placed is very pleasing to the eye. It helps create a cohesive and balanced feel to a room. How does a homeowner know where to properly place their artwork?

By: Connie Deamond

Every year Pantone, the global authority on color, announces the “Color of the Year”. They use lots of criteria to make this choice, one of them being the state of the economy. They have chosen turquoise as 2010 Color of the Year. In their press release they said that turquoise “is an inviting, luminous hue that combines the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green.” It “evokes thoughts of soothing, tropical water and a languorous, effective escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of well- being.” It seems like the perfect color for us at this point in time.

Have you spent a lot of time and money decorating your home only to think that something is amiss? This is a comment heard frequently from homeowners They finish decorating a room and still it doesn’t “feel right”. They sometimes think they need to buy more furniture or get rid of some things they already have placed in the room. In some instances, this may be the case; but, more often than not, the problem is balance.
Balance makes a room look put together; it gives you a good feeling when entering the room and is pleasing visually. Balance is creating not so much with the amount of furniture you have within a room, but with the scale and proportions of them. Proper placement also comes into play including accessories. Window treatments are often overlooked in this equation. Yes, the proportion and scale of the window treatments is just as important as the other objects in the room. If the room is “well put together,” but the window treatments are not of the correct weight and dimensions or are not installed properly, the whole room will seem a “little off”.

Would you build a house without blueprints? Of course you wouldn’t. Have you furnished a room without a plan and then didn’t like the way the room came together?

Years ago only the wealthy hired professional decorators/designers to help with their home projects. The rest of the population was content to do their own decorating. It was fairly easy because stores sold furniture in groups referred to as suites. For example, a homeowner didn’t have to put much thought into selecting living room furniture.