The Fifth Wall

Dear Melissa:

I understand that ceilings are called the “fifth wall” and are supposed to be given some sort of treatment, but aside from painting them a surprising color or mirroring them, I’m at a loss. C.A., FLA 

Dear C.:

Well, let’s skip the mirrors unless you are creative enough to avoid both the “Las Vegas” and bordello looks. Let’s also avoid the popcorn finish found in almost every new house.

Try coffering or gilding your ceiling, or adding a dome, cove lighting, or a skylight. How about covering it with wallpaper, or bamboo matting? You could also install or stencil a center medallion on it or hire a decorative artist to fresco it or create a custom finish for you.

You will hear me saying again and again: you are limited only by your imagination and budget. Just try to keep the ceiling treatment in harmony with the rest of the room. Also, bear in mind that a dark, busy ceiling will appear lower, and a light, quiet ceiling will seem to recede. Determine the appropriate effect you are trying to achieve. M.A.K.

What Is the Difference Between a Decorator and an Interior Designer

Dear Melissa:
What is the difference between an interior decorator and an interior designer? B.P., NJ

Dear B.:
Think of it as the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist: both can help you but one has had more extensive training. While anyone with talent and a resale certificate can become a decorator, many states have passed licensing or title acts that require anyone using the title “interior designer” to have first passed something called the NCIDQ certification exam. Only qualified interior designers are granted this title in order to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

Typically, decorators create room layouts and shop for clients. Interior designers on the other hand may choose to sell merchandise, but also act as consultants to clients by reorganizing space, complying with building codes, specifying furniture, finishes, and equipment, and administering contracts. Clients are often directed to dealers for purchases. Work is usually done at a much higher level than that of a decorator.

That said, a lot depends on the ability of the individual practitioner. There are decorators just as capable as interior designers who choose not to sit for the grueling NCIDQ exam. To confuse things a little more, there is a sort of pre-professional level, my level, i.e., the allied member of ASID. This means that I am a card-carrying member of the American Society of Interiors Designers who has the appropriate education and experience to register for the NCIDQ exam, but who has not sat for it. M.A.K.

What about Wallpaper?

Dear Melissa:

Do you have any tips on selecting wallpaper? S.D., OH 

Dear S.:

Of course. I have advice on every subject; I just try to limit myself to decorating.

Patterned wallpaper has been out of style for some time now, unless you live in an antique home. Personally, I adore all types of wallpapers, so I have been waiting patiently for its return. Textured and novelty wall coverings are much more popular right now. So if you’d like an updated look, check out the new 3D trends, metallics and lasercuts. How about leather tiles or rice paper?

When choosing wallpaper, scale is critical. Just as you wouldn’t want an enormous pattern overpowering a wall and possibly forcing you to trim off the tops of flowers or birds’ heads, you wouldn’t want a tiny pattern that has no impact either.

Typically, wallpaper fills up a room by adding pattern or texture to its largest expanse (namely, the walls); so it’s a great way to make a large room appear cozy. Surprisingly, small prints can actually make small rooms seem larger, if the same tiny print is repeated everywhere, even in the upholstery fabric.

Always bring a sample of the wallpaper home to view in your light. The color will change under different lighting conditions – make sure you like the paper both during the day and at night. Try to get a really large sample or at least two smaller ones to pin up side by side, since you want to see all the colors and parts of the pattern, with no surprises later on. M.A.K.

Dear Melissa: 

You have been so helpful in the past and I thank you for that.  Here I am again with 2 other questions/problems.  (1) Want to install a rope hand railing (instead of normal wooden one) in a small, narrow & steep stairwell.  I know I've seen these in historic homes in the past, but can't remember where.  Where can I find information? (2) Want to put a door at top of stairs to master bedroom.  (Not same staircase as previous question.)  It's a unique situation in that this 2nd floor only has this one room; it's kind of like a loft, although no overhanging balcony.  I probably need an interior architect.  Is there such a designation?  And how do I find one? Thanks in advance.
"Decorating Novice"Lyme, CT

Dear Decorating Novice:

It’s always nice to have a repeat customer. (1) In my opinion, safety comes first. Are you sure you want to install a flexible handrail in such a challenging stairwell? If you decide to proceed, you will need a large diameter rope from a marine supply or building supply store. Then you will have to find railing brackets that will fit that diameter rope. Some potential sources are: Baldwin Brass, Renovators Supply, R. Christensen, juliusblum.com, and atrtechnologies.com.

(2) Any builder, interior designer, or architect can help you. (And yes there are people who call themselves interior architects, as a subspecialty.) Try the yellow pages or local professional organizations. It may be difficult, however, to find someone for such a small project. M.A.K.

How Does A Decorator Show House Work?

Dear Readers:

Did you know that there is something called a Designer or Decorator Show House scheduled this time of year in most states? Do you know what a designer showhouse is? It’s a type of fundraiser sponsored by a charity or nonprofit group. You may have heard of the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club Decorator Show House, which occurs every year in New York City, or the Pasadena Showcase House of Design, in California.

For those of you unfamiliar with a show house, this is how it works. Interior designers, decorators, and decorative painters bid on rooms and spaces in a large unoccupied house. If someone has the winning presentation for a room, that person’s firm has a limited amount of time to decorate that space at its own expense, as a form of marketing. Landscape designers are afforded the same opportunity for different areas of the home’s grounds. The idea is to create something unusual and inspirational. The public purchases tickets to view all of the unique spaces in the house and gardens, with proceeds going to the sponsoring charity or nonprofit group. At the end of the allotted month, each firm must return its space to the original condition (or a reasonable facsimile thereof). It’s sort of like Brigadoon – it’s only there for a short time and then it vanishes.

It’s a lot of fun for the viewing public to compare the “before” pictures with the transformation of each space. (Although since different firms do each space to showcase their own talents, don’t expect anything resembling continuity among the rooms.) There is no better way to pick up clever ideas to try yourself; or if you’re in the market for a decorator or landscaper, you can determine just how creative the different local firms are. I should make a point about the latter, however.

As a veteran of seven showhouses, I have noticed that some visitors come into the house looking for a particular room; and only if they see exactly what they’re looking for, do they hire that designer. You have to understand something. These are talented people. Someone who does a fabulous bedroom in a show house may be the perfect person to do your family room. Or the talented designer of a dining room might be the one to help you with your living room. We are multidimensional. Every one of us can do contemporary as well as traditional rooms, dining rooms as well as nurseries. So, here’s a tip: find the person, not the room. Ask to see the portfolios of the designers’ other rooms. Talk to the designers and artists to see if you are well suited. Compatibility is paramount.

The rooms and gardens in a designer show house are spectacular. The lunches are wonderful. Often there are lectures and wine tasting scheduled on the grounds. All in all, a showhouse makes for a lovely summer’s day out. M.A.K.

Secrets to an Outstanding Room

Dear Readers:

A woman recently asked me for the decorating secrets to creating an outstanding room. There are really no secrets. A truly great room requires careful space planning, wonderful furnishings (define wonderful however you like), and if not intuitive style than at least education and training.

Let’s get the furnishings out of the way, since this is what everyone focuses on. There is a big difference in quality and appearance -- not to mention cost -- between the merchandise available to the trade only and that which the average person has access to. (There are ways around this, but that’s the subject of another column.) You can still have a wonderful room on a budget, because even more important than placing great items in a room, is the ability to apply the principles and elements of design to the space. Some homeowners use these rules instinctively, but professionals use them deliberately.

What are the rules? The most important is the famous “form follows function”. A room’s design must meet the needs of the persons occupying the space; i.e., you shouldn’t have to adapt to your surroundings. The space should be carefully planned to handle the activities while allowing for traffic circulation.

The other design principles are ones that you won’t notice until they go horribly wrong. One is called

unity and variety, which seem like contradictory components. Actually they complement one another, like yin and yang. While each room needs a sense of planned order, the juxtaposition of opposites in it adds visual interest. Some people unfortunately carry variety to an extreme. Without the restraint of unity, there’s a fine line between an “eclectic” interior and an insane one.

The principle of balance is another biggie. This is one of the main problems I come across, and one of the easiest to fix. Balance refers to the visual weight of objects in a room. The visual mass on one side of the space should counterbalance that on the other. All sides of the room need to be counterbalanced visually.

Rhythm creates the “movement” in the room. The placement of objects and patterns causes your eye to dance around, and the eye resting on large solids provides control of this movement. Scale and proportion deal with the size of objects in relation to the size of the space and to each other, respectively. And emphasis means that nothing should detract from the focal point of the room.

Line, form, contrast, color, pattern, and texture are all design elements that occur in various combinations in every room. While each one has several discussion points, let me just say that one element should predominate in the space.

You will end up with the last principle of design, harmony, when all of the other principles and elements have been used correctly. (Ta da! Nothing to it.) I hope you look at the complexity of well-designed rooms with new appreciation. For more information, inquire about decorating classes and interior design programs in your area. M.A.K.

Reverse-Painted Glass Walls

Dear Melissa:

I loved your room at the Guilford showhouse a few years ago. The bathroom is really stunning. I would kill for that awesome shower curtain. I could tell the trim was real jade. The glass walls kind of confused me, though. I still don’t quite understand how they were done. Were the walls painted and then covered with the sheets of glass? G.B., Madison, CT

Dear G.:

Thank you for supporting the showhouse, and for the compliment. (I need all the encouragement I can get.) The amazing onyx sink in the bathroom required equally dramatic surroundings, which explains the silk-and-jade shower curtain and the glass walls.

I love to experiment and push the envelope in showhouses, because there is no client to disappoint. Since my two favorite surface materials are metal and glass, they came to mind immediately. Metal was too contemporary for this space, so I chose to create something special in glass. Hence the unique walls.

Reverse-painted glass itself is not new. The Chinese have been doing it for centuries. It was also popular in this country during the Art Deco period, although mostly on picture frames and mirrors. You may be familiar with Eglomise, the French name for gilded and reverse-painted glass.

As its name implies, reverse painting is painting in the opposite order. Consider normal painting, where an artist paints the background first, builds up each layer, and then ends with the foreground. When one paints on the back of clear glass, the order is reversed, starting with the foreground. This way when the glass is turned over, the foreground is uppermost. As you can imagine, this requires a lot of skill and practice.

As far as I know, reverse-painted walls are unheard of. Think of them as glass wallpaper.

I needed a truly adventurous artist, so I asked Randy Davis, of Off The Wall Murals, in Killingworth, CT, to create the walls for me. He’s incredibly talented, and has done work for Disney, Paramount Studios, and Warner Brothers, among others. I knew if anyone could figure out how to do this, he could. And he did. Beautifully.

The glass company solved the problems of the physical constraints and how to affix the panels to the walls, and we were good to go. (So what if I had a few sleepless nights until we were sure this would work. That’s what it means to do a showhouse.) M.A.K.

What Works with Red and Purple?

Dear Melissa:

The colors in my living room are red and deep violet. I know it sounds gross, but it’s really nice. I want to recover a chair in my living room, but I can’t find the right shades of either the red or the violet, so I’m stuck. I don’t want to do a neutral and have it stick out like a sore thumb. I have looked everywhere. W.S. 

Dear W.:

I think your color scheme sounds great. Unfortunately colors come in trends, with certain shades going out of favor for a while. You don’t have to match colors for them to blend well in a room, however. Have you considered using an intermediate color to bridge the two colors – say, amethyst or wine, for instance? A bridge color wouldn’t be as obvious as a neutral. Another option would be to experiment with an analogous color like ginger or tangerine. M.A.K.

Opulent

op·u·lent Adjective /ˈäpyələnt/

Synonyms:
adjective: rich, wealthy, affluent, abundant, moneyed, well-off, copious, exuberant, luxuriant, ample, well-heeled, plenteous, well-to-do

1. Ostentatiously rich and luxurious or lavish

• the opulent comfort of a custom leather chair

2. Wealthy

• his more opulent clients 

Term referenced in Using Opulent Fabrics in Your Home.