10 Simple Rules for Foolproof Decorating
With these tips, successfully decorating your own home is simple.
Stephanie Sisco
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Credit: Matthew Williams
- Palette math: Choose one color for 60 percent of the room, a second color for 30 percent, and a third color that's brighter than the others for the remaining 10 percent.
- A spot to sit + mirror + table (or shelf) = instant “finished” foyer.
- Switch up shapes. If the bulk of your living-room furniture is boxy, choose a round coffee table, ottoman, or side tables for balance.
- The ideal coffee table is two-thirds as wide as the sofa and a couple of inches lower than the seats (typically 14 to 16 inches high).
- Instead of installing them directly above the window, hang curtains high—between the ceiling and the top of the window—and your space will feel a lot loftier. (And don’t let the bottoms pool. They should just graze the floor.)
- Mount a mirror opposite a window. It’s the best way to bounce light around and create the illusion of a bigger room.
- A rug should never float in the middle of a floor. Place it under at least the front feet of a chair, a couch, or a bed to anchor it.
- Throw-pillow math: two 20-inch square pillows in a matching bold pattern, one on each end of the sofa; two 16-inch pillows in a coordinating solid color, overlapping the square pillows; and one lumbar with a subtle pattern (like a pinstripe) in the middle.
- You’ll never mess up pattern mixing if you combine bold, large-scale prints with subtle, smaller-scale prints in complementary colors.
- Think in threes. Similar-sized accessories on a shelf or a table look better grouped in odd numbers. Even amounts can feel too uniform and stiff.