Next to the living room, the dining room is the least understood and appreciated room in the house.  The pace and clutter of our long, tightly scheduled days draw us away from the full satisfaction we should derive from the important daily ritual of dining…

As you begin to focus on interior design, remember that all good rooms have a mission.  In the case of your living room, its purpose and intent is to provide maximum emotional and physical comfort for you and your guests. What fascinates me as a…

You probably will want your living room to have as much light and sunshine as possible.  Study the quality of the natural light and judge how much your windows provide.  What are your exposures?  How many windows do you have, and how large are they?…

Living rooms have always had a disproportionate amount of money spent on them because people tend to think they had to be "decorated." Yet no sooner was the (expensive) work completed than the living room ceased to be a room lived in; we'd glide through it…

Rooms need to be understood uniquely. Where a room is situated, how the light patterns fall during the course of the day, how the light affects where you sit, the size of the room in relation to your size, the height of the ceiling in…

Now that you've begun to define your personal decorating style, you will still have to make many hard design decisions; but you can begin to make them from a liberated perspective rather than feeling slavish about some unobtainable ideal.  If you choose to create a…

Space is a luxury and having pure space gives us a serene feeling.  Covering up every inch of space is suffocating. Respect architecture as a background; enjoy the play of light and shadow that space permits. You shouldn't bruise your knee in a maze of…

We all suffer from a tendency to accumulate sentimental objects that clutter every inch of surface space.  But there is no need to display our possessions all at once. "Cutsie, cutsie" are weeds that choke your garden.  Dolls and stuffed animals seem more appropriate in a…

If you are nervous or unsure about adding color into your home, the 60-30-10 is a decorating rule that can help you put a color scheme together when planning your next room makeover.  It can be tough to determine if your decor is too busy…

No matter how beautiful your furnishings are, if you haven't decided on the style and resonance of the room, it will appear confused and awkward.  Create a mood for each room.  What gives a room its individual character, is to focus on a feeling you…