10 things I learned (so far) from my Designer; By a happy client

A few weeks ago, I helped my good friend Gloria Lemay buy some lighting, an area rug, as well as some toss cushions. She started reading my blog on Facebook a few months ago and then bought a couple trays after reading my “How to create a Tablescape” post. Then she even created one all on her own, and wrote a very funny post about her experience which I mentioned here.

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Yesterday (after the recent transformation of her apartment) she wrote a post called “10 things I learned (so far) from my designer. Click here to read the entire post. And just before you do, I wanted to elaborate a bit further on a few points she made:

‘2. A lamp in every corner of the room.’
When I saw Gloria last week at a fund raiser, she told me she had just read my “Atmosphere, the one thing you cannot Buy” post and she said, ‘Yes you can, as long as you stick a lamp in every corner of the room!!’

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And she’s right, lamps placed in your living room (or large master bedrooms) either on a table or standing, sconces, up-lighting, all go a long way to creating atmosphere (even without a designer).
Even when I’ve done small “one-day decorating jobs, my client and I are coming back with 4-5 lamps.

‘3. Cut your flower stems to be in proportion to your vase. I was taught by a florist that “length of stem is everything”, my designer will not permit any of that nonsense.’


When you receive a bouquet of flowers with the long stems, they must still be clipped to fit the vase you own. I notice this when I go to my sister(s) house. Unless it’s a hand-tied bouquet, flowers simply plunked in a vase, are usually many different lengths and no longer look attractive. So the stems should be inside the vase and the blooms outside. If this means cutting off 4 or even up to 12 inches of stem so that it works for your vase – do it. Then they will look like they’ve just arrived from the florist!

If you don’t have greenery to fill in around the blooms, clip them close to the vase for a great contemporary look.

Anyway, click here to read the rest, it’ll make you smile!

That’s 70’s House actually took my off-the-top-of-my-head reply to her question “What do I do with the colour in this living room? I can’t figure out the undertone in my furniture?” It looked greeny/brown to me so I suggested (BM) Bleeker Beige, advised her to paint out the skinny door next to the entertainment unit ( it was too big of a focal point and had to go) as well as paint out the 70’s wood molding. Click here to see the transformation.

And finally, my beautiful blogger friend Brooke at Velvet & Linen is hosting a contest for a Brickmaker’s coffee table (below) there are 10 finalists, 10 rooms and there will be 3 winners! Click here to cast your vote!

Have a happy week!

Related posts:

Attention on Area Rugs

When to use Light vs. Dark Colours

10 Ways to save money Now by Creating a Focal point

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