Ideas for Little Rooms

Plantation shutters cover an unsightly view and give a quiet, unified look in a small room. Two side tables are grouped together and used as a comfortably high coffee table. French doors covered with a sheer fabric replace interior solid doors, giving an illusion of depth and camouflaging closet doors.

The number-one decorating complaint is "it doesn't fit," says Kitty Bartholomew , who shows how small rooms don't have to be a decorating liability when she visits several designers with big ideas for little rooms.

Designer Stanley Hura used some clever tricks to disguise the size of an 800-square -foot apartment.

• Interior solid doors were replaced with French doors and covered with shirred drapes. This gives the illusion of depth, lets in light, and hides closet doors.
• Distinctive molding was added around door and window frames. Crown molding was also installed.
• Shabby flooring was replaced with a pale, blond wood throughout, lightening and unifying the space.
• To hide an uninspired view, large windows were completely covered with light -colored plantation shutters.
• A desk, a round table and sideboard were placed at intervals in front of the windows. During a dinner party, the combination can seat ten people and double as an open bar and buffet area.
• A draped table (that hides storage under its skirts) was used to offset all the wood.
• Two end tables, higher than standard coffee tables, were paired together as a coffee table.
• In the bedroom, a mirror was hung on the long wall of plantation shutters to break up the look.

Also in this Episode

Kitty Bartholomew: You're Home : Episode KIT-149
•	Ideas for Little Rooms
•	Rearrange to Remodel
•	Breaking the Rules