Undo the Overdone When June and Dan Wasserstrom of Richboro, Pa., decided to turn their son's nursery into a more feminine one for their new daughter, they sponge-painted two of the blue walls pink and added pink-flowered fabric pretty much everywhere . "It looked like Phantom of the Opera: half was this beautiful cloud scene from before and half was this pink thing that looked like Hawaii," says Dan. "Our mistake was not realizing that the room was fine as it was. It didn't have to be pink or full of flowers to be a girl's room." To fix it, the Wasserstroms axed the flowered material , repainted the pink walls blue and ordered a simple white sheer fabric with moons and stars. "Now it's the world," says Dan. Two rules come to mind: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And, less is more.
Lighten the Lamp's Load
The classic lighting goof is trying to make one or two lights do all the work in a room," says Pam Horner, manager of Lighting Education for Osram Sylvania in Danvers, Mass. Luckily a goof of omission is easily fixed. Add three-way lamps (with 150- watt, not 60-watt, bulbs) to tables and dimmer switches to overhead lights. Add accent lighting to a plant or painting. "What you want is light coming from several places and directions," says Horner. "It's that mix of directions that's visually interesting." Of course, the first step is to know what you want to see .
Blend in That Family Heirloom
When Alice Daniel and her husband, Ben, moved to Fresno, both knew Ben's childhood furniture would never fit in their new small house. One piece, however, did squeak through: a gargantuan 8' x 5' pine bookcase--not exactly an easy item to integrate. Instead of despairing, however, Alice set the case in the large entryway where its size wouldn't dwarf the other furniture. "Eventually we'll get rid of it, but right now it gives a homey appeal to the entry," she says. "And it's made me realize that hand-built shelves would look great in that space."
Bringing in something new, heirloom or not, can be tricky at best, a sore thumb at worst, says Kimberlee Hanson, head designer and co-founder of Hudson Dry Goods in New York City. "Don't just add one new thing to a space. Add accents that complement it. For instance, if you add a red mohair chair to a room with neutral tones, buy a couple of red candles, add fresh red flowers or set out magazines with red in the cover. That's easy to do without breaking the budget."
Play Movable Chairs
The new sofa and chairs arrive and you hate them. Before you relegate them to your next garage sale, try a little rearranging, right into the next room, if necessary . "Rearrangement is part of correcting," says Lauri Ward, author of Use What You Have Decorating and guest on HGTV's Decorating With Style. "It changes your mindset." Maybe the room's off balance, the furniture's too far apart or one piece is out of scale with the rest (i.e., the heirloom bookcase). "The best arrangement is a U-shape made with a sofa and two chairs," says Ward. "The worst is the L-shape with a sofa and loveseat. Try having a conversation. I call it 'twist and shout.'"
