Linda Woodrum's Design Basics
HGTV Dream Home designer Linda Woodrum shares her tips on how to fix decorating mistakes and find inspiration.
(Continued from Page 1) By Kathy McCleary
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Trial and error led to the just-right tomato red of the bunkroom beds.
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What about bigger mistakes–painting a room the wrong color, or buying a piece of furniture that doesn’t look right once you get it in place?
No matter how much you plan, no matter how much you think you've got it covered, about 10 to 20 percent of the design process involves big surprises. You have to accept that it takes some trial and error. In the bunkroom, we originally picked a very brownish red paint for the bunks. I was thinking about it at two in the morning and realized that it was going to look too brown next to the paneling, that we needed an intense red that would really pop. The architect was concerned the tomato red was so strong you wouldn't be able to see the lovely grain of the wood in the bunks. We watered down the paint and applied it as a kind of stain, and it looked pink! Finally we went with the tomato red paint, full strength. That's a very typical process, where you have the concept, but it took three steps to get it right.
Another set of eyes can help create a living vignette in your home.
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Do you have to know the basic principles of design or other design tricks to decorate a room?
Everybody needs references, and you can keep the principles of design — value, color, form, shape, line, space, and texture — as a list in front of you. And the more you use them, the more that becomes another level of knowledge that's part of you. I worked with interior designer Wendy Lofton, from Platt Architecture, on many parts of the house. We were trying to fill the bookcases on either side of the fireplace in the living room, which really took a long time. We’d stand back and say, "It's not working. It looks like everything is round, or there’s too much white." So we’d take out a round item and add a square object, and substitute something shiny for something white. Sometimes you’re almost blinded by being too close to it, and that’s where it helps to have a collaborator.
![PHOTO](javascript:popup("http://img.hgtv.com/HGTV/2006/02/06/feb06decnews_dreamhome_bunkRoom_e.jpg",350,450))
![PHOTO](javascript:popup("http://img.hgtv.com/HGTV/2006/02/06/feb06decnews_dreamhome_greatRoom_Mantle_e.jpg",350,450))
