Linda Woodrum's Design Basics

By Kathy McCleary

Q: Do you have to know the basic principles of design or other design tricks to decorate a room?
A: 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.