IN WITH THE OLD DESIGNER USES STUFF ON HAND Interior designer Lauri Ward doesn't think having a beautiful home requires starting from scratch. "It's better than fine. It's great," says Ward, founder of Use-What-You-Have Interiors. By just learning to use it effectively, "you can have the house you've always wanted to have, and it's you." Ward brings an evangelistic zeal to her conviction that everyone deserves a home that's comfortable and beautiful, but reflects the owner's personality rather than the dictates of fashion or the opinions of others. She's a pioneer of one-day decorating, which involves working with the items a client already owns, and has compiled her ideas into a do-it-yourself manual, Use What You Have Decorating (G.P. Putnam's Sons, $25.95). The Manhattan designer was in Northeast Ohio recently to promote her book, and stopped at Arhaus Furniture in Beachwood to share some of her decorating advice. She also offered pointers on what to look for when buying furniture and other items so you'll be happy using what you have for many years to come. "You don't need to spend a fortune," she insists. "If you do need to spend money, know what you're doing." Bath Township interior designer Carolyn Leibowitz also likes the idea of redecorating with what you already have and says clients often hire her on an hourly or per-job basis to help them do just that. What designers like herself bring to the project, she says, is a fresh perspective. Often, she says, her clients see their furniture and accessories as having one purpose, and "they can't get past that." By finding new and unusual uses, she can make furnishings seem new, she says. For example, Leibowitz might break up a set and uses the pieces in different rooms for a look that's more interesting and less perfectly matched. Or she might put a library desk behind a sofa for use as a sofa table. She does that sort of rearranging it in her own Genesis Interiors showroom, and clients will sometimes remark about her "new" pieces, she says with a laugh. She does it with her own home, too -- but she admits that, just like her clients, it's harder for her to see new uses for the things she's grown accustomed to. One of Ward's fundamental recommendations is that people think in terms of pairs when buying furniture and accessories -- pairs of chairs, pairs of lamps, pairs of candlesticks. "They don't want to find themselves with one of everything, because it doesn't look right," she says. Pairs make a space more balanced and relaxed, she explains. She prefers exact matches but says the pieces can be complementary, such as chairs of similar height and width slipcovered in identical fabric. She says another common decorating mistake is putting what she calls screaming distance between seating pieces. Conversation areas Ward is a big believer in conversation areas, intimate seating arrangements that allow people to face each other and talk without raising their voices. A conversation area should be oriented toward an attractive focal point, she says, such as a fireplace, a window with a great view, a wall unit or an eye-catching art display. If the room has more than one entrance, the conversation area should be arranged so people can walk around it rather than through it. One of the simplest arrangements is a U shape created by a sofa and two armchairs -- again, a pair -- with a coffee table in the center that everyone can reach. If the floor is hardwood, she recommends anchoring the conversation area with a rug, which can be an inexpensive choice like sisal or a carpet remnant. Other furniture configurations will work, such as a sectional sofa or two love seats positioned face to face. Ward advises anyone who's just starting out or who expects to move to stick with the basic sofa and armchairs, because they'll work in almost any space. If you're shopping for seating pieces, she recommends looking for well-made furniture in basic shapes, without trendy details like big rolled arms that will eventually look dated. Keep scale in mind, and try to keep the sofa and chairs about the same height to avoid what she calls the roller-coaster effect of your eyes moving up and down as you look around a room. As with any furniture, buy the best you can afford, she advises. Better to save for one decent sofa and add pieces later than to blow your limited resources on a lot of poorly made furniture that you'll have to replace in a few years. She notes that a sofa with two seat cushions won't seat as many people as one with three, and that a sofa with a higher back may be more comfortable for a man's larger frame. An upholstered chair with an ottoman is a good choice, she says, because the ottoman can double as a coffee table or additional seating. Pass on those oversize chairs-and-a-half; they're comfortable, but they're so big, it's hard to fit two into a room, she says. Ward loves slipcovers for their practicality and their ability to change the mood of a room. In fact, she recommends having a new sofa covered in muslin rather than upholstery fabric and buying two sets of slipcovers -- one for winter, one for summer. "For the price of the upholstery, you can get two sets of slipcovers," she says. Never static Change is important to Ward. She thinks people should regularly rotate their artwork and accessories, which is also a good way to surround yourself with all the things you love without creating clutter. Accessories don't have to be costly, though. For example, she loved a bowl filled with dried artichokes and an arrangement of sunflowers and weeds that she spotted at Arhaus. "Don't be afraid to experiment," especially with inexpensive elements like wildflowers and vegetables, she says. "If people can decorate seasonally, it really is much more fun to be in the house." By all means, use what you like. Your accessories reflect your personality and your interests, she says. Some other tips + Avoid points and corners, especially on shin-gouging coffee tables. She prefers rounded tables of all kinds. + Make the living room more elegant and the family room more relaxed. "You don't want two living rooms," she says. + If you're buying dining room furniture, don't buy armchairs. You can fit more armless chairs around the table. + Consider ease of maintenance. Ward was drawn to a dining table with an oval stone top, for its looks and rounded edges as well as its functionality. "Good design isn't just a pretty face," she says. + Use the maximum-wattage light bulb a fixture will allow, and put three-way bulbs in three-way lamps. At least don't complain if your room's dim. + Clip-on shades direct a chandelier's light downward, where you want it. + Use frosted rather than clear bulbs, which are too hard to look at. + Don't put things on top of tall furniture, such as a vignette of objects atop an armoire. Your eye is drawn too far upward, starting the roller-coaster effect. + Look for storage wherever you can. A hinged trunk, for example, can double as a coffee table and a place to hold CDs, videotapes or even bedding for a sofa bed. + Perhaps most importantly, don't feel you can't decorate on your own. That's what some designers and furniture stores would have you believe, Ward says. Much of their advice is sales-oriented, she points out; they want to make money off you, so they want you to be dependent on them. "I'm trying to make people independent," she says. |