The New York Times July 28, 1994, Thursday, Late Edition - Final LENGTH: 1358 words HEADLINE: One-Day Decorators: Strictly a la Carte BYLINE: By TERRY TRUCCO BODY: She scrutinized the living room, a snug, cream-colored rectangle crammed with a mix of framed prints, bric-a-brac and furniture that ranged from a handsome drop-leaf table to an awkwardly carved wooden lamp. Then, after a searching talk with the owner, a businesswoman who bravely announced "Anything can go," she began moving things. She lugged a faded sofa, circa 1960, from in front of the window to a spot opposite the fireplace; set a pair of low slipcovered chairs across from each other near the ends of the sofa, and politely suggested finding a new home -- the basement, perhaps? -- for the carved lamp and a wing chair that loomed inelegantly over the entire room. Setting aside the owner's least favorite prints, she rehung the rest, leaving several spaces bare. "The eye needs a resting place," she explained. She enumerated the merits of a new slipcover for the sofa and suggested a soft fabric window shade to replace the metal Venetian blinds -- "They look a bit dormish," she said. Zeroing in on a rickety wood planter, she consigned it to the basement, but not before taking two of the leafiest plants and arranging them in a large basket on the floor. A little more than two hours later, the room looked airy and less cluttered. After compiling a suggestions list for future improvements, Ms. Ward was ready to collect her check (she charges $195 to redecorate rooms less than 19 by 19 feet and $300 for larger rooms) and leave. "I never know what to expect when I walk in the door," she said. "But with this job I'm used to thinking on my feet." Her 13-year-old business -- it can be reached at (212) 288-8888 -- qualifies Ms. Ward as a trailblazer among the one-day decorators, a small but diverse group in sync with the frugal, scaled-down style of the 90's. Mostly, the one-day specialists address decorating's prosaic, but often confusing aspects -- fabric and paint, furniture arrangement, space planning and other basics. "A lot of people with great design ideas have problems with practical matters, like spatial issues," Ms. Ward said. "They see a color that looks great on a swatch but looks awful when it goes up on a wall." So business is brisk. Another Manhattan decorator, Barbara Landsman, reaches a national audience with her Dial-a-Decorator telephone advisory line, (212) 799-5586 or (800) 486-7336. For a $100 check, Ms. Landsman studies clients' rooms from photographs, blueprints and even videotapes, then calls them back with ideas. Many of the problems she uncovers are technical. "If a room is too dark, the lampshades are often paper," she said. (Her advice: replace the paper with something more translucent.) Like many one-day decorators, she maintains it is not necessary to set foot in a room to give good ideas. She started her business eight years ago, she said, because she found she was constantly giving free advice on the phone. She does, however, make house calls in Manhattan. House calls, priced at $125 an hour with a two-hour minimum, are the specialty of Joann Eckstut and Sheran James of Room Redux, a service they started in New York in 1992. Though the two women do rearrange furniture, they spend much of their time suggesting color schemes, fabrics and tiles and devising a new concept for the space. A few days after the visit, clients receive a customized workbook that details ideas for each room -- "For your windows, we would recommend a simple curtain treatment because the windows are so nice," reads one bedroom entry -- and lists sources. Their number is (212) 534-6319. For those willing to pay the price, many well-known designers are also available for one-day consultations. The New York designer Alexandra Stoddard cut back her long-term projects in favor of one-day consultations in order to have more free time for her writing. "If you have the experience, you can decorate a whole house in a day, without question," said Ms. Stoddard, who charges $3,500 for a day that includes visits to source shops in Manhattan, and lunch. The session, in which clients are urged to take copious notes, covers floor plans, color schemes and lighting, as well as some of Ms. Stoddard's quick tips like "Every room needs a touch of yellow for warmth, whether it's a polished brass candlestick or a bouquet of tulips." She can be reached at (212) 289-5509. Unlike conventional decorators, who handle a project's every facet -- choosing cabinetmakers, overseeing the painters, buying fabrics, shopping for furniture -- one-day decorators are essentially consultants. It is up to the client to get the job done. Most offer some follow-up help, but the largesse is limited. Time-consuming questions usually require a second session and a second fee. "When you hire me as a consultant, you get my undivided attention for one day," Ms. Stoddard said. For clients willing to do the legwork, the one-day decorator's appeal is obvious. With flat fees or hourly rates, the bill is rarely an unpleasant surprise. And most one-day decorators happily work with what the client already has. Since it is up to the client whether to implement the decorator's suggestions, the a-la-carte decorator can seem less intimidating than a full-project person, who many homeowners fear will come in, take charge of their lives and leave his or her signature everywhere. For no additional charge, many one-day decorators also arrange for clients to visit showrooms that normally deal exclusively with the trade. Ms. Landsman sends an introductory letter to showrooms in the client's city, then advises on fabric or wallpaper samples the client sends her. Some, including Room Redux and Use-What-You-Have, will shop with the client as well, usually for an hourly fee. Should a client decide to buy from a showroom, these decorators handle the transactions, sometimes charging less than the usual 40-percent markup. Ms. Stoddard often includes visits to trade-only places in her day's itinerary, but does not send clients in on their own. Many people just want a fresh pair of eyes for rooms that need little more than fine-tuning. Dr. Ranee Shenoi Bear and her husband, Dr. Norse Bear, who work at New York Hospital, said they knew they needed a decorator after they installed an imposing teak entertainment cabinet in their snug, two-bedroom apartment. The living room suddenly seemed crowded and "very blocky," Dr. Ranee Bear said. But since the couple planned to stay just one more year in their apartment, costly alterations were out of the question. So the Bears called in Ms. Ward of Use-What-You-Have Interiors, who made small but telling changes. She rehung the artwork, recommended new lamp shades and suggested replacing a contemporary light fixture that didn't mesh with the traditionally furnished room. For a jolt of color, she moved a chair with burgundy-and-gold stripes from the foyer to the living room. And she advised replacing a contemporary-style sofa with a classic model from the Door Store. Michelle Nicole Wesley, a fashion and lingerie designer, neither wanted nor needed a new design for her white-on-white apartment in Greenwich Village. But before building a floor-to-ceiling bookcase in her living room, she called in Room Redux for a second opinion. "This bookcase is going to be large, and it could look really awful," she told them. After discussing ideas for the bookcase's location and appearance, Ms. Wesley and the two decorators turned their attention to the room's quirky collection of furniture, collectibles and what Ms. Wesley calls "junk." They lined up a trio of metalwork chairs near a window and found a prominent spot for an Art Nouveau-style end table with a base of metal flowers that light up. "We normally do much more to an apartment," Ms. James said. "But sometimes the client just doesn't need it." And therein lies one of the joys of one-day decorating: there is never any question of when to stop. GRAPHIC: Photos: Dr. Ranee Shenoi Bear, left, receives a new sofa, suggested by her designer. (pg. C1); One-Day Decorator at Work -- Lauri Ward, in black, helps Dr. Ranee Shenoi Bear transform the living room mostly by using things the Bears already have.; Brand New Look -- Dr. Ranee Shenoi Bear and Dr. Norse Bear in their "new" living room. (pg. C4) (Photographs by Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times) |