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What's your Style?

• Ask yourself some questions. What are some words that describe you and the way you like to live? Think of as many words as possible and write them down. Words such as formal, casual, playful, serious, contemporary, light, natural, soft, clean, rich, warm, traditional, etc. What are some of your favorite objects in your house? Think about your home now. What do you own that you feel is the piece that best represents your style? What are your interests outside of work? Do you enjoy the outdoors, gardening or sports? Or do you prefer to curl up with a good book? Think about how your home can reflect you and your lifestyle.
• Start to collect pictures of decorative details you like, anything that inspires you, color palettes, furnishings, fabrics. Keep all of these tear sheets in a notebook.
• Your home should be an expression of who you are. Try not to copy someone else's style. Take what you like about something and make it your own.

Architectural Detailing

• If your home is lacking in architectural interest, add some. The ideal room has good bone structure with classic proportions. If this is not true in your case, some simple steps can be taken to create architectural harmony. Molding can bring instant character to a space while it simultaneously transforms its scale. Moldings can make a ceiling appear higher or longer. They can add definition to a bland stretch of wall, provide the necessary transition for a change in color or texture, or simply frame specific areas for display.
• Baseboard molding is what you find attached horizontally to the base of a wall. The effect is a neat, finished look to a traditionally shaped wall.
• Chair rail molding is a strip of trim attached horizontally to the wall around chair back height, usually 3 feet from the floor. It can provide you with two separate spaces for a variation in color or material.
• Cornice molding is a strip of trim attached to the top of a wall where it meets the ceiling. Its purpose is to hide any unevenness, and to give the wall a decorative finished look. Styles vary greatly from crisp and contemporary to a very elaborate, formal finish.
• To add some interest to a tall plain wall, divide the wall with a chair rail molding. Paint the top half of the wall with one color and the lower half in another. You can create a lot of impact with a dramatic color scheme or make it a subtle play on color with a slight variation in hue or color value.
• To add height to a short wall, install cornice molding and paint it the same color as your wall. A simple crown molding would add interest without overpowering the small space. The molding is actually installed to overlap the ceiling, which gives you a little extra visual space.
• There are many other ways of adding architectural details to your rooms - columns and pilasters, picture frames and mirror frames, shelves and book cases, mantels or window frames?he possibilities are endless. Look at your space in a bare state to focus on its proportions. Determine what it needs to achieve a harmonious balance. Paint can often be used to achieve some of the same visual effects as molding. You can experiment with paint in slightly lighter and darker hues to create architectural impact. For instance, instead of using chair rail to separate a flat lifeless wall, try painting a band of color around the room at the chair rail height.

Color

• Color sets the mood of a room.
• As you go about planning color palettes for your rooms, start with one color and decide each time why you need an additional one. This prevents you from overdoing it. Often three colors can create just the right amount of interest.
• Layer color subtly. Different values of the same hue or the same values of slightly varying hues inspire the eye. Observe these transitions in color through nature - the range in tones found on the bark of a tree or depth of color found in a handful of soil. Notice the saturation of color found in nature's greens and the way it transforms - from moss to lichen to boxwood.
• You can let just about anything be the inspiration for your color palette - a favorite color, an heirloom rug, a Monet or Matisse, a vintage scarf, fall foliage or spring blooms. Find colors that move you. Color can be used to transform walls or to simply add interest with a pillow. Take it as far as you like.

Fabric

• Fabrics allow you to play with color and pattern in small steps. You can start as small as a throw pillow or footstool. When working with small accents you can easily change your fabric seasonally or when you're simply tired of a print you couldn't live without last year.
• When working with solid fabrics, consider looking at textural fabrics such as chenille, linen, corduroy, raw silk, or velvet - anything to give you some depth and interest.
• What fabrics fit into your lifestyle and personality? If you want simple, clean classic, look at a cotton duck, linen, muslin or canvas fabric. If you're looking for rich, warm elegance, try chenille, velvet, suede, silk, or damask.

Flooring

• A floor accounts for one third of the visual space of a room and usually one third of the decorating budget.
• The type of floor you choose should be determined by the room's function, taste, budget, and the amount of upkeep required. You must never lose sight of the reality that floors are to be walked on.
• Should your floor set the stage or steal it? If you have a lot of emphasis on decor at eye level you may want some neutral space at ground level. On the other hand if you are in need of some visual interest, your floor can be just the place to add it. This can be achieved with a mixture of pattern and color.

Furniture

• The furniture you select and place in your rooms should speak of your personal style of living. It must support your physical and psychological needs.
• Be careful to select inviting, comfortable pieces that fit your lifestyle. You don't want to design a room for show. You live in these rooms, not your guests. Choose pieces that speak to you - a chair you want to sink into, a trunk that reminds you of a loved one, a chest of drawers passed down through generations. Let your rooms tell your story.
• Over-accumulation of furniture can make a room feel lifeless and cluttered. Keep rooms simple with pieces you need. A few great pieces will stand alone.

Finishing touches

• Surround yourself with your favorite things. Let go of things you no longer have use for. When you look at your rooms, imagine they were going to be photographed for an interior design magazine. What objects or clutter would you whisk away first?
• Bring something organic into a space which lacks luster. Fresh flowers or an arrangement of twigs, stacked river stones or a bowl of pears, even dried or pressed flowers can breath new life into your rooms.
• Know that your favorite books, that sketch you brought back from Paris, and the pictures of your family and friends, all have a place in your home.

*Note: Information in this section are the propriety of Pergo Laminated Floorings.