Surely, you’ve heard this at some time. In essence it means, what are you, I or we talking about? Or what are we looking at? Or even, why? The phrase can also be applied in decorating; that is, what is the point (purpose in this case) of the room? What is its focal point?
The room below is clearly a media room to which I may add, a media room to die for–or at least, to daydream about and wish for. The screen is the focal point, complemented with a beautiful neutral decor. It’s not boring because it’s accented with black frames, tables, even the base of the lounges; the taupe decorative pillow; and the texture in the carpet against the smooth leather.
So what do you think is the point of the next room? Ok, that’s an easy question. It’s a multipurpose room and its focus is entertainment and social interaction:
Creating a focal point doesn’t mean you have to have a lot of space. Sharing office space with a bedroom can easily blur the focal point but it’s really not that hard to still have a focal point, such as a design style. Check out the next three examples, also from Houzz.com:
Here’s a really small space but it’s effective and inviting–all accomplished with a smart decorating style, contrasting neutral colors of black, white and gray. The violet warms the color scheme:
And if elegance and period pieces speak to you but square footage is a problem, creating a focal point for a bedroom/office is still achievable as illustrated here:
Yes, creating a focal point in a room can be a color or a specific decorating style. It can also be based in a theme– an art gallery in a dining room.
From My Olioboard, Art and Dining. Of course, the purpose of this room is dining. Yet, its focal point is the art. Oh . . . alright, you could say the dessert is the focal point!
In decorating, the point is to define the space. But in that space, a focal point gives cohesion to all surrounding objects in the room be it theme or a design style, even in dual purpose room.
What’s the focal point of the room you sitting in right now? Please, do tell!
Ever walked into your home, looked around and wondered where did all that mismatched stuff come from? Was it impromptu buying when something caught your eye and you were sure it went with your . . . well, your style. You got married. Wedding gifts. Two-household stuff that you were going to edit. Years of garage and store sales. A divorce and you fought to have that stupid chair just because . . . well, because. Ever wonder, “Can’t I just do a do over” but where to start!
Empty the room? Sleep in a sleeping bag and have picnics on a blanket on the floor? That certainly sounds like fun . . . maybe when you’re in your twenties. It’s a bit radical by the time you reach 40 or 50 years of age.
There are other ways. You could use graft paper, take pictures of your stuff and play around with photos on a design board. Collect paint chips and fabric swatches and add that to your design board. You could purchase a floor plan software. Or you could just start with ripping out pages of your ideal room from home decorating magazines.
Here’s where I suggest two other options that are simply more fun and the only expense is your time. I love to use them to stage my decorative pillows.
WE’LL START WITH OPTION 1: OLIOBOARD
You really can start with an empty room on Olioboard.com. Interior decorators use it to help clients with visualizing a proposed design. The site lists several background styles of rooms and thousands of products to create your room. If you don’t find what you want in the Olioboard library, such as that buffet you inherited from your grandmother, you can take a picture of it and upload it to your olioboard.
Oh, did I mention the best part? It’s free and anyone can join. You can upgrade to add text and paint colors to the wall. You can make your board private or public. There are lots of imaginary room designs you can view and vote on. Better yet, it’s very easy to get a price and location for most products.
A caveat: The boards are one dimensional, and so it can be challenging to place certain pieces as they should be placed, such as what I had done with the blank room above. Here’s a very incomplete version of it here:
Scaling is a challenge but fun, particularly for this type of layout. Check out the next one.Practice makes better, as it did in my fireside chat imaginary room. Would you like to join me for a brandy? The glasses are already there, just waiting for us. And of course, the lovely orange pillows are from my Annsliee shop.The color combination in this living room vignette is fast becoming one of my favorites–soft blue, hot orange and black accents.
OPTION 2: POLYVORE
I started using it several months ago and must say, I found it easier to use and with more features. Such as adding color and wall paper to the walls. Products are abundant and like Olioboard, you can upload products you found on the internet. If you like the product, want to learn more about it and purchase it, you can do so with just the click of a few buttons–and of course a credit card!
Both Olioboard and Polyvore have communities and groups you can join. Polyvore groups often have contests, many of them sponsored with prizes for first place winners. I recently sponsored a great Polyvore contest with a prize that went to “Eyesondesign.” See my post on And the Winner Is . . .
Try them both if you like. But I must warn you, both can be addictive. Both are fun. I simply like the idea of do-it-yourself designing before spending and being able to create a more realistic budget. One other thing, look for a floor plan similar to yours and that will help tremendously as you imagine and plan your decorating project.
Be it a book or magazine on home decorating or an ad or a pinned photo of a room, there in place is invariably a decorative pillow. Even bedrooms already dripping in just pillows to lay your head on will be accented with a decorative pillow. In Etsy alone there are over 281,000 (as of a several days ago) decorative pillows listed, leaving it unimaginable to suggest how many there are just on the internet!
And so I find myself wondering what is this love affair we have with decorative pillows? Why do we even think we want, no, need them? What emotional need do they fill? Yes, of course they give support for weak or tired backs, comfort a heavy head. You can hug them for emotional support and not look odd, as you would being an adult hugging a teddy bear. You can travel with them be it in a car or airplane. But when it comes to the home, we invest in “just the right insert” or what we can afford. Then we invest even more with covers made of luscious, expensive fabrics, inexpensive fabrics, designer fabrics, barn yard fabric, patched fabrics. Even then, that’s not enough. We adorn it with thick brush trims, wooden and glass beaded trim, ball trim, flanges, welts, and more.
For me, pillows are like canvases on which art is created whether by piecing fabric, weaving fibers or applying textiles designed by others. We build upon it to create a new, enhanced design. And I’ll stretch this even further to suggest, like good art (in the eyes of the beholder) and fine wine, a beautiful pillow gives more than just comfort. It feeds our psyche.
Inserting just the right amount of decorative pillows to feed your psyche offers an infinite number of possibilities. Here are just a tiny, tiny few found on Houzz.com:
Recently, one of Annsliee’s most popular lumbar pillows was shown in a master bedroom decor on apartmenttherapy.com. It was a tour of Sarah and Brian Meek’s lovely home, a 1000 square foot “salvaged” home. In her blog, Sarah takes us on their journey of buying an old house, tearing down a wall to open up the place, and purchasing treasured finds from Craigslist to Ikea to estate sales to West Elm to even a “garbage pick.”
Their decorating scheme is especially interesting: a neutral background wall color, soft medium gray, that ties the rooms together and then splash the rooms with accent colors, such as green, medium dark wood furnishing, and yellow being one of the dominant accents. Keeping the gray wall color scheme from becoming too monotonous, they change it up in one room with an exciting gray and white reinterpreted chevron pattern. Decorating is always a challenge and it often never seems to end. But when approached as a journey, with lots of love, patience, and just plain hard work, every effort is a reward to be savored. Two thumbs up to the Meeks on a successful “salvaged home” project!
Is that an old metal shelf painted green to complement the mirror frame? Great textures, mix of styles and earthy colors.Great reinterpretation of a chevron pattern on the wall.The gray is even brought into the kitchen above the cabinets but they introduced a gray squares under the cabinets, and again their is a splash of the happy color of yellow.The collection of photos and prints in white frames both contrast and balance the wood cabinet, a lovely and successful vignette!Gray is a cool, no nonsense neutral color. Here it is paired with a warm happy color such as yellow and becomes a stable foundation that ties the whole house together. Of course, I must point your attention to one of Annsliee’s most popular lumbars taking center state on the bed! The fabric is a yellow organic denim accented with white cotton duck.
It’s the hot color for 2013. However, if you are a lover of neutral colors where do you add emerald green?
Start with an accent if you are feeling unsure. Making a huge investment on the latest color trend works well with those who have deep pockets. If this is a color you simply love, can’t live without and you want to go big, you can drown your walls in the color or punch it in with fabric, furniture–even a door.
It is indeed a delicious color and it would be fun to add a lot or even just a little emerald green to your home decor!
Found on Houzz.com. Definitely not overdone, you can easily repaint one wall and change out or cover the chair.From Home Decor and Design Ideas. Let’s face it, can emerald green really compete with Steve McQueen! Elle Decor. Now that’s what I call a cozy, yet dramatic statement! The emerald green wall has it’s own accent of a repeating gold medallion print. And of course, look at those pillows. Oh… that’s right… I make decorative pillows.Now, wasn’t there a song way back when, “What’s that peeking from behind the green door?”
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