I feel obligated to call out my fellow designers and decorators. I’ve noticed a trend in decorating that really bothers me. If you read the shelter magazines regularly, you’ll notice that room after room features all white upholstery.

Really? Who lives like that?

When asked about the practicality of this, the designer will typically say things like: it is a slipcover, easily removed and washed; the fabric has been treated with a stain protector; it’s an indoor/outdoor fabric and is easy to clean.

But is there anyone who has so little to do that they want to give more of their precious time to cleaning and laundering the upholstery? My responses to the above explanations are: removing, laundering and replacing slipcovers is hard and time consuming; stain protector or not, a guest sitting and drinking something like red wine is still going to make you nervous; indoor/outdoor fabrics are great but even they get dirty and require cleaning.


I guess the reason this trend bothers me so much is that I want to design rooms that people actually live in and enjoy. In most houses, it is just not practical to have something in a space that you’ll constantly need to worry about. That includes a rug that is easily stained, upholstery that is difficult to clean, and surfaces that are easily marred. When I was growing up, many families had rooms that were pretty much off limits to children and pets. People just don't live like that any more. Real estate in a house is generally too valuable to devote space to rooms that are rarely used.

Yes, all that white can look lovely when the room is first finished, staged and photographed. Let's see the same room a year later after it has been lived in!  I seriously doubt it will be so pristine. Come on designers, there are so many beautiful upholstery fabrics that work better for real families than white, no matter how much we tell ourselves that it is easy to clean!

A LITTLE FLUFF. . . 

My daughter and I have been having fun decorating the little house she is renting. The first order of business was paint. The landlord painted every room in the house beige with pink undertones. Although many people think "beige goes with everything", this beige didn't look good with any of the brightly colored furnishings we wanted to use. Fortunately, the landlord was willing to let us repaint with any color we chose. I have a lot of experience with painting, so the only cost was for paint. For about $35 dollars per space, we were able to make big changes. The changes in wall color made a huge difference in how her things looked in the house and how she felt in her rooms. Now, the spaces look young and fresh. Just right for a couple of girls out of college and just testing their wings. 

How about turquoise?
 More pictures to follow

I want to encourage all of you renters out there to paint your spaces if possible.  We may have to repaint when my daughter moves out but she really wants to enjoy this house and make it her home.

Money well spent.