The 1 Day Home Makeover Interior Design Course by REFIND

DETERMINING THE PROS & CONS OF THE SPACE

Have you ever looked at one of the rooms in your house and thought “What is wrong with this room? Why can’t I figure out how to fix this?” These are the questions this course is designed to address and answer.

In order to get started, stand at the threshold of whichever room you’ve decided to tackle. I want you to take an inventory of all the pros and cons of the space. Pretend you’re a doctor examining a patient and, with a completely clinical and non-judgmental eye, simply assess the physical state of your room.

Don’t forget: At this point we’re merely taking stock. We’re creating this list
to become more aware of what your assets and deficits are so that, going forward, you’ll be able to make choices that accentuate the positive, and if not completely eliminate the “negative”, at least downplay it.

Good decorating is very often a game of “smoke and mirrors”: downplaying the unattractive by bringing more focus to the best your room has to offer. To that end, here’s a breakdown of the biggest surfaces in your rooms and how to use them to your best advantage.

ITEMIZE THE CONTENTS OF YOUR ROOM

Now that you’ve taken stock of “the big picture”, i.e. your space and all of its fabulous features and flaws, you’re ready to look at its contents. What do you own?

Start by thinking about the largest pieces first. The sofa/sectional, a media cabinet/credenza/sideboard, bookcase/bookcases and a piano (if you own one), are generally the largest pieces in a Living Room. These are the building blocks and foundation pieces in the room. If you can establish their locations first, then you'll be able to build your floor plan around them.

EVERYTHING MUST GO!

Put on your comfy moving clothes because... it’s moving day!

Now that you’ve studied your room and have taken a complete inventory of all of its contents, it’s time to create a blank slate. This involves some literal heavy lifting, so make sure you have plenty of muscle on hand to assist. I recruit my contractor/handyman and his guys, and my assistant and I are also very much in the mix. Decorating is a very tactile, hands on endeavour and being in contact with what you own puts you on more intimate terms with it.

WHAT IS THE BEST LAYOUT FOR YOUR ROOM?

This phase is ultimately about creating the furniture layout that will become the foundation for your room.

Assess the shape and size of your room. Is it long and narrow or, is it more square? Is it odd and irregularly shaped? Think back to the first chapter: what do you want to emphasize and what needs to be minimized? For example, let’s say your room is long and narrow. A great way to counteract that is to “float” the furniture so that it runs perpendicular to the long walls. By de- emphasizing the length of the room, you’re tricking the eye into thinking that the room is actually wider than it really is.

HALFTIME REVIEW

As we did at the beginning of the process, let’s return to the entrance/ threshold of the room and take in the big picture. The physical act of stepping back shifts you into neutral gear. You’re not acting; you’re observing. We’re putting our lab coats back on and clinically assessing the current condition of the room.

Here are some questions to ask yourself.

GO AWAY!
You’ve been very physically active and mentally engaged, so now is the perfect time to leave the premises, hit the streets, and go shopping! I find it very hard to break away at this particular moment and have to force myself to leave the building. I want to stay in the trenches and continue to tweak and bang away at it. However, I’ve learned from a lot of experience that it’s essential to give your eye a rest so you can return to the process with a fresh perspective. The best way I’ve found to do this is to literally pick yourself up and go out into the world.

Once you’re out, follow my suggestions! 

TAKE A FRESH LOOK

Drop your bags, put your flowers in water and march right over to the threshold of the room for a third time. Now that you’ve had a good break away from home, you have a unique opportunity to survey the room again with fresh eyes. Take some time to really take it all in.