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BY CONNIE ADAIR SPECIAL TO THE STAR
You have a room that needs decorating, but you just walk away. When
you return, the job is done.
Sound great? It happens to homeowners all the time on the television
show, The Decorating Challenge.
The show's host, Renee Montpellier, dares friends to make over a room
in each other's house. With the help of professional designers and
carpenters,
the decorating teams must complete the job in 18 hours, on a $1,000
budget.
A recent project transformed two identical townhouse master bedrooms,
taking the bland rooms and spicing them up using some creative decorating
ideas.
Bedroom one belongs to Penny Simmons, who requested an airy and cozy
space, and no bright red colours, before turning the project over to
friends.
Project decorator and artist Jane Hall, of
Jane Hall Artworks, says the inspiration for the room came from one
of her acrylic paintings
of a fantasy room. The painting hangs at the head of the bed. To start,
walls were transformed from 'beige to "grayed bluegreen," says
Hall.
" You -don't need fancy finishes. The use of colour can change any environment
drastically."
Colour isn't anything to be afraid of. If you are unsure about your
colour choice, buy, a small can of paint, paint a corner of the room
and see how
you like it, she says.
Look at it at different times of the day, because the changing light
will affect what the colour looks like, Hall says. "Leave it for
a couple of days and look at it in the daylight and in the evening.
Yellow can turn
to butterscotch at dusk."
If you don't like the colour, just paint over it.
Some people shy away from using deep colours in small rooms, but Hall
says these are the colours that
make a space cozy and warm.
"People are sick of beige and are moving to opulent richer colours." In
this room, a tea-stained look prevails, with the use of soft blues, greens
and
warm browns. Furniture, was refinished, with a primer, base coat and
'a glaze rubbed on.
A chair with a wooden frame was upholstered with canvas. After primer
was applied, the canvas was painted in a brightforal design using acrylic
paint. At least two coats of a flexible floor cloth varnish ensures the
chair is durable and spills can be wiped up.
For window coverings and a -canopy for the bed, Hall used sari fabric,
a transparent and embroidered material that lends a soft flowing look.
Different fabrics and textures were used throughout the room, from velvet
pillows to embroidered organza bedding, which Hall found at Wonderful & Whites
on
Front St. E. During a trip to the fabric stores in the Queen and Bathurst
area, Hall found all the remnants she needed for a selection of beautiful
pillows. Fringes and tassels were added for a rich romantic look. A pillow
that bears a shoe design was a gift from Timeless Treasures in Cambridge,
says Hall. An arrangement of sil-ver frames with a touch of gold and
double mats have colour photocopies of shoes. Rather than go to a specialty
store for expensive frames, Hall found the frames at Loblaws for $11.99
each.
Finding good buys, such as the sari fabric, picture frames and remnants
for the pillows, was important to bring the project in on budget without
sacrificing the polished look of the finished project.
---Next time: Suite Ideas looks at the master bedroom makeover for Mari
Lynn Knudsen. The Decorating Challenge airs daily on the Women's Television
Network
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