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Ask Décor Diva: Ideal Cushion Arrangement?
Raylene recently contacted The Design Tabloid to ask our resident Décor Diva some advice…
Raylene asks:
“I have two 2-seater neutral sofa’s and 2 wing-back chairs in my living room. I have bought new scatter cushions: a few striped, a few coordinating florals and a few plain.
My question is should the cushion arrangement be exactly the same on both the sofa’s or can I simply mix-and-match?“
Décor Diva says:
I would say go the mix-and-match route. You don’t want your décor to look like ‘paint-by-numbers‘.
Were I to be present there with you, I would probably play around a bit and have fun doing it. I would fiddle with the cushions as I mixed them up, until I hit a combination that I felt satisfied with. Then in all probability, in about a fortnight’s time I would fiddle again. That is the total beauty of scatter cushions. Just adopt a playful attitude and you will find a combination that will sit well with you. Even if in the end it does pan out that you landed up with the same arrangement on all the seats. At least you know that you went through the process of elimination.
Enjoy the process.
Love, Rose x x x
Design Titbit:
If you have a neutral or plain sofa like Raylene it is a good idea to have a complementing and well-balanced selection of plain, striped and patterned cushions. It adds interest and dimension to an otherwise boring space. Just a fair warning to not over do it – cushion are supposed to aid comfort and a sofa swimming in scatters are more of an irritant then anything else.
Image – Linen House SA: here
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A Love Affair With Interiors
Tabloid skinny – Read all about it! Read all about it! – The truth is out… about Rose’s love affair.
When I set out to write this post, I did not have the content that you will read below in mind. I find that happens to me more often than not. But I have learnt to allow the stuff in my head and in my heart just to flow out onto the page. I recall one of the most moving blog posts I have read was when Holly Becker of Décor8 wrote and told about her journey. She walked us through some of her childhood activities, likes and desires, right up to the present day, which as it turned out was the time of her book release and launch.
Seems that today it is my turn to tell a little of the story of my journey in the field of interior décor and design. Its more than a journey tale, it’s about a growing Love Affair with interiors. Something that was destined to happen, yet not planned. It is amazing that like Holly, I find myself taking this look back, at a critical juncture in moving forward to the next important stage of my business life.
I have no childhood memories that speak to me of an inner desire for interior décor. Unlike Holly, I cannot recall being drawn to décor books, mags or such like. I do however recall that I did love playing “housey-housey”, with the tea parties, doctors’ visit and the rest. It seems that home was always where my heart was.
Nevertheless, after matriculating I went onto study what I thought my destiny was going to be – social work. University was such a shock to me, I only did a one year stint there. Thereafter, as fate would have it, I went on to be involved with people and their houses. But as a “Housing Assistant” nothing could have been further away from interior décor – tenant welfare. (That social work side of me)
Fast forward a good couple of years to the year 19?? (Did you really think I was going to spill the beans!?)
It all started as a décor consultant largely in the residential line at one of Cape Town’s more prestigious retail outlets at the time, Milton’s Interiors. I had no particular passion for interiors, no particular desire to decorate and certainly no driving urge for fulfilment in this field. Every bit of knowledge I gained, came from being hands on, listening, observing and doing. After a few years, I had the courage to actually call myself a “decorator” since that was exactly what I was doing. It had indeed been a baptism of fire. Imagine working with Lady so-and-so, with the rock on her finger that would make Liberace look twice. Or Lord so-and-so. Or doing the State President’s Residence!
The Love Affair had begun to take root and by now I was seriously developing a strong passion for my work. It is only in looking back that I realise that I developed aspirations I had no awareness of at the time. I yearned then, as I yearn now to take this fabric and use it there; and take that paint and pop it onto that wall. My love for all things interiors has never faded. But I wanted more – something deep inside of me knew there was more to be experienced.
One of the four Irish hotels we did the décor for. The AbsoluteHotel.com in Limerick, Ireland.
It happened a few years ago; I had what you could call an “upgrade”. If I was an employee it would have been known as a promotion. Yippee! At that time we, as a company, managed to land the interior design & décor contract for an Irish developer’s hotels. It was a seriously challenging time, filled with new experiences, people, places, plenty of stress, loads of plane flights, critical deadlines and excitement galore.
My good friend and then business partner, Miranda and I on way to the AbsoluteHotel.com official launch. There is no party like an Irish party.
PLUS, I got to stay in Kit Kemp’s Soho Hotel; have drinks in her Charlotte Street and Haymarket Hotels. Together with my client, whose love for all things hotel were more operational than interior. I took a day to run in and out of London’s bars and restaurants. No, I had not died and gone to hotel interiors heaven, but it sure felt like it.
Having drinks at the gorgeous Haymarket Hotel in London. The interiors were designed by talented Interior Designer, Kit Kemp
I had hit another of my ever increasing “learning cycles”. I became more involved with the hard finishes, plans, space planning and all and all – even managed the construction lingo.
I now know that I had found in hotel interiors, my one true love. I am totally nuts about hotel interior design. Plus through all my years of working upmarket, I had developed an eye for seeing details that speak of LUXE.
But back to the fact that not only was I smitten, I realised just this year, that hotel interiors is my true calling. (Sounds really spooky but its true nonetheless).
I have many plans still to be fulfilled – a rather big vision ahead of me, but right now, I am setting out on a campaign to take those many hotel interiors in the 3 & 4 star / budget hotel category from “DRAB TO FAB“. And being that my motto is: home is where the heart is – my market is all hotels local and South African. (For starters)
Our DRAB TO FAB campaign that we unofficially launched the end of last year. It's our aim to give the South African hospitality sector a facelift.
I have some seriously strong views on matters such as: why should we who can only afford 3 & 4 star hotels, or budget stays, have to put up with room interiors that speak of mediocrity, are totally uninspired and drab. (But clean!) Is having a clean room with totally outdated furniture (believe me, not even your Uncle from Joshua Doore wants most of that stuff back again) meant to be good enough for us? Why should the budget stay guest have to settle for less? Why can we not have “Luxe for Less”?
Oh Boy – I am going to slow down here as I am burning up inside. I will leave that for my next post along these lines.
So, that is a touch of my story to date. I am very excited about the future and in particular this campaign and hope to be able to make a difference in the hotel interiors, so that we the guests can know that we matter – in all issues of hospitality service.
I would love to hear your story about your career, or your dream, or what your love affair is all about. Be it interiors, food, wine, travel, fashion, beauty – whatever. Hopefully you will take the time to write to me.
Thanks for listening. Yours in service of Interiors
Rose xxx
“Drab to Fab” and “Luxe for Less” is the intellectual property of Design Monarchy.
Related articles
- A reflection on 2011… (thedesigntabloid.com)
- It’s A Goal! (thedesigntabloid.com)
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To all our loyal blog subscribers…
First, we would like to thank you for all your awesome support and interaction – our favourite part of the day is hearing what you have to say. We love sharing our passion with you! We bequeath unto you the Design Monarchy Royal Seal Of Awesomeness - give yourselves a good ‘ole pat on the back! You guys & gals rock!
Then, you may have noticed that we are posting articles and design titbits more often in order to keep our readers in the know and bring you the design skinny as it happens. To those of you that feel a little overwhelmed by the amount of email posts & updates you receive from us in a week here is an easy solution…
Did you know you can edit your subscription setting in order to receive one email a week (every Monday) containing all our posts of the previous week.
Change your Subscription Settings if you want to receive only one email from The Design Tabloid every week:
Here is the easy step-by-step:
Step 1:
The next time you receive an email from The Design Tabloid (like this one), scroll right to the bottom. You will see a little WordPress toolbar (like shown in the image below). Click on “Manage Subscriptions“
Step 1
Step 2:
After clicking “manage subscriptions” you will be directed to the following page (as shown in the image below). This page lists all your WordPress blog subscriptions (you might have more or less blogs listed then showed here). Find “The Design Tabloid” and click on the “Delivery Frequency” drop down menu and change the setting for ”Immediate” to “Weekly on Monday“.
Step 3:
Click “Save Changes“
Step 2 & 3
Et voilà! You will now get one email with all your Design Tabloid goodness on a Monday! However, if like me you can’t wait to receive you daily blog updates – ignore everything I just said an keep your settings as is. To those who follow our blog regularly but are not yet subscribed, please feel to click on the “Follow” button on the top right hand of our blog page and enter your email address to receive frequent post and updates via email.
Thanks a stack guys and gals. We love you!
Freeworld Design Centre
By Marica
I’m sure you all have heard the name Freeworld Design Centre been thrown around of late. In fact, the South African blogosphere has been abuzz with Freeworld.
While doing some research for one of our Decorex blog posts, Rose & I came across the Freeworld Design Centre’s blog (a very good read, by the way) and even after reading their “About Us” page we still had a good “kop-krap” trying to fathom what exactly they do…
You might recognize these beautiful exhibition ”pods” – it’s part of Freeworld’s current exhibition and all the designers used Freeworld products and finishes (check out this Lanalou Style post – she took some gorgeous pics).
So recently, on another one of our Town Days, Rose and I decided to pop into Freeworld’s BEAUTIFUL showroom / studio to have a good look-around. Sameenah, one of Freeworld’s accommodating interior designers, gave us a tour and explained their services to us (it was a lightbulb moment).
Okay so let me give you the skinny on Freeworld Design Centre…
They are part of Freeworld Coatings Ltd (the guys who own Plascon, Midas, Earthcote, etc.). The Centre provides a decor consultation and 3D rendering service for architects, interior designers and decorators, property developers and owners. The Freeworld Design Centre is staffed by a team of leading local stylists, decor consultants and interior designers who in turn, are supported by top client service representatives from Plascon and Midas Earthcote. Now, if you are in the built-environment trade listen very carefully. This is how we procured their help and so can you…it is truly a valuable resource:
We chose the almost completed bedroom of one of our clients. The majority of the bedroom was upholstered in a very bold patterned fabric and the space contained many shiny, glam accents.
We felt that our client’s master bedroom needed a little of oomph. Maybe a very deep blue to neutralise and compliment the existing gold and bling? The problem though – how do we convince our client to paint the half of her bedroom in an indigo colour…even I would question such a bold colour choice. (Just a note to the reader – this bedroom is huge and can accommodate such a dark colour easily.)
We decided to book an appointment with a Freeworld consultant to discuss possible colour selections for the project.
I chatted with Kerstin, our helpful Freeworld consultant, about what we had in mind, and showed her photos of the bedroom thus far as well as samples of the various fabrics used in the room. She agreed that a bold deep blue would look smashing and assisted me in finding three blues that would complement and match the upholstery fabric.
I handed our photos over to the Freeworld team who then digitally “painted” selected walls. They work with the precise RGB code of the paint sample to get the finished digital colour as close to the real deal as possible. Depending on the project requirements, they can also add the accurate colour to your existing 3D model or draw up a complete 3D from scratch to illustrate the full effect.
Thus, you get a peak at how beautiful a bold blue could look in the space. We later added the paint colour to our 3D model and presented the whole lot to our client (who went for it hook, line and sinker).
Thanks Freeworld Design Centre!
Find their website: here, and be sure to check out their blog: here – it’s very inspirational and filled with useful tidbits.
Related articles
- Decorex CT 2011 – Interior Attractions With Lasting Impressions (thedesigntabloid.com)
- Why Decorex CT 2011 is going to be awesome… (thedesigntabloid.com)
- Decorex CT 2011 – Inspiring Designers (thedesigntabloid.com)
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Q & A with the Décor Diva
To kick off our brand new Décor Diva page we thought to post a little Q & A with Rose. In future, our Ask Décor Diva section is where you can send in your design & décor problems and questions for our Décor Diva (aka Rose) to solve. You can submit your questions here – we would love to help!
Here is the Q & A with Rose recently featured in City Magazine (Rose is City Mag’s Décor Editor)…
Inside the toolbox of Rose McClement, The Design Tabloid’s own Décor Diva:
Q: What’s the quickest way to ‘zhoozh’ up a room?
A: There are actually 2 inexpensive ways – paint and accessories. Look out for quality bargains with accessories.
Q: Tell us about your worst décor disaster, and how you fixed it…
A: I’ll tell you about a disastrous situation I encountered. A consultation at the house of a very nice English lady left me totally gob-smacked by what I encountered. First – the garden was littered with cats – cats everywhere – so many of them. Then, in the dining room I could not see the floor boards – it was literally covered in books, magazines, clothes, stuff, stuff and more stuff – about 5cm deep. The furniture and the dog in the lounge was out of a scene from Dickens’s “Great Expectations”- grey, old, tattered and the dog ate ash out of the fireplace. I had to stop myself from hotfooting it out of there, never to be seen again. But I sat through our session and told her I would be in contact. After much deliberation, I called her to advise my recommendation – that she needed to consider first addressing that which led to her ‘Clean House’ scenario. I offered to assist her in collecting all the goods scattered on the floor, packing them into boxes and then moving on from there. She was very gracious and mentioned that she had elicited the help of a dear friend to assist her tackle that task first. That was the end of that – I did not hear from her again. But I feel sure she was sincere in her desire to move on.
Q: What’s the most expensive piece of furniture you’ve ever bought – for a client, and for yourself?
A: For client: 1.60m diameter Pierre Cronje limed Ash dining room table valued at R47K. For myself – I generally up-cycle my furniture and the valuable items I have inherited.
Q: As a general rule, are expensive items always of better quality?
A: Undoubtedly – coming out of the tight economy, people are turning their Rands over a few times before spending it and hence looking for quality, not minding the spend, knowing it will last.
Q: What’s your absolute favourite part of your work?
A: Putting a scheme together, sourcing and researching the elements.
Q: What makes you weak at the knees? (Beautiful fabrics, lighting, furniture?)
A: Unquestionably, textures and colours – sometimes just looking at an image displaying good colour does it for me.
Q: What’s the first thing you do when you begin a project?
A: After the brief, we jump straight into research and development, that leads onto floor layouts etc.
Q: And the last, as you’re about to sign off?
A: Snagging is the last task for a project, just before slicing the cork off the champagne bottle (or the cheap bottle of wine, depending on the margins achieved).
Q: How hard is it saying goodbye to your rooms once you’re done with them? Are they like children to you, or can you make a clean break?
A: When we have worked on a project from scratch, getting fully involved is like nurturing a child to that place of release. There are some projects that I stay attached to and others not, but it would be best to detach.
Q: What do you think of the makeover décor shows on TV which have become so popular?
A: You know some are cool and others just plain predictable. My favourite –‘Dress my Nest’ presented by Thom Filicia (not featured lately though). I feel that there should be far more locally produced programmes. We have not even begun to mine the depth of SA’s talented people and products.
Q: Tell us about the most challenging project you’ve ever undertaken…
A: The Hotel projects in Ireland, as we had to fly over every month for site visits. Plus we took on the challenge of working long distance, including the manufacture of big ticket items to be installed in Ireland.
Q: The highlight of your career?
A: The formation of Razor Interior Design – the company I formed with my friend when we received our hotels commission. It was an absolute dream comes true for me.
Q: Weirdest request from a client ever? (You don’t have to name names.)
A: It was for the same English lady, whose boyfriend muttered as we walked into her house “are they joining the ranks of designers whose bones are scattered in the garden”. I had to try and measure her windows for curtains, with the contents of her cupboards piled about 5cm deep on the whole floor area. It was so scary.
Q: And your most shameful décor secret? (Eg. You still have curtains from the 1980s in your lounge.)
A: If I tell you it won’t be a secret anymore will it? Suffice to say – the adage is: “History repeats itself” and it does in our trade. Still being here to see the return of so many trends – OMG – the secret is out: I’ve have been in the decorating trade for ages.
Q: What makes you good at your job?
A: A wealth of experience and knowledge accumulated over the years, keen eye, network of suppliers and the ability to communicate with clients and all parties. Yada, Yada, Yada…..
Q: Who were/are your design mentors?
A: A great deal of my career has involved being self-taught. Because I am a local-is-lekker person, I would say that Mr Thomas Milton and Stephanie Kux (my first bosses) were my foundational mentors. Mr Milton transferred to me the appreciation of antique furniture. I also hold Lynn & Sibylle McAdam of Block ‘n Chisel fame, in high esteem. Lynn started Biggie Best many years ago, sold it and later teamed up with her husband (talented in woodwork) to form Block ‘n Chisel.
Q: If you weren’t an interior designer, what would you be doing?
A: Career wise – anything to do with communications. That is my other passion. Someone once told me I sound like Lisa Chair, previously of Cape Talk. They should never have said that. It sparked my fantasy of being a talk show host. Family wise – I would just love to be a full time Granny, because my grandchildren are simply the best.
Q: And what’s your ‘golden nugget’ of décor advice?
A: Discover your authentic décor style. Do this by collecting pictures of the interiors that appeal to you. Thereafter, survey the images again and you will find your authentic décor style emerging. Stick with it for as long as it is around. Remember that as you grow & evolve as a person, so will your style. Just remain authentic.
Q: What’s the most important bit of advice you have ever been given?
A: Love what you do, and do what you love – live the inspired life.
Related articles
- Introducing Décor Diva! (thedesigntabloid.com)
