Analyze your First impressions 

It is essential that you spend as much quiet time as possible assessing the various elements of your room. Take it slowly. Judge it carefully. Take notes. Do not rely on your memory and ask yourself these questions: 

Does anything jar or seem immediately wrong to you?  If so, what?  Does the room have a good atmosphere?  Seem comfortable?  Is it a room you’d like to spend time in?  If not, why not?  Is the lighting working well?  Do you like the colors?  The arrangement of furniture?  The furniture itself?  What about the scale?  And the style?  Does it seem to fit with the general ambience of the house?  What about the window treatments?  Is there much textural contrast in the room?  How much pattern is there?  If there are several patterns, do they go well together?  Take a hard look at the flooring. Does it add or subtract from the general look and feeling of the space?  What about the accessories and the art?  Do they give interest and individuality to the room?  

Assess the Light Factor 

The light factor is of primary importance. In looking at your room by day, judge both the quantity and quality of the light that comes through the window(s). In a way, the worse the weather the more realistic your appraisement can be, although it is always a good idea to judge it in good weather as well. The kind of light that comes in, as well as the view out of the window, should be one of the chief factors in making decisions about color schemes and whether they should be in the warm or cool category. 

Always view your room at different times of the day and you can see exactly what needs doing with the lighting. Always bear in mind that almost all types of rooms need three different types of artificial light: 

 Ambient or general light

 Work or task light

 Accent light

All too often, the only light sources initially thought about are the solitary ceiling light fixture and the odd lamp, when the ideal is to have a mixture of recessed downlights and adjustable spots on separate dimmer switches to provide both ambient light, to see your way around the room, and accent light, to highlight art, plants and objects. A well lit room also needs table lamps, either on dimmer switches, or with three way bulbs to provide both work light and soft ambient light, if there is no possibility of recessed ceiling light. And finally, there should be a mixture of adjustable spots and wall washers (ceiling recessed, if possible) as well as angled floor-based uplights to stand in corners, behind plants and objects, to provide accent light. If recessed ceiling lights are not an option, then you may want to consider adjustable floor and floor-based up lights as well as miniature adjustable spots for tables and shelves and the table lamps.

Assess the Current Color Scheme 

Is it peaceful? Is it stimulating?  Does it jar?  Or is it just blah?  Does it seem to you that the wall colors are passable but the accent colors are not?  Can there be partial improvements say to the wall color, or even just the trim which will make a big difference?  Would adding a border or a chair rail make a difference?  What would it look like with one color above and a different tone of the same color or a contrast color below?  What about the floor color and the upholstery?  And the accessories: the pillows, throws, ornaments, plants, flowers, objects, art, books?  Do they look good in the room? Do they need supplementing or re-arranging to add more spark?

Once taking some time to read your room and analyzing how you feel about your space, think about what you’d like to do to make it look and feel the way you want. Contacting your local Interior Decorator, Venetia Boyd would be a step in the right direction to assist you with those needs while helping you define and explore your taste, develop a plan to incorporate various elements to turn your space into the WOW you dream of having, and best of all, one that is uniquely tailored to YOU. Don’t you want to LOVE THE SPACE YOU’RE IN?  SURE YOU DO!  Call me today, 410-531-6945.