wherefore art thou?

I love Shakespeare. You know I come by that honestly because my mother was an English professor back in the day, but I digress.

ART. It's the very first thing you should think of when you're designing a room. Why...because everything coming together in an interesting, pleasing and effectual way is art. Not everyone will love what you do, but be ok with that and do what genuinely makes you happy. How many times do people come over anyway?

Artists do that you know, when they exhibit their work. It takes a lot of courage to show what's inside out on a canvas for the world to see.

But how should you decide what your art will look like? It takes imagining the possibilities of the room itself. Normally, you'll have to take every scratch of furniture out of the room either in your mind or by enlisting a moving crew.

Rooms have architecture. Down here in Flo-ri-da, there is "architecture" all over everything. I was looking at a recently sold Mediterranean style home and good grief I have never seen so many arches in one room in all my life. It was positively dizzying. Sometimes drywall is the answer.

But many rooms don't really have any distinguishing architecture at all and this is where opportunity begins. Your furniture and even accessories can become architectural elements, shapes to appreciate against a blank canvas. A very simple room can serve as the perfect backdrop.

This is where I circle back to rugs. You knew it was coming. After all, it is the largest visual area of your room besides your walls and the flooring, which you will most likely cover...with a rug.

Rugs decide the mood and genre, even the simplicity or intricacy of a space. It can pull every piece together whether acting like a backdrop to your furnishings, or a fluid piece of art on your floor.

So many people do their rug dead last counting on finding the perfect rug with the perfect colors to match the paint, sofa, chair, art, flooring and pillows. What a nightmare. START WITH THE RUG! Sheez, I simply cannot understand why women are so stubborn about this one thing? Please comment below if you know because even I, as a woman, have no idea what this is about.

Best advice; Have a few of stars in your show and make everything else more simple. BTW, artistic and very creative people tend to want every piece to be a star. Whenever I tell my creative clients that little tidbit, I can see the lights go on. It makes me laugh. Try to have just a few artful items. This will make the space much less complicated so you can really appreciate the design of the beautiful pieces in your home.

Chose your art well and you are bound to find your Romeo.