Finished Look

After the flooring is installed, the crown molding goes up and the walls are painted; what happens next? Now homeowners are faced with decorating the space so that it feels finished. That can be the most difficult part of the process. When a room in your home does not feel finished, there will always be the need to shop for more things to make it feel finished. This leads to feelings of discontent when the one thing you brought home does not complete the room and you are in a constant cycle of buying and returning items. So how do we finish a room so that we can leave it alone for a while and go golfing? Let’s take a peek into the master bedroom of a Lantana that looks finished and done somewhere in the heart of The Villages.

• Visual Connections
The art of finishing a room is created by visual connections. Everything in the space has to have a visual connection somehow to everything else in the space.
The homeowners did a great job choosing the paint. The crown molding looked great but the room did not feel finished or pulled together. The homeowners wanted to keep the chairs, the antique table and the picture above the table. They were willing to replace anything else to get the room in shape so they could be done.

• Furniture
The bed is usually the focal point of the room but this bed did not have a headboard. The homeowners tried to get the look of a headboard using three Euro pillows along the back but it was not quite working. After considering the age of the old furniture the homeowners decided to get new furniture and it looks great! Not only does the furniture look fresh and new but it has some great features for comfort and convenience. The lamps plug into the headboard so that all there is to do is touch the side of the bed and the bedside lamp turns on. Also in the top drawers are outlets to charge phones and iPads. I love these features because it calms down clutter.

• Focal Point
The headboard and the larger side tables provide a strong focal point. In design the eye moves toward the largest wall and having a strong focal point on the wall makes everything feel better in the space. The lighter furniture is larger than the old furniture but it does not impose in the space because it is lighter. The room feels very balanced.

• Art above bed
We purchased a new picture for the focal wall over the bed. This new picture worked well with the existing picture that the homeowners wanted to keep in the space. The long and more narrow picture did show up better over the bed because there was no glare from the glass. The homeowners did want to keep the picture between the windows and I liked it too! We used the soft colors of the picture to inspire the art over the bed. The soft greenish blue hues of the water and the light tans of the sand and birds work well in the space. We created a visual connection between the two completely different pieces of art through color.

• Lamps
The new lamps are blue lattice porcelain with a glass base. They make a stunning presentation on each side of the bed and the line of blue around the shade is a great accent. The antique table received a coordinating touch of whimsy. The lamp is a stack of porcelain turtles in a crackled white finish. This lamp is a conversation piece wherever it finds a home. All of the lamps had a visual connection through color whereas the old brass lamps were too heavy for the lighter look.

• Bedding
The new bedding had to be light and the blues needed to be bright. We could not find what we wanted in a set so we created our own a la carte. We started with a white matelassé bedspread. The generous cut of the spread allows for washing and shrinking a bit. The euros purchased individually along the back of the headboard are a brighter teal blue that works with all the blues in the space. We used two standard shams to pop against the Euro pillows lining the back of the bed. The two shams and one of the accent pillows have a touch of the green that is found in the chairs. This green visually links the bedding and the chairs. The end of the bed received a duvet cover that matches the two standard shams. We folded and ironed it flat so that it will be easy to take off and put on each day. Using a duvet is great way to have a bed scarf at the bottom of the bed without having it custom made.

• Finished Look
In the before picture, the original bedding did not have enough in common with the two green chairs and the art above them to create a finished look. The green chairs and the bedding now share the same color palette. This creates a look of visual continuity and the room feels cohesive.

P.S. –Attention all club presidents! We give free decorating seminars. It is lots of fun and very informative. Call and schedule your club today. Also, we are on-line check out our web-site at www.finishingtouchfl.com and you can always e-mail us at ruth@finishingtouchfl.com. Call Ruth your full service decorator at 352-804-2056.

Before and After Pics Below