Skylight Can Help Brighten Dark Living Room

QUESTION: My living room is dark, with a window at one end. How can I brighten the space?

ANSWER: One of the most obvious solutions, if you have a one-story home, is to install skylights. These can be designed in many ways and styles to be compatible with the design of your home. They work wonders and can be most attractive.

Mirrors can be used on the wall opposite the existing window to reflect the view and available light. You should also use light, bright colors on walls and furniture. The addition of brass accents, such as brass-and-glass tables, etageres and lamps add reflective sparkle.

Wonderful effects can be achieved with indirect lighting such as strip lighting behind crown molding to give a glow to the upper areas of the spacer. Also, in a contemporary setting one could use strip lighting under a modular sofa or platform bed.

DEBORAH LOCKE-KAHN

Chairman of the Board,

San Diego chapter, ISID

Interior Designers Must Pass Examination

Q: What kind of examination are interior designers required to pass?

A: Interior designers who apply for membership in most design societies are required to pass an examination referred to as the National Council Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ). Prerequisites for membership in these organizations are education (48 semester hours or 72 quarter units of interior design subjects), experience and examination.

Membership in the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) falls into two categories. Allied Membership is for those who have the required units of interior design education. It is available upon graduation, permitting these designers to participate in ASID while accumulating their work experience to qualify for the examination. The appellation: Allied Membership ASID.

Professional membership is achieved upon passing the entire NCIDQ examination. The appellation is ASID.

The examination conducted by NCIDQ is a two-day process covering the entire scope of interior design, both contract and residential. Specifically, such subjects as lighting, building codes, fire codes; handicapped codes, architectural symbols, drafting, rendering, history of architecture and furniture, business practices and professional ethic are covered. Also, solving a design project that involves space planning, furniture arrangement, lighting, plumbing, etc.

Organizations requiring the NCIDQ examination for membership are: American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), International Society of Interior Designers (ISID), Council of Federal Interior Designers (CFID), Institute of Business Designers (IBD), Institute of Store Planners (ISP), Interior Designers Education Council (IDEC) and Interior Designers of Canada (IDC).

Ann Vonn, ASID

Pasadena

Old and New Can Blend Very Nicely

Q: Our taste in art has been changing and now is very modern, but our home is traditionally styled and some of our furnishings are treasured family heirlooms. Without making a lot of big changes in our house and storing the heirlooms, how can we use the art?

A: An eclectic look is one of my favorites. Traditional furnishings and contemporary art can live together very comfortably. In fact, each makes the other more interesting by virtue of the contrast. Paint the walls a light neutral color to better display both the art and the heirlooms; then add a piece or two of contemporary furniture. Arrange your furniture so that the art will hang above an heirloom, or place a modern sculpture on a traditional table. With this small effort and few changes, you should have a warm, inviting, eclectic home.

ELEANOR CORKLE, ISID

Palm Springs

This column is prepared by members of the American Society of Interior Designers and International Society of Interior Designers. Readers with questions may write “Design Solutions,” P.O. Box 1033, La Canada, Calif. 91012.