DECORATING ADVICE : A Red Flag Is Raised Over Black Draperies
Question: We are redoing one bedroom for my husband to use for his collections. The carpet is rich red. The wood is medium pine. We were considering using a gold wall coloring. What color would be best for the draperies? I was thinking of black.
Judi Perley
Answer: I would not use black draperies for your husband’s bedroom. With the rich red carpeting and gold walls, select a drapery of a rich navy blue, red and green plaid. You might try something from the Hunting Stewart clan. Use white for the ceiling color.
Q: I’ve recently purchased a condo on a lake, and I love everything about it, but I’m having trouble decorating the bathrooms. One has a light-avocado tile with a pale-green marble sink top. The floor is covered with white and sandy-gold ceramic tiles. There are two painted walls. The cabinet is veneered with a white, grained wood.
The other bathroom is tiled in a light robin-egg blue with a white tub and toilet and a white ceramic tile floor. The white is marbled with a taupe-like color. The sink is light blue with white marbling, and the cabinet matches the one in the first bathroom. The room has two walls that are papered. Both rooms are 5 by 7 feet.
Doma Albiero
A: In your light-green bathroom, paint the walls a rich sable brown. Apply a border paper of bright-red roses entwined in avocado leaves on a sandy-beige background. Hang a bright red shower curtain. On your wall surfaces, place handsome flower prints, framed in white and matted in avocado.
For the robin-egg blue bath, paint the walls a rich, sparkling emerald green. (You can find wallpaper that features this color also.) For the wallpaper border, try a blue-on-white trellis design. The shower curtain can be daffodil yellow.
Q: I’m redoing my entrance hall. Any suggestions?
Bette Sanders
A: Because it’s the first thing a visitor sees, the entrance hall must make a great impression. And it must have the touches that let your personality shine through.
In my own New York City apartment, I have lined my foyer walls with bookcases. In front of the books, I place favorite accessories--small porcelain figurines, a brass clock, a picture in a silver frame, a fabric-covered box.
The foyer should be lighted in a way that is welcoming--hard overhead lights won’t do. A foyer should also have a small console table, for a guest’s hat or for the morning mail.
The late Dorothy Draper, a famous decorator, had a New York apartment foyer that truly represented her grand style of living. The walls of the foyer were covered with a wallpaper featuring bright-red cabbage roses entwined in green leaves and aqua-blue ribbons on a white background. A gold gilt mirror hung dramatically over a large gold gilt console table with a malachite top.
For warmth, a pair of glass column lamps with white accordion pleated shades sat on the console. On each side of the console, there was a pair of armchairs. They were covered in a shiny blue turquoise fabric, a color that picked up the blue in the ribbons of the wallpaper.
The final Draper touch was the flooring--black and white marble squares, laid on the diagonal. Draper brought this look to many of her projects. For example, in the famous Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., black and white patterns are everywhere.
“Every room needs a touch of black!” Draper used to say. She meant it, too. Black could be found in every room she decorated, whether on a lacquer box on the console, a lamp or vase on an end table, or even on a picture matting. So make sure to bring a little black magic to your foyer.
