DECORATING ADVICE : Rust Carpet Will Put Its Mark on Home
Question: We are planning to buy rust wall-to-wall carpeting for our living and dining rooms. We will also buy a sofa and a comfortable chair, possibly a wing chair. Should I buy a print or a solid color for the sofa and chair? What about the draperies?
I have mini-blinds. The walls in the living room will be off-white. The dining room walls are a very pale green. I would like to make this room comfortable for my family.
Virginia Mitrenga
Answer: Rust was a good color choice for your carpeting; it works well with both off-white and pale green. For your living room draperies, find a print fabric that features different shades of green on a white background. The design can be botanical ferns or leaves on white.
Hang your draperies on a brass pole with brass rings. For your sofa, choose a pretty light-blue and white tweed. Accent the sofa with a variety of throw cushions: some in the fern print, some in rust, some in bright shocking pink. Cover your club chairs in the fern print. Cover the seats of pull-up chairs in the bright pink.
In your dining room, bring in the pink, rust and green by choosing a stripe for your dining chair seats. The windows can be treated with balloon shades of soft green and edged with light-rust fringe.
Q: I am expecting a baby, which means I have to transform the second bedroom of our two-bedroom house from a study to a nursery/study. The room is 13-by-12 feet. Do you have any ideas on how to incorporate a work area with a computer into a baby’s room? I would like to devote most of the room to the baby.
Sandra Gorzeman
A: In the early days, it will be easy to incorporate your computer station into your nursery. Babies don’t need a lot of space in the beginning. A bassinet, then a crib with a changing table will do at first. But after the baby takes that first step, I’d move the computer station into the master bedroom. For the baby’s room, you might try yellow walls, white trim and a ceiling of soft aqua blue. The flooring should be practical, maybe a vinyl floor of yellow and white squares laid on the diagonal. For the window treatment bright white louver shutters would be my choice.
In a 13-by-12 inch space, you might be able to incorporate the computer station into the closet, with shelves above for the baby’s things. The baby’s hang-up clothes might be placed in a small armoire, closet of drawers or the changing table unit.
Q: Are French chairs gaining in popularity?
Dottie Sinders
A: French chairs are in. For many years, the French cafe chair has dotted the cafes of Paris and the French Riviera. The natural wicker chairs, which are sometimes trimmed in green or red, have occasionally been seen on the shores of America--but never in the abundance that they are now.
French cafe chairs in a variety of colors are being spotted in American homes and restaurants. The chair, sometimes made in the Philippines or in Korea, is available at a fraction of its original price. I’ve purchased them for $120 apiece. The chairs come in side or arm varieties. And trims come in royal blue, black, red, and deep green.
French cafe chairs seem to work in just about every setting. Try them with contemporary glass-top dining tables. Or team them up with Americana furnishings in deep or light pine. The formal dining table, the family room card table, and the white laminate breakfast table are all great companions for the French cafe chair.
Recently, I decorated a bedroom in the Virgin Islands. I placed a pair of French cafe chairs beside a skirted table. I made tie-on seat covers in a handsome flower print of blue, green and red on a pink background. The skirt on the table is pink, too, edged in soft green and blue braid. And, of course, the room has a romantic look, with a white fret-patterned headboard and a bedspread and bed skirt made of the luscious flower print.
If you ever get the chance to visit Paris or the French Riviera, consider bringing the French look home, even if it is French via Hong Kong or the Philippines.
