DIY Network

Be A Stylist In Your Own Home

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August 13, 2001 -- A 19th-century secretary is styled for function and beauty. Ready for the impromptu letter, it also showcases a collection of early American baskets. (SHNS photo by Jennifer Levy/Scripps Howard News Service)

By Chris Casson Madden
Scripps Howard News Service

Photos in my design books, as with most photography reproduced in books and magazines, generally begin as a stylist's concept and then go on to a photographer. One of the questions I'm often asked is, "How do the rooms you feature in your design books always have that 'perfect' look?" I reply that perfection is never our goal -- warm and inviting is what we are after and that we achieve that look with the help of a stylist, often myself and other times with the assistance of Carolyn Schultz, a stylist with an incredible eye.

A stylist looks through the lens before the image is committed to film and perfects it, making sure the image that is later captured by the photographer fits the style or the criteria for the book or magazine.

In photographing home design, a stylist will look for obvious distractions to the design itself, which for me includes, but is not limited to, sloppy lamp cords, excessive wiring around technology, crooked pictures, hanging threads and seat imprints left on upholstered furniture.

However, before these more obvious concerns are addressed, the stylist looks to see that what is being photographed -- the elements of the picture itself -- are pleasing and interesting, in balance within the invisible frame, and that they make a design statement in harmony with the broader context of the room. In other words, the picture needs to speak, if not a thousand words, then enough to give the observer a strong hint of the homeowner's style, taste, interests or aesthetic sensibilities. Even if the picture encompasses just one wall, one well-composed tablescape, or just a close-up of a particular object.

Good stylists are not only able decorators, but also are adept at arranging engaging vignettes, or picture-ready views, throughout a home. Some areas such as mantles, entry or hallway tabletops, vanities or built-in shelves demand to be carefully arranged. But a stylist is not only concerned with specific arrangements, but also with how all the elements of a room relate to one another.

I have a friend who is a stylist and she is particularly appreciative of a room with a view. One time I found her standing inside my front door, staring first in one direction and then another. When I asked if something was the matter, she replied that she was just enjoying the view, admiring the balance and placement of the upholstered bench under the stairs with its decorative throw and pillow. A simple thing to delight in. But as she said, it was perfectly in balance with the space and the other furniture and pictures in the entryway.

Not everyone has a stylist's eye. Obviously, people perceive the world and the objects around them in different ways. My stylist friend can remember objects in a room and describe them in detail, but has trouble remembering a face. However, not everything about the stylist's art involves having "a good eye." There are tricks to communicating your personal style through objects, designing a tablescape, furnishing a room or placing pieces on a mantle.

If you want to be a stylist in your own home, here are some tips to help you achieve a room that is not only magazine-ready, but conveys a sense of warmth and comfort as you enter:

• Vary the height: A beautiful arrangement, whether in a room, on a table or in a vase, depends on elements of different heights. Height variations create visual interest and help individual objects stand out in a crowd.

  When an object needs added height or when you are displaying objects such as candlesticks or picture frames that are similarly sized, boost up one or several on a stack of oversized, coffee table books, a pedestal or a box. In a room, furniture that is all the same height is boring. Tables in various sizes, furniture with different back heights or a large, commanding centerpiece such as an armoire or bookcase create visual excitement.

• Balance objects by weight and scale: Your eye gives visual weight to objects. An arrangement will appear unsettling if visually the weight is not balanced or distributed. For example, if you have a large room and you concentrate your furniture in one conversation area, it may make sense practically but visually it will be off-balance, as if everything is "weighed down" in one corner. Nor is it pleasing to just spread all the same pieces evenly around a large room. Remember to create intimacy in a large number of areas and if you have a conversation grouping, balance the other end of the room with a large library table and a reading chair, a game table and chairs or a grand piano.

• Mix textures: Texture adds sensual appeal because it seduces the hand as well as the eye. Texture demands tactile attention. A tablescape of delicate porcelain objects, for example, is enhanced when juxtaposed with stronger textures such as wood, silver and fabric or natural materials such as flowers, leaves and moss.

  The same holds true for the room. Furniture is not as inviting when it is upholstered in all the same fabric or it appears to match the texture of the rugs and pillows. Conversely, luxurious silk and linen fabrics are enhanced by the contrast with a coarser rug material such as hand-loomed kilims or sisal carpet.

If you feel insecure about your own sense of style and ability to arrange items within your home, educate yourself. Read magazines. Visit museums and art galleries and watch the latest home-decorating television shows. Collect books and keep them on your shelves. Refer to them for inspiration. If you get an idea from a book and wish to incorporate it in your own home, do so. You are developing your eye and educating yourself to become your own stylist.

(Chris Casson Madden, host of the Home & Garden Television show "Interiors by Design," is also author of 13 books, including the newly released Getaways: Carefree Retreats for All Seasons, Clarkson Potter Publishers.)

RESOURCES :
Getaways: Carefree Retreats for All Seasons
Model: 0609603205
Author: Chris Casson Madden
(2000)

To order this title from Amazon.com, click here.

Clarkson Potter/The Crown Publishing Group/Random House
Website: www.randomhouse.com