Interior Designer Tips by Gail Doby

What advice do you have for someone with a new house to decorate and perhaps a limited budget?

Start with the easy things - paint is the best option because you can make such a dramatic change. Restyle by moving items from different rooms and rearranging the furniture in new ways. Pick one or two treasured objects or rugs as the basis for your design, and keep your palette simple. Three colors at most. One dominant with 60% of the palette, 30% for the secondary color and 10% for the accent. Don't match everything perfectly.

What are the most common decorating mistakes made by homeowners? How would you correct those mistakes?

Don't match everything perfectly...it looks to contrived. Come close on the colors and be adventurous. The second big one is a problem with scale. Invariably, many people that do their own work have furniture that is too large or too small for the space. The third big mistake is designing to impress someone else. Please yourself...and go for comfort.

Most of us are always eager to know about the latest color, design, and furnishing trends. What design trends can homeowners incorporate into their interiors that are up-to-date but classic?

If you keep the majority of your large pieces in neutrals with classic or transitional (between contemporary and traditional) styling, and use accent pillows and accessories that work with the trends, you'll keep your budget under control. Personally, I like timeless design. I have a client from 11 years ago that asked me to come and "freshen" her place. All we did was repaint the same color, clean everything and do some minor lighting changes. It still looks as current today as it did when we designed it.

Thank you Gail.

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*Note: All pictures are from Gail's portfolio -published with her permission and are subject to copyright.