Nick Olsen And First Time Design Mistakes

The Washington Post, today, carries an article about Nick Olsen, interior designer and writer for defunct Domino mag, about first-time design mistakes. He lists six:

Being afraid to paint. - "If you're not willing to paint, you're really not willing to do much in terms of decorating. Being safe will get in the way of good design."

Hanging one print or mirror in the center of a wall - I once knew a bachelor that had mustard, catsup, fuzzy ice cubes in his freezer and a small print exactly centered on his eight by forty foot wall.

Hanging rectangular mirrors on the horizontal. - "I think it brings the eye down and makes any room low and stumpy." Oh my God! I have that going on in our dining room (but the room is small and longer than its wide).

Buying area rugs that are too small. - We should all know by now that no part of a dining room table and chairs should fall outside the dimensions of the rug.

Not taking care with lighting choices. - "Chintzy lamps are a big pet peeve of mine. The big box sofa can disappear, but the big plastic-y lamp will stick out like a sore thumb."

Getting too-bright bulbs. - Nick recommends nothing over forty watts and that's great for ambience, but my husband insists that the living room and den have 100 watts for reading.

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design gallery
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