House Beautiful's Splurge on the Details: The Big Advice
1. Too many chairs and table legs can make a room "nervous." A skirted piece or two will make it feel "grounded."
2.One pair of pillows always looks skimpy. Use two pairs, in contrasting patterns, colors, and textures.
3. The most indestructible fabric for dining chairs is leather or vinyl. Especially if you want white.
4. The fastest way to make over sliding closet doors is to wallpaper them.
5. Love your closet. Paint them, paper them, hang pictures in them to inspire you. And definitely light them.
6. Small scale furniture only makes a small bedroom look smaller. Try a high bed and a tall headboard. Your room will grow.
7. Curtains are like runway dresses. The taller, the better.
8. If your room is big, create a cozy human scale with high-backed sofas and a tea-height table between them.
9. Brackets can bring order to a large collection or odd shapes.
10. Use a rug instead of a bath mat. It was made to withstand a lot more wear than the occasional wet foot.
11. You'll never get tired of a white room.
12. Mix up the seating at your dining table. You wouldn't have eight identical chairs in your living room.
13. Two large mirrors will completely change any room.
14. A four-poster bed will take the chill out of a modern bedroom.
15. The most versatile coffee table you'll ever own is an ottoman topped with a tray.
16. Colors that are in your face, too bold, can look flat and harsh, esp. after a little wear and tear on the room.
17. Gold is back in a big way. A few accents will really warm up a room.
18. Dark walls do the opposite of what you'd expect: They make a small room feel bigger.
19. Keep throws under control. Fold them lengthwise, then in half, then tuck them into the cushions.
20. Every room needs a little tuft.
21. Four lamps are better than two. You need ambient light for mood and direct light for reading.
22. There is no rule that a living room has to have a sofa.
23. An open armoire is more interesting than a closed one. Let people into your secret world.
24. Don't be afraid to paint a vintage piece. Every piece of furniture can't be brown.
25. Nothing softens a lonely corner in a big room like a potted tree.
26. Thanks to a new fabrics and finishes, you can create just about any room under the sun outdoors now. Live large!