What's your decorating style?

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Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press• July 21, 2012

Is your home feeling like a hodgepodge of all the furniture you have been moving from home to home for years?

Do you want to change your decorating style to better fit your current lifestyle but are feeling a little uncertain as to how to begin?

There are some tricks of the trade that may help. So before you head out to purchase a lot of “things” to “redo” your home, check these out and you will begin to find your decorating style.

The goal is to transform your home from something that may seem a little stale or discombobulated into something that reflects your personal tastes. Or maybe a change into something that takes your home from drab to wow.

Traditional Living Room - Copy 2.jpg

Traditional style living room with colorful collections as accents, white walls and contemporary fabric, rugs.

Maybe you have been living with shabby chic for a while and want to go contemporary with less clutter as is the current trend. Or perhaps you have just moved to Southwest Florida and want to make your home a little more tropical.

This means having a plan and a willingness to make a (positive) change. So what will it be — contemporary, modern, classic, casual, Florida style, eclectic, traditional, transitional or a mix?

It takes confidence and self-awareness and it may take a while to evolve. After all, it is your personal style, distinct and expressive of how you live your life. Most important: You need to love it. It’s a process. Think about how you want your home to look and work around it.

Combining styles with this modular seating from West Elm, abstract artwork, wood flooring, vintage pieces and bold paint color results in a modern, yet natural look. Photo: West Elm.

Interior designer Deborah Chase of Norris Home Furnishings in Fort Myers recommends beginning with something that you love and working from there. She says it is also important when determining decorating style to consider how you are using your home.

“Is it a second home that will be used for family gatherings, entertaining and holidays? And don’t be afraid to try something different… a new paint color, something fun.”

Best-selling author and home design expert Lauri Ward of redecorate.com suggests “looking inside your closet for clues to your favorite colors. If you tend to dress in navy, camel, black and white, you probably will feel more comfortable living in a neutral colored environment.

“If you like to dress in primary colors, you can use one or two bright hues as accent colors for your home accessories, or even the wall color in one or two rooms (note: avoid bright color in every room as it can be tiring).”

Beautiful Echo Design and the Windsor Smith Home Collection for Kravet set the tone for a casual, Florida style with bright colors and patterns. Photo: Courtesy of Kravet.

Try some of these tips and your style will begin to emerge:

Visit a fabric store and note what appeals to you. Set up a Pinterest board and begin following other pinners who have tastes similar to yours. This will help you to begin to collect some ideas about how you would like for your home to look.

Visit model homes in the area and ask for permission to take photos of rooms that you like.

Follow blogs that offer suggestions and photos that are compatible with your wish list. Favorites: apartmenttherapy.com, houzz.com.

Create a vision board for one of your walls and include articles and photos from magazines that will give you ideas. Favorites: Home Beautiful, Better Homes & Gardens, Traditional Home, Coastal Living, Veranda. Your favorites will quickly become obvious. Look for trends.

Visit home stores and design centers for inspiration. Take classes and seminars to learn as much as you can about decorating. Local favorites: Miromar Design Center in Estero and Norris Home Furnishings in Fort Myers & Naples.

Remember: Finding and fine-tuning your decorating style takes time. If you need additional help, call a decorator or designer and have them help you pull it all together.

Wrenda Goodwyn is a Southwest Florida interior decorator. Visit her website at spectacularspaces.com. Call her at 949-1808 or e-mail wrenda@spectacularspaces.com. For more decorating tips and photos, visit spectacularspaces.com/blog.

Home Inspirations: All that glitters

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Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press• June 9, 2012

Photo to Baccarat chandelierMarie Coquin chandelier designed by Phillipe Starck. Photo: Baccarat.

Women love them. Men often aren't crazy about them.

They are romantic and sexy. The right one with the perfect dimmer switch setting makes anyone look beautiful.

They are dazzling and add style and a touch of refined culture to a space.

They go anywhere in the home, including bathrooms, closets, a walk in pantry. I have even seen one in a laundry room.

You can spend a little or you can spend thousands.

Photo of Baccarat chandelierZenith chandelier with clear pink and mist crystals by Phillipe Starck. Baccarat. Photo: Wrenda Goodwyn.

Chandeliers are an accessory that can make an entry or dining room. It does what the perfect necklace does for an outfit. And as with jewelry, before you head out the door, you want to know that you selected the right one.

In southwest Florida, many homes sacrifice chandeliers for ceiling fans. While women are most likely willing to say goodbye to a fan in hopes of adding a beautiful, sparkly chandelier, men often need to be coaxed into considering one.

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The View from the 44th Floor of Hearst Tower in NYC: Inspiring

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 Photo of New York City

Photo of peoniesEven on a rainy, dreary day in New York City, the 180-degree view from Hearst Tower was magnificent as this Fort Myers Interior decorator joined 168 designers and bloggers gathered to hear editors from the top design magazines share a behind-the-scene glimpse inside an issue and to their thoughts on design.

And the gorgeous peonies on each table helped to brighten the day. Demonstrating to this group of designers attending Kravet's Blogfest 2012,  that the simplest things are often the best.

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Blogfest in NYC: Design and the City Part 2

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Still dreaming about the amazing and inspiring designs that I saw at the Kips Bay Decorator Show House during Blogfest 2012. This hot ticket event is celebrating its 40th year for Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club and it takes place through June 14 at the Aldyn, a luxury building on Manhattan’s West Side at Riverside Blvd. and 63rd St. So, if you are going to be in NYC, do yourself a favor and hurry to see not one, but two adjacent 6,000 square-foot residences (with views of the Hudson, beautiful terraces and rooms done by some of the top designers in the country.

And if you cannot make it to Manhattan, let me share some of the rooms that inspired me. As a southwest Florida interior decorator and writer, I am always looking for new ideas and practical solutions for my clients and right now, my head is spinning!

Of course, these are fantasy rooms. But they inspire us to think and to not be afraid to dream, use our imagination and have some fun with our own living spaces. That's what it is all about, right?

Photo from Blogfest 2012

"Sleeping Beauty" by Zoya Bograd of Rooms by Zoya B is fit for a princess.

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Blogfest in NYC: Design and the City

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Confession: In one of my many fantasy lives, I live in a glamorous New York penthouse with views of the Hudson River, perfectly decorated spaces done by top designers, luxurious fabrics and furnishings to die for.

Photo of Wrenda Goodwyn of Spectacular Spaces at Blogfest 2012I met my dream this week at Kravet’s fabulous Blogfest 2012.

It was the Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse which is celebrating its 40th year for Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club. Considered the hot ticket in New York, it takes place through June 14 at the Aldyn, a luxury building on Manhattan’s West Side at Riverside Blvd. and 63rd St. Here, I found not one, but two adjacent duplex residences with views of the Hudson, beautiful terraces. And one even has a large pool and spa. The good news, they are both for sale: $16.9 million and $15 million. If I can scrape up the $$$ I would like to purchase both and link them together. The bad news: I have a long way to go.

But for now, I am content to dream about the wonderful thingsPhoto of ad for Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse that I heard and saw. Blogfest designers had exclusive access for the evening and we were hosted by Architectural Digest Editor in Chief, Margaret Russell. Highlight was mingling with the designers in each room.

As a southwest Florida interior decorator who works with homeowners who mostly want a contemporary, Florida-style home that combines old and new, I am always looking for new ways to combine color and textures for indoor and outdoor spaces. The showcase was a virtual feast.

Because the Aldyn is a modern highrise (each apartment is on two levels: 20th and 21st floors), there are no fancy architectural details in the structure so the 31 designers used amazing creativity in creating these masterpieces from basic, plain rooms.

Noted throughout the house: heavy use of beautiful grasscloth, lacquered walls and ceilings, mixtures of old and new pieces.

And while Tangerine Tango may be the color of the year, Green is the color at Kips Bay. Jade, emerald, grass shades...in paint, fabric and accessories. Beautiful.

My favorites...well there were so many.  But I could not get past the “Gallery” designed by Thom Filicia (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, major designer, charming, cute and latest design crush!).  The open gallery connects to the living room, dining room and library and is lacquered in an amazing green that I am told is Benjamin Moore’s Cat’s Eye 2036-10. The color is stunning and shows what can be done in a very simple space.
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9/11 Memorial: Beautiful and forever sad

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This week I am in New York City for Blogfest 2012 with designers, photographers and writers from around the country for a whirlwind three-day design event.
 
But when I arrived yesterday, my first stop was Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial.

Photo of 9/11 Memorial 
It was almost full circle for me. 
 
On September 11, 2001, I stepped out of a cab at the Newark airport on the most beautiful of New York mornings. The two towers sparkled across the river.  In two hours they would both be gone.

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