Mistakes Happen

Sometimes design things go horribly wrong. Sometimes you just can’t predict what will happen and the best of intentions get sidelined with results which are beyond bad. 

Yes, this means designers and decorators are fallible. I know, I know, bet you never thought a decorator would actually say that.

The truth is, like any other professional, we do our best to make sure we don’t make mistakes. We rely on our training and experience to find the best solutions for you. But sometimes things just go pear-shaped.

What brought this to mind is a post on the Facebook page for True Color Experts  — of which I am one. The client wanted two hanging lamps on the cathedral ceiling in the living room. Looks lovely. Until the lights are turned on. The reflection up onto the ceiling looks like a photograph of a nude women’s chest. I’m not kidding. And there would have been no way to predict this. You can bet the lighting designer, or the decorator, or the homeowner had no idea this would happen. It has to do with the angle of the ceiling, the placement and design of the light fixtures and the intensity of the lamps. I think. Here it is:

Then we have the always challenging “How high to hang the drapes” question. The decorating rule is that if you aren’t going to hang them all the way at the ceiling, hang them about 1/2 way between the top of the window frame and the ceiling. Sort of. And, of course, it depends. Saw a drapery install the other day which followed the guideline perfectly and was just plain old wrong. The very high-ceilinged window wall has wainscoting up about 6 feet, the top of the window frame extends above the wainscoting another foot, and the drapes were hung another foot above that.  In this case, the drapes should have been hung down close to the window frame.

If you ignore something as simple as the type of light bulbs you are using, your colors change. Metamerism. That’s the technical term. It means that colors change depending on the light in which they are viewed. You are not nuts, that fabric that was green in the store really does look brown in the living room. You want to return the paint because the color at home is no where near the color in the paint store. If you have a really bad color fail, try new light bulbs.