Decisions and Compromises (in Interior Decorating)

Are you confused and overwhelmed sometimes with decorating decisions or choices that need to be made within a confined set of circumstances? Me too. Always.

Whether I’m working with a client or undergoing my own renovation or decorating projects, decor as in life seems to be a series of endless decisions and compromises.

Making decisions on anything from paint color, wallpaper, color of hardwood flooring, tile selection (for floors, walls, backsplashes), lighting (so important), area rugs, carpeting, and on and on – can be incredibly mind boggling.

This week, I had a client working on a kitchen remodel call me re: whether she should go with a black or stainless steel sink. Depending on what option she chooses, what other metal should she bring into the kitchen?

So much of this is really an individual choice. I may have specific opinions about what I would choose, but I’m constantly putting myself in the shoes – or homes – of my clients to learn what will resonate with them. 

When it comes to metals, you absolutely can mix them and honestly two is a safe and current way to update almost any room. Some combinations I love are:

• Polished nickel (not satin – it’s warmer than chrome and is my new favorite)

• Champagne bronze (not brass – it’s a more muted, brushed gold that goes well with oil rubbed bronze

• Oil rubbed bronze (almost black in color – goes well with both polished nickel and/or champagne bronze).

If I were to advise someone on how to incorporate two metals in a kitchen, I’d suggest faucet and lighting in one metal, cabinet pulls in another. Make sense?

In my own kitchen, I chose a herringbone pattern butcher block countertop and I had one run of countertop that is over 100” on one side of my small galley kitchen. Naturally, without custom ordering it, I could only get it in a 96” piece. That was the problem. The potential solutions were to simply have a seam at one end of the countertop that would be the least noticeable, or find a quartz, marble or granite piece of countertop the same thickness (1 ½”) and put a piece on each end of the countertop – making it have a more intentional look and built in cutting areas as well. I’m still on the fence but will need to make a decision this week.

As much as I’m tempted to special order this piece, it might not work with the existing countertop I have already installed. That’s another problem. My contractor cut the first piece of countertop incorrectly and had to reorder another piece further delaying the completion of this renovation. 

These decorating choices are simply like life, a series of decisions and compromises.