Ever notice how some people (especially in those glossy mags we like to ogle) can toss, say, a piece of driftwood, two books and a lamp on a coffee table and end up with a perfect, camera-ready display? Yet the rest of us can rearrange the same objects endlessly and come up with the anarchic look of Nana's knickknacks.
Displaying accessories is one of the trickier bits of decorating any room. How much is too much? How little is too little? Which objects will marry beautifully on which table? For David Jimenez, a genius-level visual merchandiser and gifted decorator (his homes have graced those glossy mags), tablescaping is the difference between a house and a home.
"It's easy to furnish a room by the books," says Jimenez, a vice president at Hallmark Cards and former VP at Restoration Hardware and, before that, Pottery Barn. "But when you pull together collections of the items that you love, you start to tell the story of who you are as a person. That creates a soulful space you can call a home."
In his 1906 Georgian Revival mansion in Kansas City, Mo., Jimenez's vignettes exude a sense of effortless style. You, too, can get the look, he says. "Ultimately, this is about creating arrangements that reflect you and your unique sensibilities. From that standpoint, there's really no getting it wrong." That said, here are his guidelines for getting it right:
If you're serious about this, consider getting mildly to very geeked out at the magazine rack. When putting together his rooms, Jimenez clips imagery that catches his eye from shelter magazines. In the plastic sleeves of the three-ring binder, he organizes the sheets according to room. "Be as general or as specific as you like," says Jimenez. "You might be inspired by the overarching mood in one photo. In another, you might like the way a throw is styled over an armchair."
When you later review your binder, the imagery will often reveal a clear, aesthetic point of view. You might discover an undeniable fondness for puce. Or you might confirm (again) your love of Tuscan villas. "When these visual threads start to emerge," says Jimenez, "you have something very specific to build on." (One place to get inspired: Jimenez's Web site, djimenez.com.)
"There's something infinitely more interesting about groupings of items that vary in height, texture and scale," says Jimenez. "When there is variance, each item can stand out on its own, and simultaneously it can be part of the grouping." To maintain order, even as you introduce items of different shapes and sizes, work in layers.
When placed on a console or fireplace mantle, a tall mirror (such as the one above) becomes the base on which to add those layers, starting with a framed piece of art. Casually lean it against the mirror. (The effect: You've just stumbled into high style, a happy accident.) From that point, you can introduce more textural variance. "Try placing something made of shiny glass next to a rough-hewn piece of pottery," says Jimenez. "Because of the contrast, the glints of light off the glass will seem a little brighter."
So much of what you do in assembling a room is about balance and visual symmetry. Most likely, for instance, four chairs surround your kitchen table, and two end tables flank your sofa. "That's why items generally look better when they're grouped in odd numbers," says Jimenez. "That odd item gives the eye a visual break from all the coupling in the rest of the room."
A tablescape can do as much for the color profile of a room as a coat of paint. And if you're not the type to embrace floor-to-ceiling fuchsia, it's a commitment-free way to indulge. Your first step, says Jimenez: Determine your color objective. Do you need this tablescape to support an existing palette or add contrast in a neutral room?
Books are most often grouped according to size and subject, but Jimenez likes them for their color potential. Pile up a fat stack of sea foam green books, found on the cheap in secondhand bookstores, to complete a beach-inspired room. For rooms that need contrast, look to nature: A bundle of flowers or bowl of fruit—try green apples—can provide a practically audible pop of color. In this room, a painting, a chair and a couple of pillows pull a bright thread of blue through a mostly neutral room.
Jimenez once got a call from a friend who realized that, in her home of many years, it looked as though she'd just moved in. She enlisted Jimenez's help. Instead of hitting the stores, he looked in her drawers. There, he unearthed hidden treasures, such as the set of fine china and leather-bound books now smartly arranged in a cabinet that, for years, had rattled with emptiness. "It's almost as if people stop noticing the things they own," says Jimenez. "But sometimes, all the elements are already there for people. It just takes looking at things a little differently." Open shelves, such as the ones below, might make a great home for objects currently collecting dust behind closed doors.
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