living Furnishing presents its own challenges
Filed Under Kitchen Curtain | Posted on April 6, 2008
Natalie Jaikaran takes a detour to Milton on her way home from work pretty regularly. Jaikaran, who works as a consultant at several schools in Halton Region, isn’t driving through Milton as a shortcut to her Mississauga home. She’s taking the long way to keep tabs on the new 3,050-square-foot home she and husband Shaun plan to move into this September. When the weather was better, we’d drive by and take pictures of our dirt pile, Jaikaran says about their place at Hawthorne Village on the Escarpment by Mattamy Homes. Although there are just two of them now, This is going to be our home, the place where we will live and bring up our children, she says. But creating a home also includes furnishing every room, and the Jaikarans, who paid $454,000 for the house, consider their budget to be modest. They’ve allotted $15,000, some of it they’ve saved, toward furnishing and decorating their new home. Jaikaran, a self-described Type A personality, is full of energy, ideas and some apprehension, too. We don’t want to make a mistake, she says. What if we do it all and we don’t like some parts of it?Yet the Jaikarans and others like them have help at hand. Model homes (show homes as they’re called in the trade), are decorated and appointed by designers and offer a clear idea to follow. It’s all laid out why not duplicate the look? Cindy Kunz, design centre manager for Tribute Communities, who designs model homes and advises purchasers when they choose finishes, notes this is a popular route. A lot of people come and tell us to give us what is in the model. We’ve put a lot of care and expertise in them they’re designed to make the buyer feel that this could be their home. We may have spent $30 to $80,000 decorating one. Why not use this expertise? she says. Designers have suggestions for the first-time buyer. Nathalie Thorel, of IntraMuros Design and Space Planning, was trained in France and based in Toronto. She is currently working with a couple in Richmond Hill on a home that mirrors that of the Jaikarans.Her strongest suggestion? Establish your own style and take your time. I tell all my clients to get all the magazines and cut out everything they like, she says. Establish a budget and prioritize. Then start looking. But I emphasize that although every store has a sale on right now, they should not go out and grab this or that. The Jaikarans’ current furnishings offer plenty of scope for improvement. Their sofa, about seven years old, was purchased by Shaun Jaikaran as temporary seating, and was off-white. Jaikaran describes it as beige turning brown. Our family room is red, she says. We can only eat and entertain at our kitchen table, which seats four, and we sometimes drag in a couple other chairs. We are very limited in terms of what we can do, says Jaikaran of their Mississauga home. Establishing a clear-cut style is a bit of a challenge and the couple defines their taste as modern, trendy and contemporary. They both like dark wood when it comes to cabinetry, leather, are hoping for quartz countertops and mention track lighting as a feature they’d like. However, like many couples, they do not agree on everything. The family room or great room next to the kitchen, part of a spacious open- plan layout, will likely be an important focal point, with a gas fireplace, seating, the TV and all that goes with it for a viewing experience. But should the TV be situated over the fireplace (he says) or elsewhere (she says)? The fact her husband is taking an active and assertive role in design and decor decisions is a complete surprise to Jaikaran. My mother did all the shopping for furniture and made all the choices in terms of design for my family’s home, she says. My dad didn’t even go along. I’m very interested and involved in where we are going to live, her husband says. My own dad picked the house and my mother decided on all the rest, right down to the curtains and bedspreads. But I am enjoying thinking about how we will decorate and furnish. However, we are changing our minds a lot right now.So should they place the large plasma TV they plan to buy over the fireplace? Thorel is opposed to this idea, pointing out that too much neck stretching would be required for watching TV.The set should be about three feet off the ground at eye height when you are seated, she advises. Art is viewed when standing and a piece of art over the fireplace would be a good choice.But Beverly Firlotte of Oakville-based Room to Room Interior Design, a designer the Jaikarans have engaged to help them with their home, feels a TV over the fireplace is perfect. TVs have brackets that allow them to swivel, she points out. I think there will be less glare if the set is over the fireplace.The way, according to designers, to handle husband-wife conflict is to either find an option both agree on, or to take turns being the decision-maker on different rooms. And you can mix things, too. Even different colours of woods can be mixed. For example, the kitchen has an island. If they wanted, they could use one type of wood for the island and another for the rest of the cabinets in that room.Everyone agrees buying the best is ideal, but there is also the reality of income and budgets. Many designers have sources for furniture that the public can’t access, and also to craftsmen who make furniture. If my clients like Italian furniture, there are some places that sell exceptional pieces, Thorel says. But IKEA is a good source, too they make similar pieces to everything that’s out there. Just don’t buy everything from one place. I take clients to shop at stores that only sell to the trade, Firlotte says. Often I pass my discounts along to them so they get a great price.And there are some secrets, some tricks, that designers use when they deck out a model home and these will help any first-time buyer make a place look inviting.We tend to use lighter and brighter colour schemes. This gives a bright, airy look, Firlotte says. Also we use Velcro to hang drapes and curtains. This can be done in the home, too, and you can’t tell.The home will be furnished in a contemporary style, with TV and seating in the great room by the kitchen, which will have a table and chairs. Leather is a popular choice for seating but designers favour microfibre, which not only comes in beautiful colours but, as Firlotte says, is practically indestructible. The designers say colour can also come in accessories like pillows. I like to see accessories be quite dramatic, large and bold, says Vicki King, from Willow Hill Designs in Oshawa. I think a home should have a `wow’ factor.” Another way to add some wow is with wall colour, which can be fairly easily changed and can make a dramatic statement. The bright colours are becoming popular, King says. I think a couple should choose three colours they like. One should be a neutral and the others should be stronger. Supposing a couple selects a light grey taupe as their neutral, this will go well with a soft green and or a spa blue or a dark brown. Paint is easy to change, Thorel agrees.The main living areas for the Jaikarans will be the kitchen, family room and the dining room with a table that can seat eight. They will open up the entertaining vistas. The living room could be a playroom when children come along, or, as Firlotte suggests, a special area for seating. This could have some club chairs and be perfect for coffee or drinks, she says. The den at the front will be a great home office, King adds. And children are something the Jaikarans are looking forward to having and enjoying. This could make the master bedroom a sanctuary, particularly on weekends. We can do a lot with this room, Firlotte stresses. We can use a queen-sized bed and have some small chests plus seating, maybe a built-in window seat.This can be a great little retreat for those times when you’d like to have 10 minutes by yourself.
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