3 Things I Learned about Design while Decorating for my Mother

The sofa in my mother’s last living room had large, over scale, colourful pansies all over it (eeeek). And guess who helped her pick it out?

Me.

The only redeeming thing about this whole thing was it happened 10 years ago before my decorating career really got started.

Try to picture this on fabric *sigh* flickr

Before I helped her pick out new furniture (at the time), she had a peach, gray and cream sofa with a peach and teal area rug and peach rag-rolled walls (I faux finished them for her in the 80’s).

She also had cream tied back sheers with ruffles on them (from the 50’s).

flickr

My mom has always loved colour (I’m sure I was highly influenced by her!).

My parents live in a little 50’s house and the walls in my mother’s kitchen are a pale avocado green, the ceiling is buttery yellow and the cabinets are purple.

The pansies on the sofa are primarily green, yellow beige and burgandy, so we chose a burgundy chair and striped drapery fabric (to coordinate with the sofa). We hung them on decorative rods and just did straight panels.

 

And another thing–I love and adore my mother and will do anything for her. At the time, we had so much fun picking it all out, she happily went along with my suggestions. Then a few months later she said “I liked my peach walls and my ruffled drapery”.

I was devastated. Really, I was.

Now my mom is moving and I am helping her decorate her new house, and so far we have painted 2 bedrooms. One in peach and one in lavender and she loves them. The sofa is going downstairs in one of the rooms, I can’t remember which one, I hope I never see it again actually.

Image source

Here’s what working with my mother as a client taught me:

1) Listen closely to your client’s likes and dislikes.

Interior by Celerie Kemble

2) No patterns on sofas unless you can change your furniture every 5 years (we got tired of looking at those pansies real fast). Truly, people with a lot of disposable income to spend on decorating their home(s) can afford to be more outrageous with pattern (below).

Interior by Celerie Kemble

3) Decorate with your favourite colours and you’ll love them longer. My mom still loves peach, and to update the look, we bought an adorable tufted eggplant chair (along with other accents) to the mix in the bedroom and it looks fabulous!

 [flickr]

NOT the actual chair but close to the colour

 

The living room is next and this time mom (she reads my blog :), I’m listening!

 

PS. Update, here’s my Mom’s house now.

 

If you would like to transform the way you see colour, become a True Colour Expert.

 

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