Home & Garden - Services

 

Working with an interior decorator or designer is often seen as an unnecessary expense - after all, don't you know what you like? Don't you know the colours you want? How hard can it be?

Ask someone who has just spent a lot of money on renovating or redecorating their home, and admit that it "just doesn't feel right". Or that it's dull. Or It just looks ordinary. Nothing special.

Each of us has skills, and it's worth the time and money to hire a decorator to help you make good decisions if interior decorating does not happen to be one of your particular skills.

• Decorators, apart from the formal training that most have, also have the advantage of being a "fresh eye". They see things you have forgotten about.

• They have no attachment to something in your home that "has always been there". A decorator does not have sentimental attachment to anything of yours so their advice to replace something or sell it, or give it away might just be the excuse you've been looking for! :-)

 

Have you ever watched television decorating programs where the TV decorator advised using a particular colour ? If you are lucky, it may work. Or you may have to repaint.

You see, picking colours is one of the most difficult aspects of "do it yourself" decorating.

It's important that you know how to spot the undertones or "families" of colour. You need to understand how light conditions impact the colours and how they will change according to what you already have. Objects like furniture, rugs, hard flooring, and window treatments all reflect their own colours and you need to know how this will affect your chosen colour.

Do you have hardwood floors? Natural or stained wood furniture? All the permanent wood tones in a room need to be taken into consideration. And it isn't easy to identify. It takes skill.

What do you understand about space planning? Knowing how to rearrange the furniture can sometimes make the difference between a room feeling cramped or spacious. It really works.

 

Ever since I was old enough to hold a paintbrush in my hand I have painted and redecorated my personal spaces.

 

 

 

 

 

Even when, in my early twenties, I rented apartments - once the landlord could see what I could do, they let me paint and decorate as I wanted to and they raised the rent when I left because they could show their suite with its best face forward.(Even when the rest of the suites stayed at the same price). I painted and refinished furniture - nothing was safe!!

I eventually attended a four year program at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary, Alberta and specialized in fabrics and metal. There I learned how to design and build furniture. I learned about jewelry design. I learned to weave and create my own hand woven textiles to use in home decor and fashion. I added to my knowledge of oil painting and design.

Years later when I attended the University of Alberta Residential Interiors Program, I learned how to incorporate what I knew already to what the university courses taught me. And 15 years later I am now one of the instructors for this program. Although I specialize in heritage interiors (because I have the historical background that very few decorators or designers have), I help my clients with all types of homes.

So how can I help you?

• You can have me look over blueprints for potential problems in layout & traffic flow

• You can get my help to design cabinetry or millwork, stained glass, iron work.

• You can get my help to determine what products and materials suit your style and what you are trying to achieve in your home.

• You can have me help you to choose the best colours to use in your home. Colours that suit your wood tones, the lighting in your home, and your personal style. Colours that make you look good too.

• You can get my help to choose the best furniture to keep or buy if you are moving from your current home to a new location. As a dealer in antiques for fourteen years, I have a good understanding of the value of your collections and how best to dispose of them if that's what you want to do.

• You can have me help you with the placement of your furniture - in your existing home or your new place so that moving day is a breeze!

• You can even get me to help you choose products and colour schemes for the exterior of your house, and how to use colour to connect your yard to your home.

• And much more

 

Let me be YOUR decorator. Just like you have your own doctor, dentist, or hairdresser.

I like to work with clients like you that value expertise . For information or to book a consultation contact me by email by clicking here.

In the meantime here are some articles that might just inspire you to tackle that project you've been putting off this year! And don't forget to join my mailing list so that I can send you short articles and tips on how to decorate your home.

-Johanne Yakula