No-frills Designing and Decorating at Home

Designing has bred many a worrywart. So here is a fuss-free three-stage decorating plan that takes into account that some of your rooms will get seen and visited more than the others, and that some items will need to be acquired in the short run, while the rest will eat up lots of your time, and will have to be relegated to the distant future.

Stage One

1. Budget how much you plan to spend on decorating and renovating for this year.
2. Make a list of rooms that need to be prioritized when. A safe first choice is of course the living room/ family room.
3. Get help from a designer in discussing your favored styles and family needs: Will the house be a weekend getaway? For your loved ones only or guests included? What kind of activities do you picture will be done there most of the time? Furniture layouts for each room will definitely be a topic to touch on.
4. Prepare your color preferences. Get hints from your comfy clothing, the good view outside, a work of art or collectibles. Choose between either the cooler or warmer tone of colors.
5. After taking care of the appearance of your house, work towards wiring, plumbing, drywalling, etc. Don’t blink if the floors need to be redone, too.
6. Having vowed loyalty to color preferences, get your designer to help you find the must-have wallpaper, fabric, and rug. This will greatly help you out in your decorating effort.
7. Try making a swatchboard of your key colors by attaching wallpaper, fabric, carpet and paint samples as you select them. This chart can help you picture out the end-result.
8. Work on the background of the first choice room.
9. Focus well on your furnishing purchases. Buy the sofa, cover optional. Add chairs for guests. Get lampshades for simple solid color lamps. What you have for now may even work for now with only new slipcover or a new coat of paint. Get tables and lighting, plus accessories on the go.
10. Now is the best time to get a carpet to renew the floor of at least one room. Take out anything worn out that ruins the effect.
11. If you want to avoid fine window treatments, then go for sheers or sheer pleated shades.

Stage Two

1. Next stop is the entry and dining room, if you did the living room first. Like Stage One, the structural items come first, followed by the backgrounds.
2. If you can’t get by with your current dining room table, you can opt to skirt it to the floor in one of the chosen fabrics. Otherwise, spend on some fine chairs. Add a floor covering for now like sisal. If you decide later on a carpet, the sisal can act as a pad and aid in transition to summer.
3. In the entry, look for consoles or drawers that leave you wanting, and skirt them to the floor or top them off with a mirror.
4. Ensure sufficient fabric for the valances in Stage Three. Hang sheers and drapery panels in the dining room.
5. Start placing tables, lamps, and accessories in the living room.

Stage Three

1. Buy the remaining dining room furniture and accessories.

2. Spend on a grand master bedroom! The bed itself and bed furnishings will have to be bought with the hangings. Don’t forget sheers ands drapery panels.

3. Adjust the valances reserved for the living room, dining room and entry.

Sometime in the mid 19th century, artists tired of mid-Victorian design sought a new voice in Japanese tradition, Gothic revival, and the great milestones between ancient Egypt and then-England. The result was the Aesthetic Movement which by the 1880s, was one of the first to be a mass-manufactured style.

Several New York dealers specialize in the furniture and accessories of this wide ranging style.

The foremost in Aesthetic furniture dealers in the US is Margot Johnson, Inc. (18 E. 68 St.; 212-794-2225, by appointment only.) This trailblazer goes for the Herter Brothers, a New York firm inspired by Anglo-Japanese motif which is perhaps the finest of what Aesthetics can offer in the US. With prices not going below the five figure range, you get nothing less than superb quality and solid scholarship.

For the collector starting from the bottom, there is Marc O. Rabun Art and Antiques (115 Crosby St.; 212-226-5053). Tastefully planned settings of furniture, lighting fixtures, and fabrics get changed regularly due to sensible pricing and a large following.

Among the standard buys in this SoHo gallery are William Morris’ rush-seated Sussex chairs, lusterware by Walte Crane and Wiliam de Morgan, and a Philip Webb round table dining table reproduction.

A small shop within a recently opened gallery is Turner Antiques, Ltd. (160 E. 56 St.; 212-935-1099). Owner Bill Turner is has a bias for the ebonized furniture of the New York workshop of Kimbel and Cabus. Always around are a good selection of blue and brown transfer-printed Aesthetic dinnerware, and deco tiles.

Well worth the effort of calling ahead to set an appointment is Kurland Zabar (23 E. 73 St.;). The energetic know-how of Catherine Kurland, Lori Zabar, and Shawn Brennan is matched by an equally high standard of taste. They have metalwork, like Dresser silver, copper and brass combinations and the pewter of Archibald Knox. Period William Morris fabrics are amazingly at hand. To encourage the younger market, more affordable items are a priority.

For the city’s best Aesthetic ceramic tiles, English and American, the place is Malvina L. Solomon, Inc. (1122 Madison Ave.; 212-535-5200).