In her first book, “9 Steps to Beautiful Living: Dream, Design, and Decorate Your Home with Style” (Watson-Guptill), designer Cecil Hayes compared the basic elements of design to baking a cake.
Hayes is all about the icing in her newest book, “Art of Decorative Details: Creative Ways to Design the Home of Your Dreams.” From her home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Hayes explained the importance to paying attention to details when it comes to home decorating.
Q: What is the difference between a designer and a decorator?
A: Decorating is going to a store, finding something that someone else has made, purchasing it and putting it in your home. Designing is adding your own twist to something that already exists in your home, but changing it or doing something different to it so you won’t be able to find it in anyone else’s home.
Q: Can you ever really be done designing your home?
A: I think that if you are a short-term person who only lives in their space for up to five years, I think you can say you are done. But a lot of people are in a home for 15 to 20 years. In that case, the designing shouldn’t ever be finished.
When it comes to our home(s), it’s extremely important to change things up. It is our dwelling and that structure empowers us to be motivated, creative thinkers. You may not realize it, but if you are not in a home that presents those type of changes, you and your lifestyle will become like your home — stale and mundane. Regular change refreshes your perspective and how you look at things.
I compare it to buying an accessory for an outfit. If we add a scarf to that outfit, it can make you feel as if you are wearing something completely different and changes our personality.
I’m not asking people to keep turning over their furnishings. That is very expensive. But take what you have and change out some of the smaller items every so often so it gives you that same feeling you get when you put on a new dress.
Q: Can you share an example of detailing at home?
A: Take a plain throw pillow and add trim to it. The glue gun is now everyone’s best friend. Adorn it with jewels, buy some fringe from the craft store, or you could even use appliqués that you would expect to see on a piece of clothing. Put (any of that) on your throw pillow.
In my own home, I have kept the same large basic furniture pieces. I’m not going out and buying a new sofa and chairs, but I routinely change out the details. For example, I changed out the baseboard, which made the entire house look so much more expensive. Over the last 15 years, the changes I’ve made have only been about 20 percent, but it can make a tremendous difference. My guests always think I’ve changed so much more.
Q: Are there specific areas you like to focus on?
A: Walls and windows are the largest surfaces to cover in a room. For walls, try changing the color or adding molding. It gives dimension and character to the walls, which is important since most of us live in square boxes. It can also take the place of artwork if you don’t have an accessory or art budget. If you don’t want to change the drapes, make a cornice or valance, or use different types of tiebacks.
Q: What other philosophies inspire your work?
A: We are living in dwellings now more than we ever have; we are closed up in these concrete blocks. We used to get our inspiration and creativity from being closer to nature because there were so many beautiful things to see and experience — the beach, the mountains. Now we have to figure out how to make our lives as exciting indoors as (they were) outdoors. You do that by giving that space some of your own personality.
Sheba R. Wheeler: 303-954-1283 or swheeler@denverpost.com
