‘Living space’ Indoor/outdoor dilemmas

Press, 2 May 1985, Page 16

‘Living space’ Indoor/outdoor dilemmas

With winter on its way I am surprised that two readers are thinking of painting the exteriors of their homes, and require colour schemes. Let us hope the weather keeps fine for them. Another reader finds it difficult to place her furniture in a room without a fireplace, which we still regard as a natural focal point. I hope that these answers will be of help and interest to readers. It is worth remembering that good interior decorating is first the selection of colours and materials, and then their arrangement. Your basic aims are order or harmony, and beauty. Ol f* n d ** very difficult to arrange furniture in our new house. I like what we have, which is a mixture of antiques (such as a grandfather and grandmother chair) and nice comfortable pieces covered in Sanderson fabrics. We have doors opening into a very pretty garden, but for the first time in the many homes we have lived in, there is no fireplace. How do I create sitting areas? The room is large, and one wall is quite plain, without windows. ZlYou are facing a problem encountered by many people. I do hope that I can be of some assistance to you, although a rough plan would have been helpful. All rooms should have a centre of interest. Yours could either be conversation groupings around the doors looking into the garden, or towards the long wall without windows. Arrange a group of paintings on this wall above your settee. As your room is large, a coffee table could stand in front of your settee. Group your chairs around it in a balance distribution of weight and size throughout the room. An easy way to check the balance of your room is to draw an imaginary

By

PRUDENCE ROTHENBERG

line from the centre of one side to the other. Then draw a similar line fee-

tween the two end walls. The room is then divided into imaginary quarters. If each quarter is of equal weight the room is well balanced.

Each individual piece of furniture should be arranged so that it is in a convenient position, and does not interfere with other pieces near it. The distribution of the furniture should not impede movements in the room.

Keep the furniture away from the doors and traffic areas, and make sure there is good balance between high and low furniture.

Good luck with your arrangements. I am sure once you have lived in the house for a while you will enjoy your room and the garden.

Qwe live in the country and feel that the exterior of our house should be as one with the countryside, but we are tired of green and we do not want white. We do not mind green or white on the facings, but please could you help us with the main body colour? P.S. We will keep our green roof.

Al have in front of me the new Dulux exterior colour chart. I suggest that you paint the body of your home Dulux Driftwood. This is a difficult colour to explain, but it is a medium, natural colour. Have the window frames and sills white, the sashes red-brick, and under the eaves in the

sofest of blues. Remember that when it is shaded, the colour will appear darker. If you have french doors, I would paint them white, with the main door frames white and the door red-brick. These colours will look very nice with the surrounding country. Qwe have been held up with painting the exterior of our home as not one member of the family can agree. We have always decided things together, and I did not think the colour of the house could cause so many arguments. I would like grey, but the others say it is too cold.

Please help us. We have agreed we will do whatever you think. Our roof is red tile.

Al do hope I can settle your argument without any more upsets. Grey can be a cold colour, but Dulux has a colour called Silverwing, which is a soft, green-grey. Paint the window frames and sills white, and the sashes and doors Dulux Redwood. This should give the grey the required warmth. Under the eaves a soft green would look attractive, and bring out the green toning of the grey. No more arguments please!