PDQuick! A Room in a Bag

PDQuick Tip:  Has this ever happened to you?  You go into a store, see a fabric you love and that you're sure will complement your existing style, only to get it home and find that it clashes with the other fabrics in the room or the wall color.  Decorators know that choosing new accessories and details for a room can be frustrating if you're not adequately prepared and organized when you go out shopping, so try using a more portable version of the interior decorator's sample board.

To keep yourself organized, prepare a clear plastic "sample" bag for each room in your home (I like Ziploc freezer bags, because they're good size and re-sealable).   Label the outside of each bag with the applicable room name (e.g., master bedroom, kitchen, etc.) and any additional information about the room you might need (such as the name of the wall paint color and the paint manufacturer).  Fill the bag with fabric samples from the room, along with samples of trims, rugs, paint chips, even tile (all preferably with information about the manufacturer).  Whenever you go out shopping for your home, bring along your "room in a bag" and you'll be able to make your selections with confidence.  Also, if your home has an open floor plan, bring sample bags for the surrounding rooms as well to ensure that your choices will all coordinate accordingly.

As an additional suggestion, do collect samples of everything you can when decorating your home.  Fabric and trim samples are easy to get, but some places (especially mail-order and online sources such as Ballard Designs) will even provide samples for area rugs, while others will provide samples for tile, flooring and marble countertops.  All will help to make your future shopping trips more productive, and who doesn't want that?

Copyright 2010 - All rights reserved - Pamela Yeaton