| Bulky furniture have always posed tough problems for | | | | background. You get a further bonus: the richer |
| Do-It-Yourself decorators. Often they're heirloom | | | | background color of the wall brings out the exciting |
| pieces one doesn't have the heart to leave behind nor | | | | wood grain of the armoire. |
| sell when moving into a new house. Besides they're | | | | Tip # 3 Realize that beautiful rooms are achieved by |
| often simply captivating-- a Sheraton dining set, a | | | | trade offs. Your changing of your wall color from |
| Chippendale armoire dating back to the early 1900s, or | | | | white to color might have reduced by an inch or two |
| maybe a priceless Bobby Haines-- that you simply | | | | your visual space, but, in exchange, you achieved |
| couldn't part with them. Lugging them in a U-Haul van | | | | harmony - not such a bad trade off. |
| from Buffalo to New York is one thing, getting them | | | | Tip # 4 Remember that yellows enhance wood grain. |
| into your 15th-floor New York apartment is another, but | | | | If you have another huge armoire in your dining room, |
| making huge, off-scale furniture blend into your tiny | | | | and your dining set consists of a farm table and |
| room and the rest of your home decor is a nightmare. | | | | Windsor chairs, it might be a good idea to paint your |
| Fortunately, the situation's not hopeless. There are | | | | wall a brilliant yellow. Brilliant yellow or any sunny color |
| things you can do to tame bulky furniture-- a 7 ft x 5 ft | | | | brings out the yellows in the wood grain. What you |
| armoire, for example. Here's how: | | | | might do first is to look at your wooden furniture. If it's |
| Tip # 1 Realize that bulk is about two things: physical | | | | made of pine or oak, sunny colors will bring out the |
| size and color. If it needs more than two people to | | | | lighter parts of the grain and brighten the whole piece. |
| move it, it's big. If it also happens to be of a dark, | | | | Cool colors such as ones suggested by the plants in |
| stained wood grain, it all of a sudden became bigger. | | | | your dining room or the iron wall art or the fish metal |
| Tip # 2 Don't put it up against a white, off-white, or | | | | decor on your wall will enhance the darker parts of the |
| pastel wall. You'll be shooting yourself in one foot if you | | | | grain for a lovely overall effect. |
| do. Instead of making your armoire disappear or at | | | | Come to think of it, Do-It-Yourself decorating is really |
| least recede, putting the armoire up against a white | | | | no big deal. It can be daunting, yes, but only initially, |
| wall will actually make it stick out like a sore thumb. To | | | | when you still haven't understood some of its basic |
| make your armoire disappear, you have to borrow a | | | | concepts like balance, contrast, texture, color, lighting. |
| trick from David Copperfield: match the foreground | | | | Once you do, decorating becomes a pleasant |
| with the background. With the bulk and dark color of | | | | experience. |
| the armoire thus tamed, it's ready to blend into the | | | | |