Karen Wight -- NO PLACE LIKE HOME

A home is not just about style. Even though we all have personal

preferences, I appreciate any style -- or non-style for that matter --

done well.

It’s not about Mediterranean, traditional, contemporary or craftsman.

It’s about the combination of furniture, art, colors and accessories that

give the home its mood or personality.

Have you ever walked into a home and it just felt good? You couldn’t put

your finger on the thing that pushed it into the home instead of the

house category, but there was something about the general feel that made

you want to stay, put your feet up, refreshed you, gave you a good

feeling.

Some of this positive emotion is just a matter of the thought you put

into it. How does a room work best? Anticipate your needs and the needs

of your guests.

Do you often entertain eight people in your living room? Think about the

placement of your sofa, a pair of chairs and movable pieces of furniture

like ottomans on casters.

Does everyone have a place to set a drink or plate? Be sure there are

enough coffee or side tables to accommodate the needs of the room.

Common sense is the best tool you can use in your home. When you organize

your kitchen, pretend you are fixing Thanksgiving dinner. Most families

don’t have the luxury of building a kitchen from the ground up, but it’s

very important to organize your kitchen the way that your mind works.

This is dictated by a huge combination of factors. The largest influence

is family habits. Once I worked on a kitchen design for a family that

considered their toaster oven the most important tool in the kitchen. I

have never owned a toaster oven, so I would have never included this as

an under-the-counter appliance. It worked for them; they would have been

lost without it. They got the best toaster oven I could find.

Consider another factor when you do your kitchen layout -- are you right-

or left-handed? It dictates appliance placement and the way you organize

your cutlery, spices and flatware. Do you like to load the dishwasher

from the right or left side of the sink? When you unload the dishwasher,

where is the most convenient place for plates, glasses and utensils? Do

you need two ovens, or does one with a microwave fit your lifestyle

better?

Reevaluate the features in your bedroom. The placement of the bed is

important. Can you get fresh air from an open window? If you watch

television in bed, do you have room to hide it in an armoire or built-in

cabinet? Provide a chair or ottoman to sit on while you put on your

shoes. Have a full-length mirror available so you can get the big picture

of how you pull yourself together.

Colors. Colors can soothe or stimulate and add volumes of personality to

a room. Most people find color selection the hardest part of designing a

room.

Somehow, those small swatches don’t quite translate into a room full of

color. Most colors will appear darker than the color on the swatch. When

you get all four walls of a room painted, the color tends to intensify.

How is the lighting in your room? A dark room will echo a color more

vividly.

Variety. Every room and every home needs a variety of pieces to give it

balance and comfort.

If you have hardwood floors and furniture with exposed wood frames, be

sure to add an area rug or a fabric treatment to the windows. Too much

wood will leave your room feeling, literally, hard.

Everything soft and puffy? Include a metal side table with a glass top to

bring yourself back down to earth. Is your color scheme heavy on the

model-home beige? Add a few black pieces, like a picture frame or black

lampshade, to give the room contrast.

What about plants and flowers? Living things give a room a friendly feel.

Even if you are don’t-clutter-my-house contemporary, a single orchid will

provide life in the room.

I’m not a big fan of fake plants, but if they fit your needs, be sure you

keep them dusted. And when they start to fade and turn an unnatural shade

of gray, toss them and start fresh with a new generation.

Include aromatic candles or bowls of scented sea glass, pine cones or

whatever fits into your decor. If your house or a closet has a moisture

problem, attack that mildew smell with a dry-out product or add

insulation to cut down on moisture retention.

And speaking of smells, one of the most important things you can do is

keep your home livably clean. I don’t mean the white-glove treatment

every week, but orderliness in your home translates into orderliness in

your brain -- and in other parts of your life.

One of my biggest pet peeves is a dirty or cluttered kid’s room. Chaos in

their room doesn’t help them with the business of life. Kids can’t

possibly pull themselves together mentally if they can’t find a pair of

clean pants to wear.

Help them get organized and then encourage -- or require -- that they

keep some semblance of order in their rooms. This is not about control;

this is about teaching them that order is important and cleanliness

counts.

Make your home the best place it can be: a place where you can retreat

from the craziness that life doles out. Your home should be your castle;

not only in its physical beauty, but also for the beauty it creates

within you.

* KAREN WIGHT is a Newport Beach resident. Her column runs Saturdays.