DENVER POST
Marni Jameson: A world of décor possibilities without leaving home
By Marni Jameson
Foundary style manager Vallerie Drorbaugh, shown with her Weimaraner, Ivan, in the bedroom of her Omaha home, blended French influences (the bed and hanging light fixture) with subtle Moroccan accents (the matelassé coverlet with a Moroccan pattern in metallic threads). White is the unifying element for her eclectic touches. (Courtesy of Joel Marsh for theFoundary.com)
I don’t know about you, but I’m not taking any exotic vacations this year. With one kid in college, a second in private school, three houses to manage, four cars to fill with gas, and the cost to cover the gray in my hair, which is starting to show up thanks to all the above, I’m grounded.
This summer will bring another staycation for me. No Italy or Istanbul. No Tibet or Taiwan. No Egypt or England. If I want an escape, I’ll have to rely on my fantasies — and the World Wide Web.
Thanks to the Internet’s global reach, I can bring these places home without going anywhere.
The idea for bringing the world to me, rather than me to it, struck while I was surfing furniture websites. (Another sad fact of my life is that
Moroccan design is a major trend this year: For a closer look, check out Maryam Montague’s “Marrakesh by Design” (Artisan Books, 2012).
this is as guilty as my pleasures get these days.)On a recent Web adventure, I stumbled ontheFoundary.comandFab.com, free, members-only flash sites that offer up to 70 percent off home furnishings from around the world for very limited times, sometimes only 72 hours, or while supplies last, which can feel like more pressure than being stuck behind a jackknifed big rig when you’re already late for the airport.
I like these sites not only because they don’t have brick and mortar walls, but also because their merchandise knows no bounds, either. The world is their store.
This means you can easily and affordably have home décor from seven continents. Add a travel documentary, an ethnic meal and a soundtrack from a faraway land and you’re practically there minus the malaria. That’s the good news.
The bad news is, get this wrong and your place could look as if it’s on the verge of global warfare.
While I believe every home should feature some furnishings from countries that you need a passport and shots to visit, that’s not blanket permission to run through an international bazaar with a backhoe.
The trick is to know how to combine an African-inspired giraffe-print ottoman, a French distressed-wood end table, and a Moroccan pillow in the same room without triggering a case of Montezuma’s revenge.
So I asked Vallerie Drorbaugh, who as the Foundary’s style manager, mixes styles for a living, for the secret to making your home look well traveled even if you’re not.
“Absolutely mix styles, but carefully. Select few items. Keep them large. Edit them well,” she advised. “Your home shouldn’t look as if you went out one day and bought a bunch of furniture to match. It should reflect you — your heritage, your experiences, the places you’ve been.”
And perhaps even the places you wish you could visit, and maybe will, when the kids are through school and the house is paid for.
Drorbaugh is also noticing that homes are loosening up. “We’re a little less spare and stripped down than we were. The look is more relaxed and lived in. We’re seeing more human elements in homes maybe because we’re spending more time there.”
Because we’re not on vacation.
Syndicated columnist and speaker Marni Jameson is the author of “House of Havoc” and “The House Always Wins” (Da Capo Press). Contact her throughmarnijameson.com.
Passport to excitement
Here are Vallerie Drorbaugh’s tips for getting that cosmopolitan look at home.
• Inject ethnic touches. Do this by incorporating one piece of furniture from another country, print fabrics that betray their heritage, a wall color in a spicy hue that matches the region’s food: Think Indian curry, Spanish lime or Mexican chili powder. Hanging a framed vintage map of an exotic land also adds a worldly touch.
• Hold it together. The secret to pulling off disparate styles is to have a unifying element. A common color throughout your home, common flooring or consistent window treatments will give your home a sure hand and serve as a neutral backdrop on which you can layer eclectic furnishings. Drorbaugh clips sheer white cotton gauze panels over all her windows. They go with everything, can be dressed up or down, and unify her home, she says.
• Add a common thread. In addition to a shared neutral background, it helps if foreign accessories have a color, texture or motif in common. Consider collecting mirrors from around the world, or folk art, rugs and pottery from different countries that all incorporate brick red.
• Shop global, shop local. To get that global feeling, shop for imports online and at flea markets. Don’t overlook mass-produced domestic reproductions of pieces inspired by other countries, she said. “You can get the look without the price tag.”
• Try the unexpected. Drorbaugh used an Indian sari as a shower curtain. Moroccan wedding blankets (her latest weakness) make great bed covers, but can also be used as throws or wall hangings.
• Hot right now. The Moroccan look has been popular, she says, “because it’s masculine and feminine, romantic without being frilly.” Coming up on its heels is Africa. Orange is the hot color now, but blue and green are coming on strong, too.
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