Decorating homes on the Prairies isn’t necessarily different from decorating them in Toronto, said an expert who offered his advice to patrons at the Western Canada Farm Progress Show in Regina.
Karl Lohnes, style editor for the magazine Style At Home and a contributing designer on television’s This Small Space, said decorating principles are the same.
“A large open concept home in the Prairies is the same as a large open concept home in the city,” he said in an interview.
“Decorating transcends everywhere.”
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And one thing everybody always wants to know about is paint colour.
“Paint colour is one of the last things you should decide on,” he said.
Lohnes suspects many people paint the walls of their home and then buy furnishings and accessories they think will suit the rooms.
Instead, they should buy furniture and accessories that catch their eye and then find colours within these items that they could use on the walls.
“It’s so easy to go for the little paint chips and make those decisions.”
Lohnes said open concept homes should definitely be painted one good neutral color. The trick is to look at the flooring.
“If you have a warm medium oak floor, you want a warm camel or colour that mimics the warm oak,” he advised.
The bigger the open space, the stronger the colour, he added.
At the farm show he answered several questions about window treatments. He said that could be because window styles are different here, perhaps longer and narrower or just larger.
“Every window needs a fitted treatment to start,” Lohnes said. “Usually you try to match the treatment to the trim.”
For example, white-trimmed windows should have white blinds. Wood trimmed windows could have linen-colored blinds.
Then, homeowners should decide if they want or need to soften the windows with draperies.
Dark or brightly coloured blinds also work in some rooms, he said.
“The colour and pattern of the fabric in your couch, the drapes, the pillows should all blend in.”
Lohnes said he anticipated returning to the show next year.
“It’s a fun service,” he said. “For $7 (admission to the show) you can come get a couple of questions answered where normally you’d pay hundreds of dollars.”
