Decor Arts Now

By Lynn Byrne. Calling all decorators/designers out there!  This one’s for you. 

Of course, there will be pretty pictures for everyone else too (just scroll down to see them). 

I heard the talented Tobi Fairley speak last week at High Point Market on how to add value to your portfolio and gained so much from her talk. Among many tips, she spoke of:

(1) the need to use social media (not just blogging, but FB, tweeting, etc) to tell the story behind the design, so people understand the work that goes into a room (Expect more posts on the process behind my projects);

(2)  the need to record your work with excellent photographers (yes, hire someone); and

(3) establishing yourself in your local media  by striving to get your projects published locally and by offering to write articles locally (Tobi, who has been published nationally a lot, said she got many, many clients from local press).

Great as these tips are, what really grabbed me was her statement that you can’t add value to your portfolio without asking yourself what you value.

Turns out that I value spending time right here, writing about design for you.  I still like designing rooms, but that is just it.  I like to give a room a whole new look—which leads me to another nugget from Tobi: she urged the audience to do what she called “a room complete.”

Doing a “room complete” doesn’t mean you have to get all new stuff. Rather, you just need to be willing to consider the room with fresh eyes and want to give it a new look.

Just a few weeks ago, I showed you how Nina Campbell “refreshed” her entryway by painting it and recovering a settee. She kept bold statement art and the furniture, yet the space looks completely different. That’s doing a “room complete” without getting all new everything.  Click here to see it.

The “room complete” idea is how I am going to achieve balance in my life and make time for my blog and other writing projects.  No more searches for a single lamp, nightstand or chair for me. Those one-off projects take time (and time away from my writing projects)  and do nothing for my design portfolio.

So TYVM Tobi! (that’s thank you very much in tweet speak, folks).

What do you value?  Do tell.  

And now for some of those pretty pictures I promised.

Here are some shots at the Hickory Chair Showroom that display Tobi’s new line of fabric for them.  Love the yellow, gray and white color way. 

Here is Tobi at her talk with her  cute pillow line in more colors (I couldn’t help but notice that her outfit matched her Hickory Chair fabrics. ) 

Tobi has published a small volume of her projects.  I am sure you could contact her through her website if you want one.  Here is what she wrote in my copy. 

So if you are ever interested doing a “room complete”  that you just love, please contact me.  In the meantime, you can find me right here at Decor Arts Now.

All photos by Lynn Byrne for Decor Arts Now.

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