Diane Vallere lives in a world where popcorn is a
breakfast food and Doris Day movies are revered for their cultural
significance. After over twenty years in the fashion industry, she now writes
full time from her home in Los Angeles, California. She launched her own
detective agency at ten years old and has maintained a passion for shoes,
clues, and clothes ever since. Learn more about her and her books at her
website and blog.
My name is
Madison Night. I own my own mid-century modern interior decorating business in
Lakewood, Texas. I didn’t arrive at my decorating education through college,
but instead from a lifelong love of watching Doris Day movies. The sets of
movies like Pillow Talk, That Touch of Mink,
Lover Come Back, and The Thrill of it
All provide ample inspiration and act as a kind of documentary for me when
it comes to designing a room from that era.
But first:
Here’s how I approach a new room design, which I think is a concept that would
be successful across various decorating styles. I ask the owners to show me their
absolute favorite item in the room. Sometimes it’s a lamp they bought at a yard
sale. Sometimes it’s a painting. Sometimes it’s a cookie jar they inherited
from a favorite family member. Most of the time it’s an oddball piece that
seems not to fit. My job is to design a room around that piece, to look at what
is already there and determine what fits and what doesn’t. (Side note: once,
when a homicide detective mocked my job, I pointed out that what I do when
designing a room is very similar to what he does when assessing clues--look at
what is there, figure out what fits and what doesn’t. But that’s a story for
another day.)
Using
pictures from a room I designed for a client who write mysteries, I’ll show how
her dining room came together.
We started
with a lamp that she bought for $10 at a flea market.
Next, I
suggested yellow walls, a classic color from the midcentury era, and a nice
complement to the turquoise and white of the lamp.
I
installed floating shelves from IKEA next to the lamp and added more
mid-century knickknacks from the client’s collection, along with a whimsical
painting by Los Angeles artist Josh Hickman.
1.
Identify your favorite item in a room and rebuild the
room around that item.
2.
Don’t be afraid of paint.
3.
Decorating doesn’t have to be expensive to be
effective, but it should show personality.
4.
Don’t ignore DIY and chain stores when it comes to
things like storage or shelving. Home Depot, Lowes, Target, IKEA, and The
Container Store are a few of my favorites.
5.
Flea markets are your friend.
6.
Fresh flowers are just good sense!
If you
love mid-century design and Doris Day like I do, you’ll enjoy these resources:
Atomic Ranch Magazine [http://www.atomic-ranch.com/], retro renovation [http://retrorenovation.com/],
Discovering Doris [http://www.dorisdaytribute.com/blog/].
Next time
you redecorate, remember to have fun!
That Touch of Ink
When mid-century modern interior decorator Madison
Night receives a five thousand dollar bill in the mail, she knows it’s
a message from her past. Doris Day movies help with inspiration for her
business, but her favorite actress can’t help when Madison’s lover comes
back. After finding a corpse at a local numismatist, she follows a circuit
of rare dollars and common sense to expose a kidnapping plot, a
counterfeit operation, and the true price of her independence.
4 comments:
Fun glimpse into doing a room! I like it better than the make overs on TV by a long shot.
Thanks Kaye! Find your fave item and work the whole room around it. (or, if in doubt, go atomic!)
Great blog about one of. My favorite series by one of my favorite authors.
Thank you, Annette! I'm about to dive into Mad for Mod #3!
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