‘Style Secrets’: House Beautiful editor reveals the keys to unlocking a home’s potential – CT Post

Photo: Francesco Lagnese / House Beautiful

Pops of orange add an unexpected splash of color.

Pops of orange add an unexpected splash of color.

A painted floor presents promising new possibilities underfoot.

A painted floor presents promising new possibilities underfoot.

Paint moldings or muntins a color (no, not white) to outline a room like a frame does a painting.

Paint moldings or muntins a color (no, not white) to outline a room like a frame does a painting.

Pristine white walls against a checkerboard marble floor create an MGM musical moment in this glamorous foyer.

Pristine white walls against a checkerboard marble floor create an MGM musical moment in this glamorous foyer.

A large-scale mirror provides the grand gesture every room needs.

A large-scale mirror provides the grand gesture every room needs.

With a massive light fixture directing the attention overhead, you hardly need to decorate the rest of the room.

With a massive light fixture directing the attention overhead, you hardly need to decorate the rest of the room.

If its star power you want in a room, try a slash of lipstick red.

If its star power you want in a room, try a slash of lipstick red.

Style Secrets: House Beautiful editor reveals the keys to unlocking a homes potential

Its the kind of image that requires more than a simple glance. First off, theres a yellow-tinted glass vase with pink and magenta peonies across from a couch where a bolster pillow picks up the floral theme. The white candelabras and wrought-iron mirror are the epitome of elegance, but that peach lamp adds a bit of whimsy.

Ahhh, to have that kind of talent that pulls all those pieces together. Want to learn how? Just turn the cover.

That elegant sitting room fronts the more than 260 images in House Beautiful Style Secrets: What Every Room Needs, by the interior design magazines editor Sophie Donelson, which comes out later this month. Insider expert tips, ideas shared by magazines readers and tricks Donelson has picked up along the way, show how spaces small and large can be transformed with color, texture, glitz and a wow moment.

I am not a designer, but I am constantly being asked for advice, says Donelson during a phone interview from her New York City office recently. She has been editor since early 2015. There are just these elements that work and grab your attention and make you feel something. . (Its about creating) a room thats memorable for other people and truly enjoyable for the homeowner, which is really the most important thing.

Before she ever took the helm of House Beautiful or wrote about design, she was a fan of altering her environment. Growing up, Donelson and her mother would often rearrange furniture to give a space new life. It is a tradition she continues with her family, tinkering with the setup in their New York City apartment. There is plenty of inspiration in the book to help target that rearranging.

Culled from photos from the magazine, including outtakes that will be new to its readers, the images show how these elements work in an elegant foyer to a modern kitchen, from a cozy bedroom to a sophisticated master suite. Unique pieces, such as a chandelier made out of an old drum, portraits picked up over 45 years and vintage plates from Mexico are visual reminders of the vast possibilities that could be sitting around in someones attic.

Donelson stresses the book carries on with the principle that has guided the magazine (which is owned by Hearst, the same parent company as this newspaper) through its 121 years. These are ideas to try and not to just buy. They are there to give readers confidence in their tastes and decisions. All the captions and the copy is written to draw your attention to a particular idea. Its not what you have to buy or have to do, but why it works and how you can make it work.

What does every room need? Donelson goes into detail about some of the elements, which will have people asking, Whos your decorator?

A grand gesture

Huge mirrors, gigantic urns, mammoth couches and sizable chandeliers create focal points and add dimensions in rooms of varying dimensions. Make sure the overscaled object is not overdone, Donelson says, but that vase, say, that looks colossal in the store just may be the thing for a grand room.

In an interior, where you have volumes of space, natural light and a lot going on, the eye can take in much, much more. I think we underestimate our ability to enjoy a grand gesture. How many times do you walk in a hotel, or even in a restaurant, and see this jaw-dropping object and have this Oh, wow! moment. Why shouldnt you feel that way at home?

Tactile temerity

Creating texture, whether underfoot, on the wall or with the furniture, provides a sensual experience, as well as visual stimulation. I dont think I have done a good enough job incorporating it into my own home, she says. I love tassels, fringe and nailhead (trim). I looked at my living room recently and I thought, where can I apply a little more texture? Maybe the next throw pillows I get, Ill get something that is embroidered.

Small spaces, big expectations

Donelson has learned from the best that making a small space shine is entirely possible. Absolutely, you should invest either time or money, or both, into a small space. Just because it is small, does not mean it should be bare bones or neglected.

In a small Manhattan apartment, for instance, a room that triples as a foyer, dining room and library gets a splash of class and versatility with a faux-marble painted floor.

Wall-to-wall inspiration

Dont be afraid to use wallpaper. It adds a layer of interest without busying things, so that adds a real designers touch in a way that has staying power and longevity. I am a huge wallpaper fan. I especially love it in a powder room or somewhere where you can enjoy it tremendously, briefly, and then you step away from it, in a way. Something like grasscloth, similar to fine paint, will change throughout the day. Wherever the light is hitting it, it will take on different tones because of its depth. My living room would be grasscloth if I could get around to moving my family out a couple of days, she says, with a laugh. Maybe next summer.

chennessy@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @xtinahennessy

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'Style Secrets': House Beautiful editor reveals the keys to unlocking a home's potential - CT Post