Things that hotels teach us about interior decorating

There are few things as nice as walking into a hotel room (a nice room, not a room in a one- or two-star hotel) and falling onto that nice comfy bed. Nice hotels know a thing or two about interior decorating and making a space feel comfortable. In fact, you could learn a lot from the hotel industry when it comes to decorating your home. Here are some tips from some of the most successful and luxurious hotel chains in the country.

Surprise and delight

Marriott is all about surprising and delighting their guests. For instance, when a guest opens a closet door, they’ll see bold graphics that liven up a space that usually isn’t decorated at all. Toni Stoeckl, the vice president of Marriott’s Lifestyle Brands offers the following tips for creating surprise and delight when decorating a home.

• Target all the senses. Interior decorating is about more than just what you see. Use interesting textures, fragrances, and some music as well.
• Remember that less is more. Interior design is more about uncovering beauty. You can’t create an attractive space by cluttering it with too many things, even if they’re nice things. 
• Keep the design real and authentic. That means no fake flowers and no fake candles. 
• Swap out the artwork periodically. No matter how much you fall in love with your interior design, you shouldn’t be afraid to switch things up from time to time. 
• Showcase objects or artwork that have layers of interest. For instance, there might be fine details that you can’t see until you get close. You want guests to be asking you about these showcases.

Painting with light

Baccarat Hotel & Residences puts a lot of emphasis on good lighting in their hotels. Good lighting is something that’s often overlooked in interior design so Kemper Hyers, the head of design for the hotel chain offered this advice for homeowners who want to upgrade their lighting.

• Use tape embedded with LED lights to create some interesting lighting effects. You can illuminate a shelf or dark corner or light up a wall behind a piece of furniture.
• When buying LED bulbs, don’t go above 2,700 warm white. Higher numbers will look whiter and cooler. While you want a room to be well-lit, you don’t want to light to be harsh or sterile rather you want it to be warm and inviting.
• Bulb designs are constantly improving so look for the latest options and play around with having a mix of different kinds of bulbs.

Clean and cozy

Loews Hotels has a series of short videos with some hints and tricks for creating the right ambience in a room. Interior decorating is about more than your furnishings, it’s also about how you display them and how you tidy up the space as well. Here are some of tips.

• To really make bed pillows extra fluffy, put them in a dryer with a tennis ball.
• Use a microfiber cloth instead of a terrycloth for dusting. It will pick up a lot more dust. Use some cleaning solution on the cloth, never on the surface you’re dusting, and wipe in a circular motion.
• Light some candles and use some essential oils to add a great fragrance to your home.
• If you’re preparing an extra bedroom for a guest, fold down the covers, stand the pillows up, put a bottle of water near the bed and leave one light on in the room. It’s these tiny details that make all the difference.

Source: Observer-Reporter

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