Jura Koncius / Washington Post
The bar in Nick Olsen’s Salon du Beau Monde at the 2017 Kips Bay Decorator Show House.
New York interior decorator Nick Olsen, who designed the Salon du Beau Monde room in this year’s Kips Bay Decorator Show House, joined staff writer Jura Koncius last week on the Washington Post’s Home Front online chat. Here is an edited excerpt.
Q: Do you live in a small apartment in New York? If so, do you have any tricks or advice for designing small spaces?
A: I live in a one `bedroom, which is perfect for me but small by non-New York standards. My main advice is not to be too respectful of scale: A three-metre-long sofa might fill one entire wall, but it will anchor the room. I’d opt for wall lamps instead of table lamps to save space, and a higher-than-average coffee table instead of a formal dining table. Also, go big and bold with artwork.
Q: What are your thoughts on the best white paint colours? Do you have favourites?
A: It’s hysterical to hear my decorator friends debate shades of white, but they’re all so different! I love Benjamin Moore’s White Dove (warm, not too yellow), Seapearl and Super White for crisp bathrooms and laundry rooms. Also, Farrow & Ball’s All White is very clear, not too grey.
Q: My sisters and I love to get together to spruce up our spaces on a budget, and we’ve got another family project coming up this month. We’re renters, and we’re stumped on how to approach the hideous fluorescent box light standard in so many builder-grade kitchens. Any suggestions on how we could disguise or improve it? It’s a small, dark galley kitchen and, unfortunately, swapping out the fixture is not an option.
A: I’m with you — can’t stand those fluorescent light boxes. I’d research the absolute softest/warmest bulb (tube?) option for them and switch those out. You could also cover the plastic with a pale tinted cellophane. I think yellow and pink are the most flattering.
Q: I noticed you used floral chintz in your room. How can you use a flowered fabric yet keep your space modern?
A: I think a little granny chintz goes a long way, and many of them have beautiful colours to pull from in other parts of a room. A single floral chintz throw pillow could set the colour palette in an otherwise modern space and add an element of surprise.
Q: I live in an older home with baseboard heaters, often under the windows. Although I’d love to use floor-length curtains for the living room, family room and/or bedrooms, my understanding is that any furniture and fabrics should be kept at least 10 centimetres from the heaters. I have a valance with roman shades, but the area next to the windows looks bare. It’s particularly frustrating because it’s only a problem in winter, when the heat is on. I have thought about seeing whether drapes that can be pulled up from the floor like a blind exist or can be made. Any suggestions?
A: Baseboard heat can really make curtains (and furniture arrangement) difficult. I’m no expert, but I have never heard of the 10-centimetre rule. My last two apartments have had fabric right next to heating pipes, and it was never a fire hazard. But, if you’re still concerned, I’d rehang the existing valances pretty high on the wall and make a longer shade to give the illusion of height. I don’t think pull-up curtains are an option.
Q: Do you think roller shades are OK if you can’t afford custom window shades or curtains?
A: Absolutely. My first rental apartment after college had the standard white vinyl roller shades, so I took them down and painted black cabana stripes over the white. But even the plain white ones basically disappear.
Q: I love the look of black paint in a room. But it can be overwhelming, obviously. Can you give any hints for decorating with black?
A: I have an all-black kitchen at home (floors, walls, ceiling, cabinets) but realize that’s not for everyone. I obviously don’t cook! But I love painting doors black and leaving the casing/baseboard white. Regardless of what’s on your walls, the black doors can be a unifying thread through any house or apartment.
Q: I have a 1930s black-and-white bathroom that I can’t afford to renovate. How can I make it seem stylish?
A: Black-and-white 1930s anything sounds extremely stylish. But my go-to budget solution is paint: Paint the doors black, and paint the ceiling black or a contrast colour. Maybe paint six-inch-wide stripes on your walls above the tile? Also, I’m not against hanging artwork in a bathroom — just nothing too precious that will suffer from humidity.
Q: When you do a kitchen, how do you decide what kind of counter material to install? There are so many choices.
A: I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to kitchen surfaces. Calacatta gold marble is the industry standard but costs a small fortune. I used 6.25-centimetre-thick Absolute Black granite (square profile, honed finish), and love it. A solid colour Corian can be fun and less expensive in a kids’ bath or laundry room, but maybe not for a kitchen. Mainly I just stay away from speckly granite, coloured marbles or solid surfaces made to look like stone.
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