Yes! You Can Have White
by Kathy Patton
Yes! You can have white carpet…
…you just have to train your teenagers and their friends to leave their shoes at the door!
Even now, I smile as I see my youngest son’s shoes neatly placed inside the door. Holt is now 20, but he learned to take care of his mom’s “way-too-white carpet” by leaving his shoes at the front door.
I knew this had gone too far when my friends and guests started taking their shoes off when they came in the door!
However you have to train “your people,” it is doable to have the interior you desire. I never want my home to “have me.” Home is a place to retreat to, to live in, to enjoy friends in.
Beauty and practicality do not have to be mutually exclusive, however.
I put practical fabrics on sofas and chairs (with the exception of that white sofa I created in 1998!) For me, the touch test is key for fabrics I will sit on. How will this feel on my bare legs in the hot summer when I have shorts on? You learn these things when you make the mistake of putting Mohair on your den sofa while living in Macon, Georgia!
Fortunately for my clients, most of the mistakes I’ve made in my 24 years of Design have been on my own projects. The Mohair sofa being a biggie. I had to slipcover it for the hot spring and summer months, and when I did, I learned that no fabric does well laying on top of Mohair. Save that fabric for an ottoman! But it sure was beautiful...
For those who want a complete transformation, Kathy Patton Designs can do it. We have a client that rolls up her wool rugs for sisals and packs up her dark cocktail table for a scalloped painted table. Even lamps change out to transform her fall/winter look to the summer feel of a home on Lake Lanier. “This makes me so excited! I look forward to the week before Easter every year when we put away the dark colors and bring out the spring and summer pieces. It’s like I have a new house every six months!”