Easy ways to make your home contemporary

By Kaui Philpotts
Advertiser Homestyle Writer

ABove: These silk pillows are hand-painted and add a tropical flair to this couch by Brown Jordan. Right: Lamps with details such as this one's crystal fringe are hot items, according to Honolulu interior designers, and can brighten your home in more ways than one. Deborah Booker The Honolulu Advertiser More easy ways to update your home Get rid of fussy or tired window coverings. Try roll-up blinds instead. Group like things by color or purpose. You may have a collection you never knew about. Mix up matching sets of furniture. Buy new bedding, from sheets to duvet cover and throw pillows. It's a fast makeover for a bedroom. Check your closets. You might be surprised by what you already own. Think of your accessories in a new way. Can a pretty vase hold pencils on your desk? Treat yourself to a new shower curtain and matching fresh towels. Make an art wall. Have colorful posters framed. Buy multiples of inexpensive wood frames and fill them with family photos. Buy student work.

Houses are a little like clothes. You change, your tastes change and, if it matters to you, fashions change. It's time, you say, for a makeover.

But where do you begin? And how can you get a really new look in your living space with as little fuss and expense as possible?

First, junk the junk. See clutter as your enemy, says Elise Yates, a Honolulu interior designer. Get rid of things that have negative memories for you. If you're having a hard time deciding what to keep and what to toss, ask yourself if you'd buy that item today. Attack the piles that grow on coffee tables, desks and in corners. Donate the tossed items or plan a yard sale.

Now give the place a spit-and-polish cleaning. If you can't face it, hire someone for a one-time job.

Step back. Now you can see what you've got to work with.

If the task seems overwhelming, says Yates, take one room at a time and evaluate its purpose. Ask yourself how it makes you feel and how it needs to function.

If you like to read there, is there a comfortable place to sit? Is there proper lighting? For reading spaces, architect and interior designer Nancy Peacock recommends the new creative storage options for newspapers and magazines, found in places such as Pier 1, Costco and mail-order catalogs. Handwoven rattan or bamboo boxes look contemporary right now, she says.

Another question to ask yourself: Are you a city person living in a country space? Or maybe vice versa?

Scrutinize the furniture. Can things be recovered or repainted?

"If your sofa and chairs have good 'bones,' it's worth it to reupholster," says Patty Kincaid of Place Lift. "There are great new fabrics on the market, and so many more options today than just a short time ago."

Kincaid likes chocolate, taupe and wheat with shades of celadon. Yates likes to use colors pulled from our natural surroundings, such as earthy brown and ocean turquoise.

If you can't splurge for a lot of new stuff, even one or two new pieces of furniture can make a big impact. Good bets: antique Chinese armoires or chests that can be used to hide TVs and sound systems or can work as end tables and extra storage.

Moving furniture around the room or into another room can also create a mood change.

Consider wall color. Painting gives any space the most inexpensive bang for the buck.

White has long been the safest color. If you want to stay with white, try using several different whites. Pick up paint chips and see how they look together. Go for two or three shades of warm white containing some yellow —Êone on the walls, one on the ceiling and another for the trim. It will give depth and make the space look more interesting.

But color is where it's really happening these days. And it intimidates a lot of people.

If you're timid, consider painting one accent wall in a deeper version of the basic wall color. Pick colors you love from your upholstery, an accessory or painting in the room. If this still frightens you, buy a quart of the paint you like and put it on a test patch on the wall. Strong colors often look best when trimmed with a soft off-white.

Accessorize, accessorize. Yates likes adding color to a room with accessories that can be changed. Right now, she says, throw pillows with beaded fringe as well as occasional lamps with fringe have a contemporary feel. Stripes and the clear, bold colors popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s from the Finnish designer Marimekko are back in a big way.

Peacock says even small accessories, such as glass vases of intense colors, can give a room punch.

"In a sea of neutrality, a lime green or bright orange vase can make a big impact," she says.

Pure solid colors with a sheen and richness will update your look. She also likes found objects, such as beach glass in a clear glass bowl, to add interest. And they don't cost much, she notes.

Adding texture — with upholstery, pillows or wall coverings — is another way to update. Yates likes using lightweight chenilles or natural, woven silks. Look for the unexpected, she says: formal with casual, or smooth with rough. She likes putting something like a rough raku pot with smooth silk.

A quick and inexpensive update in a kitchen, says Kincaid, is to change the knobs on cabinets to brushed nickel.

Get underfoot. Nothing says outdated as much as thick, shaggy carpeting. Hardwood or cement floors with area rugs look more "now."

But if you don't have a choice, or you just like carpeting, especially in a bedroom, look for tight, close weaves such as the many sisal looks currently on the market.

One of Yates' favorite new area rugs comes from Tommy Bahama. The rugs come in patterns with palm trees and pineapples.

Look up. Lighting is also crucial to the way a room feels. Just using overhead lights gives a room a flat look. Add interest and mood by placing lamps at table height.

"Indirect lights and task lights eliminate glare and soften an environment. Good lighting can make dead places come alive," says Yates.

Evidence that a home makeover need not be elaborate or cost a fortune: Kincaid recently helped her brother update his new home by changing dated lighting fixtures. The home got an new look with simple pendant lights from Home Depot at $34 each.