Interior designing tips and guide

In Amsterdam, it’s basically one big citywide flea market. Going into your house is like going into a high-end garage sale, and you’ve got collections galore: lamps, movie posters, pottery, old radios, and silver spoons. When you walk into a thrift store, you get an adrenaline rush (and just a little high from sniffing the mothballs). You probably like to stay home and nest with all your finds, but you’re also a pretty fun and enthusiastic person to be around. And if it sounds like I know you all too well, it’s because I do: I, too, collect vintage wares. I’ve got a lot of stuff … but I also try hard to rein it in so that my house doesn’t feel like it’s bursting at the seams.
After all, sometimes “collector” is just a polite term for “pack rat.” So try to open up your home and give yourself more space. Pick the best of your old radios and arts and craft pottery; leave some empty wall space between retro posters. From experience, I can tell you that you’ll feel so much better about your place if you can actually see what you have. Concentrate your design efforts on creating rooms that are airy and well edited when it comes to showing off your finds. If you answered mostly c, your style is traditionalist. They just don’t make things like they used to-that thought probably pops into your mind pretty often.
For that reason, you tend to keep things the same. I’m willing to bet that you’ve got lots of family heir- looms in your home and those pieces that haven’t been handed down look like they could have been. You’re probably most comfortable with elements of style that are nice but not showy. Elements like a sofa covered in a subtle paisley fabric, a quality Oriental rug, or maybe a maple four-poster bed with a white chenille spread. There’s nothing wrong with being a traditionalist, and I’m with you on the fact that sometimes there’s nothing better than a classic. We should hang on to some things that have been around forever (like letter writing-I bet you still send letters through the mail).
That said, does it have to be steak and potatoes every night? If you keep your home too traditional, you risk it feeling boring and stale after a while. So consider spicing it up a bit. Maybe paint one wall in your house an offbeat tangerine and trade in your Oriental for a chunky sisal rug. Perhaps you could replace your chenille bedspread with an Indian print or some modern color-blocked bedding. Obviously, you’ll need to use a careful eye to blend the tradition- al with splashes of nontraditional, but that’s the only way to make your home seem like yours-not your parents’ or your grandparents’. Loosen up a little and look beyond the familiar to find a style that’s truly your own. If you answered mostly d, your style is ethnologist. Although this sound like you administer anesthesia, what it means is that you’re into different cultures: Technology is the comparison of cultures (so glad I have a dictionary on my computer). In other words, you like things kind of worldly. You probably rove to travel (or at least take armchair journeys through the Travel Channel) to out-of-the-way places where life is extremely different from your own. And your clothing probably reflects it.