New Places Old Pieces

HARTFORD, Conn. — Lisa Skelley plucked the dark wood oval mirror from above the vanity in the downstairs bath. She carried the little-used wicker rocker from the master bedroom. She rescued a decorative plate - a forgotten wedding gift - from a box in a drawer.

These and other pieces from throughout her client’s Simsbury home found a new use in the family room. By the time Skelley was finished, she had transformed what the owner called a “bland, cold” room into a warm and inviting space.

“What I like the best is, it still looks like me,” a smiling Clare Philips said as her eyes scanned her newly redesigned room. “I just like the warmth of it, the coziness. It feels more filled in.”

Skelley, owner of LJS Interior Redesigns in Avon, Conn., is one of a growing number of redesigners nationwide offering homeowners well-decorated rooms without the designer price.

Philips and her family live in a spacious, custom-built house. She opted for an interior redesigner because it was a fraction of the cost of a designer and she wanted to use her existing furniture.

She’s thrilled with the results. “It’s a beautifully decorated room,” she said.

Interior redesign grew out of the South about 15 years ago, but its popularity has blossomed along with the proliferation of home decorating TV shows, experts said.

Ann Anderson, owner of Rooms Reborn and the School of Interior Redesign in Monroe, Conn., started her redesign business four years ago but said she’s seen an explosion in the business and the school in the past six months.

“People see these shows and say, ‘You mean I can have a beautiful home and I don’t have to spend a fortune?”’ she said.

Interior redesigners serve as color consultants and use what’s already in the home, said Marsha Smart, executive director of Interior Redesign Industry Specialists.

“Redesign is about re-placement,” she said. “Traditional design is about replacement.”

“The average person doesn’t have thousands and thousands of dollars,” to spend on decorating one room, she said.

But it’s not just the price. People like having a room that’s them, only better.

“It should be about what you love,” Skelley said. “It’s your room. It’s not the designer’s room.”

Redesigners develop an eye for finding pieces in the home they can use in the redesigned room. Skelley, while working on the redesign of Philips’ family room, took a bathroom break and came out carrying the oval mirror. She hung it over a chest in the corner, placed a decorative lamp on the chest, and made a once-barren corner interesting and complete.

Philips originally hired Skelley to help her with color choices for her white walls. Skelley, a former textile designer for Wamsutta, is also a Benjamin Moore color consultant and a featured redesigner on HGTV’s “Decorating Cents.” Pulling the colors out of the couch in the family room, the two decided on taupe for three walls and a brick red on the wall framing the fireplace.

Before the redesign, the TV set in a corner had dominated the room. With the furniture repositioned, artwork resting on the mantle and a potted tree beside the fireplace, the fireplace becomes the focal point.

Another principle of redesign is improving the flow of the room, Skelley said. “There are alterations you can make with furniture to improve the conversation in a room.” That’s why she added seating - the rocking chair - to Philips’ room.

Knowing what to remove is another skill. By taking away paperbacks from the built-in bookshelves on either side of the fireplace, she created space for a plate that complemented some accessories already in the room. The few photos of Philips’ daughter, Kira, stood out better on the newly streamlined bookcases.

Skelley has great job satisfaction, she said, because when she’s finished, she always has happy clients.

“No matter how much or how little we do,” Skelley said, “I always hear, `I never would have thought of that.’ People are amazed with their own belongings all over again.”

To see Skelley’s room redesigns on HGTV’s Decorating Cents, check the air times on her Web site at www.ljsinteriors.com and click on “media.”