Home Decorating on a Shoestring

Lew Carton Istre likes to help people transform their homes into their castles. "You want to feel calm and refreshed in your home," Istre said. But the amazing part is that he works with what you already have and with just a few changes, can help you to make an ordinary or not so great room really beautiful.

Istre, who discovered his knack for rearranging furniture when he was ten years old, grew up in a working class family. "We didn't have a shoe-string budget, we didn't even have a shoe-string," he said.

One day, he decided to scrub all the floors and walls in the old house, took all the furniture they had and rearranged it by color and repositioned it. "I had a knack," said Istre who has been helping friends for years and just recently turned his skills into a business.

"I work with what the client already has. I call it `Renew with Lew'," he said. Istre feels that your home should be a safe haven after work, a restful space. "But even if people want that, they need to know, `how do I do that?'" he said.

"One woman came to me and said: `There's something wrong with my living room'," he said. When he did his consultation, he found that she had too many colors on the walls, too many patterns in the furniture and the carpet; it was chaotic. Pictures and nice art were scattered randomly on walls and the woodwork was not all the same color. There was an ugly floral couch.

The first thing he recommended was to purchase an off white painter's tarp from the hardware store (cost, about $30) and cover the couch. Then he assigned one wall for the artwork, painted it a soft color (sage green) and made the rest of the living room off white.

He arranged the artwork above the newly covered couch.

She also had too many pieces of furniture for the size of the room. Large pieces of furniture obstructed a picture window, blocking the light and view. He angled the furniture that she had had all against the walls, so that you could see the lovely view.

She had just put in a new patterned carpet, so that had to stay, but it clashed with the floral couch. The cross current patterns created what Istre calls `visual unrest'. The tarp took care of that. "There has to be a basic coherence in a room. It's a knack, it is instinctive," Istre said.

Istre charges a $75 consulting fee for ninety minutes of `hands on' work, then hourly after that, ($35-$50 per hour.) He then comes up with a plan for the room; either he can do the work or give the client directions to carry out.

Generally, for $150 or less in materials, the canvas tarp and paint, for example, he can transform a room. He also specializes in removable and transferable wall coverings that can be affixed without damage to the wall.

He can create a mural on a lightweight panel, which can be easily applied to cover the wall and then removed later. "I like to finish the walls in a way that complements the furniture against the wall and ties it all together," he said.

Here are some of the most common mistakes he corrects in a room: too many accessories, mis-matched knick-knacks, colors, textures or sizes. Or everything randomly thrown together without any cohesiveness.

The furniture may be out of scale for the proportions of the room. For example, an overstuffed chair for a small room. There may be too many patterns, too many colors, as in the clashing carpet and couch example above.

He moves pieces out, declutters, rearranges, and creates a whole new look. "People say, `I want to keep what I have but I want to tie it all together,'" he said. He finds a way to tie disparate furnishings and colors into a cohesive whole.

One of the most common problems for many is clutter. His advice? "Don't be overwhelmed, take it one room at a time," he said.

He recommends removing all the clutter, finding a place to put it where it won't be in your way. Leave the furniture and accessories.

Once you have decluttered, then arrange the furniture and seating arrangements.

Accessories come last. You can add color-like pillows on the off white (tarp covered) couch. "What distinguishes man from the animals is his ability to accessorize," Istre smiled.

For folks who might feel a bit shy about having someone come in and give them advice about their home, he has one question: "Are you willing to let me make at least temporary changes to the room?"

If the answer is yes, he does his stuff in ninety minutes and nothing is permanent. "I start out simple, for example, changing one wall, then go slowly and surely," Istre said.

"This isn't rocket science, it is not an exact science. But some people know what works visually," he said.

To talk to Istre, you can stop by and see him at Gypsy Rose at 748 Zion Street or call him at home at 530 432-8294.