A business turns decorators into scavengers > Back To Resources Main

Melissa McGillivray Johnson
Special to The Plain Dealer

It's amazing what a little tweaking can do for a space.

Take a few lamps from the attic, an old pottery collection lugged up from the basement and . . . ba-da-boom . . . a new room.

In their interior decorating business called Rede signs Unlimited, on Larchmere Boulevard in Cleveland, Diane Armstrong and Johanna Pockar manage to create new twists with old objects.

"Reuse, redefine, release," Armstrong said. "That's our basic motto."

This decorating option makes for less fearful clients with more in their pocketbooks, they said.

"They'll say, 'This can't be my home,' " Pockar said. "They cry, they clap, they can't believe it."

For a $100 initial consultation, Pockar and Armstrong will visit and size up a place. Then, after a one-day makeover, the duo can transform a room or two using a combination of the homeowner's items, some new accessories and maybe a little splash of color.

An average room costs $500. A second room is $350.

Along with the redesign, the two offer tips on using color and accessories.

"Our goal is to empower them so they can do it themselves," Pockar said.

Clients need tips on how to group things together and how to choose just the right hues to make furniture pop.

"The biggest problem we find is that the scale is off, and there is underlighting," Pockar said. "A sofa might be too big or too small for the room."

Clearing out the clutter is a good place to start, because too much junk can be crippling to the design process.

"It's really a little bit different from what they think it will be," Armstrong said. "It's editing out what they have, making it more personal and more visual."

Sometimes the edited items can be few, and sometimes it's an absolute truckload.

"We work with them on how to part with these things," Pockar said. "They're actually pleased when someone tells them how to do it."

Redesigning a room tends to make clients more comfortable with using a decorator, they said.

"It takes the fear factor out of it," Pockar said. "We're using what they have and honoring their choices."

A treasure hunt begins the process, Armstrong said. Lamps, decorative plate holders, china - all can be found hidden away in attics and basements.

Once, when the two needed a tall, dark accessory to highlight the left side of a mantel, they were surprised to find just what they needed - and more - stashed away.

"We found a whole collection of pottery in the basement," Armstrong said.

The collection was in 25 colors, and all of them worked in the home.

Because of time constraints, the two often recommend specific paint colors that might brighten the walls, rather than painting the room themselves.

"We suggest using paint sample boards and then looking at it in all lights of day," Pockar said.

Pockar transformed her own dining room with a dark copper faux painting technique and then applied a clear coat of polyurethane.

Keeping the designs practical can help create a welcoming environment, Armstrong said.

"It's not easy, because there's a husband and children and animals, and they all have to function in the home," Armstrong said.

But once the transformation is complete, homeowners often are amazed at what can be accomplished with a little redesigning.

"To do it the way we're doing it, it really gets into the stuff they have buried in their house," Armstrong said. "They don't even know what they have."

Johnson is a free-lance writer in Fairport Harbor.

She may be reached at: homes@plaind.com