Sunday, October 5, 1975
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Five I
PERSPECTI
YE
Moiddm&
ChAnndgmft e o in A Arbor:
Give
By BARBARA CORNELL
THERE'S NO need for wall-to-
wall, floor-to-ceiling, bed-;
room - to - bathroom kaleido-
scopic, mind blowing color
mezmerization when it comes
down to decorating an apart-
ment with taste. But changing
a typically drab Ann Arbor
campus apartment into an in-
terior decorator's delight is a
formidable challenge as any
student knows.
'Avacado' matted shag car-
peting replete with cat dander
and fuzz balls, stringy second-
hand sofas, and arthritic arm-
chairs don't easily lend them-
selves to optimum coordination.I
Local realtors don't exactly
have to pass a 'taste test' be-+
fore they purchase new furni-
ture.
So when you set out to tackle
the average University off-cam-
pus slum dwelling, remember
our home a
neutrals. "People have real
problems when they try to mix
colors and I've seen some real
abortions in my day." !
So now you've got these ineu-
tral walls and you've vowed on
the bible that you're not going
to go overboard to create a
cosmic - colored catastrophe.,
Now what do you do?
NEXT STOP is the cheapo
fabric store. "You can al-
ways use wall hangings," says
Monteith. Colorful material and
a staple gun can go a long way
Ahern uses old doors and filing'
cabinets for just about every-
thing. His filing cabinet / dress-I
er neatly classifies everything
from his Argyles to his Zunder-
wear. And he is quick to point
out that legal-sized filing. cabi-
nets are a perfect size for stor-
ing laundered shirts.
Ahern obtains his old doors
from lumber companies. He
looks for hollow ones that have
been damaged on one side and
then uses them for everything
from table tops to room divid-
ers.
?celift
old ladder which was missing a
few rungs as a step ladder for
his loft. "There's countless
things you can do," says Mon-
teith, "you just have to keep
your eyes open for things you
can use.'
Subtle changes can make dra-
matic differences. "My big
pitch would be plants and light-
ing," suggests Bayne.
If you're unsure whether
your dungeony, dank apartment
can support nature's greenery,
Monteith suggests you use an
ordinary camera light meter to
t
t
t
to add appropriate patches of He says creating different measure the intensity of its
color to a room. Monteith main- levels of matresses can create light in "footcandles." A flor-
tains that the most successful a modular-style furniture ar- ist can use this information to
hangings are ones that focus the rangement. And Monteith sug- prescribe appropriate plants.
eye on one point in the room. gests industrious individuals Monteith says she is not above
Fabrics and wooden frames can purchase foam rubber blocks buying her plants at a super-
also be used as wall dividers. at a fabric store, anchor them market, but says to check that
Monteith and Bayne agree that to a home-made wooden frame, the leaves are green and shiny
putting nails in walls does not and then cover it with material. to be sure the plant is healthy.
crucify a renter when damage Both of these types of furniture "You can really overdo it with says Monteith. Bayne suggests
nlants," she cautions. "You "getting q lot of those cheapy
have to be careful. Generally, lights that clamp on to things
one or two big plants are more and putting them all over the
effective than a lot of little place. You can use them for
ones." backlighting plants and making
And she says that if you are funny shadows on the ceiling."
going to invest in a big plant, If you want the lamps to be vis-
you should also buy a "grow ible, Bayne recommends pur-
light" so that the plant does chasing bulbs tipped in silver
I not meet a premature demise. to avoid glare.
Monteith buys High Intensity IHERE ARE MANY more
>Discharge (HID) lamps which easy, cheap ways to fix'
provide light in the proper spec- apartments short of hiring an
trum for plants. Although she interior decorator. Monteith
gets her HIDs at a florist, she says the best place to seek out
says you can probably purchase --- -
them more cheaply at a light-i
- in stre.Elec.Typewriter
Regular lighting in unusuale . E8e/N ye
places is also a big part of de-
corating. "Lighting is one of k $2. 'tno
those things that is very im- ATr unirsity cellar
portant but usually ignored,"
;I
j
p
f
k
4
if
I
t
1 s
i
ideas is the public library. And
if you're up for a change of at-
mosphere but you just can't
get into doing-it-yourself, archi-
tect Ahern offers one final, sim-
ple, and logical suggestion:
"You might just do well to
make friends with someone in
the art school."
Daily Photo by PAULINE LUBENS
PHOTOGRAPHS by Mark Reesman
October 1-31
Y .. I
} ti UN ION,
GALLERY
First Floor Michigan Union
TUES.-SUN.-10-6
SAT.-SUN.-12-6
Dr. Paul C. Uslan
OPTOMETRIST
Full Contact Lens Service
Visual Examinations
548 CHURCH ST.
663-2476
r----- -
s
u
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IR
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there are a few basic tenets
of design that can help to trans-=
form shabbiness into something
not far short of godliness.
deposit day rolls around. "You
can always patch a wall when:
you are through." says Baynes.
"Actually you ruin the wall
more with those stick-on things
tfit ever one uses because you
Daily Photo By PAULINE LUBENS
can be easily disassembled on
moving day.
"THE BASIC approach is sim- can't cover them up even when
plicity," says University inter- you paint over them." And if
for designer Sam Bayne. Once vou're at a loss for classy art-
you have that, you can add work, Monteith recommends
your own touch of personality."brksntegthecpmmnt
Bayne suggests facing the facts browsing through the paintings
byn fisggts facing rtweal- which are available to checkj
by first facing your walls. Real- out on a temporary basis at
tors somehow invariably seem the Ann Arbor Public Library.
to adore neither-here-nor-there
shades of wishy-washy yellows, Local architect and general!
bland blues, and ghastly greens. good taste do-it-yourselfer Rich-
"I think most designers hate ard Ahern is an encyclopedia of
pastels," claims Bayne. "It's al- information when it comes to
ways good to get the landlord using odds and ends for spruc-
to paint the place white." Bayne ing up an apartment. He re-
also says "earth colors" can' commends that poverty - strick-
AV/IIEN IT comes to eye-pleas-
ing knick-knacks, Ahern
claims "Just a few quality ma-
terials will go a long way." His
lamp shades are all wicker
wastebaskets, his carpeting is'
swatches once used as samples.'
Some of his apprentices built
lofts from old packing crates
and spare lumber. One used an
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provide a suitable neutral back-
drop on which to work. "You
can't go wrong with earth col-
ors, really," he notes.
His co-worker, Ruth Montieth,'
suggests painting one wall dark
brown to add extra dimension
to a room. "When the lighting
is low, the wall sort of blends!
out," she says. Baynes adds
that "dark brown is always a
good color for a bathroom" -
nothing like a little designer's
'in-joke'.
But the real stumbling block,
according to Monteith, comes
once you've shelved your paint
cansand rollers. She cautions
would-be decorators against
liberally slathering an apart-
ment with bright colors urnless
they have some natural propen-
sity or training for their coor-
dination. "People just don't re-
alize that there's a whole psy-
chology of colors. What you
need in a room is not necessar-
ily a difference in colors, but a
difference in intensity." She
says people who "do not have a
natural eye" should stick to
en students use gift-wrapping
paper instead of wall paper for'
an inexpensive way to accent
lack-luster walls.
But as you sink dlown into
your already sleazy sofa to ad-
mire your stunning walls, ima-
gine how much better they
would look without Kiwanis
Club Snecials you are forced
to call furniture. Monteith
makes at least one helpful sug-
gestion in this regard: get rid1
of as much of it as you can-
"even if it means you have to
sit on the floor."
Monteith, Bayne, and Ahern
all point out a number of ways
to "create" substitute furnish-
ings or at least make the old
stuff as invisible as possible.
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OCTOBER 27
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