Decorating for the five senses
Tips from Chris Madden
Sight
After you’ve designed the overall layout of the room, create a few “vignettes” of some things you’re passionate about.
Hearing
Fill your home with the sounds you and your guests love. They can be music, a water fountain, chimes, and even the whir of a fan.
Smell
It’s the strongest of the five senses, and a scent can set the mood in a room immediately. I like lavender for a guest room and eucalyptus for a bathroom.
Touch
Make a room come alive with a variety of textures, from the softness of a cashmere throw to the bristly fibers of a sisal carpet.
Taste
Keep a tray with drinks and snacks in every room. It’s a visual reminder to sit down, slow down, and relax.
As an interior designer with her own home furnishings collection at JCPenney, she simply let her mood—a wish to create a cozier feel for the coming winter—and some of her newest fabrics and furniture guide her. “My house is my laboratory,” says Chris of the renovated 1916 stone gatehouse in Westchester County, New York, that she shares with her husband, Kevin, and (sometimes) with their two grown sons. “My home is where I can live with my new designs every day—which really gives me a sense of how they will work for my customers.”
Although Chris and her design team recently revamped everything from the window treatments to the furniture, she stresses that updating doesn’t require a major investment. “You can transform a room dramatically with new pillows or a small area rug layered over the carpet or even by switching from white lightbulbs to pink ones, for a warm glow.” And, Chris advises, always consider all five senses. Attend to the visual, of course, but also incorporate texture, sound, scent, and even taste (see “Decorating for the Five Senses”).Then there’s the “sixth sense”: emotion. “You need to really connect with the rooms in your home as you go about decorating them,” she says. “Choose elements that will create the effect you want—whether it’s to energize or relax you. That’s the best way to make a room truly your own.”
CASUAL DINING Adjacent to the full dining room, this alcove is where Chris and Kevin enjoy intimate dinners—and read the papers on Sunday morning.
PERSONAL HISTORY The open shelves of the dining nook show off Chris and Kevin’s enthusiasm for natural history—and keep entertaining essentials close at hand.
BALANCING ACT
“This bed, a new one from my collection, anchors the space in a fresh way,” says Chris. “And the leopard area rug reflects my adventurous sense
of style.”
From JCPenney:
Bed, bedding, throw, rug
GUEST SWEET
“Fabric is a great way to smooth out uneven plaster walls like ours,” says Chris. She just stapled a cottagey blue-
and-white print to the wall, then applied white rope trim with a hot-glue gun.
From JCPenney:
Nightstands, bedding,
window treatments, plates, lamps, rug
