Iowans who are hoping to spruce up their homes, inside and out, can learn about interior design, landscaping and much more at this week’s Home and Garden Show , underway in Des Moines. Lee Snijders, host of the H-G-T-V show "Design on a Dime," says he’s always surprised by how many people make the same design error of pushing all of their furniture against the walls.
Snijders says people think more visible floor space will make the room look bigger, but he says sofas need to be pulled away from the wall a foot to a foot-and-a-half, so you can’t tell where the back of the sofa is versus the wall. It can trick the eye and create depth, giving the illusion the room is actually bigger.
Then, you can stick a sofa-back table in there with accessories. He says it’s very inexpensive to change a space from boring to beautiful, as most discount stores now offer accessories and furniture at very affordable prices. He likes to go to thrift stores or hotel liquidators to get really nice furniture at very low prices, then he’ll have the pieces augmented or recovered.
Snijders says another fast way to instantly change a space is to change out your accessories. That can include items like framed pictures, lamps, pillows, plants, and any other elements that are just sitting that don’t add to the room’s vibe. He says adding plants, both live and silk, can add a lot of warmth to a room.
Snijders says he puts live plants down below and uses silk plants in the higher locations, in niches or on bookshelves or entertainment centers. He says people assume because the plants below are real, that the ones above are real too. Snijders is making several appearances at the show in Des Moines this week.