COLUMN: Gail Mayhugh

DEAR GAIL: I love walking through model homes to see how they've been accessorized. When I come home and try to rearrange mine, I just get frustrated. I have a lot of different accessories, but when I put them together on my coffee tables, they just look like a bunch of things and nothing special. Help. -- Judie H.

DEAR JUDIE: After selecting paint colors, accessorizing is the most frustrating area for homeowners. Accessories are the finishing touches that make a home personal and bring each room together. They can be thought of as the "jewelry" that complements the rooms.

There are no secrets. It is mainly about balance, proportion, texture, color and theme.

One guideline that may help is to have the following elements on your table tops: height, texture and color. Height can come from a candlestick, sculpture, vase or floral arrangement. Texture is the material your accessories are made of such as a wooden box, basket or stone candlestick. Add color with candles, flowers or an accessory.

For example, you can accessorize with a large iron candlestick with an orange candle, a wooden box, a stone acorn finial and a basket of greenery with trails and curly willow sticks. It is not necessary that each item has each element, just that each element is present. The height and color come from the candlestick, while textures are added from the box, acorn and basket.

What brings the grouping together is balance and proportion. This is where most arrangements go wrong. You need to remember the "visual weights" of your accessories within the grouping and the grouping in relation to the table. You don't want the accessories all the same size or ranging from tall to very small. Until you get comfortable, have three sizes: small, medium and large. Remember to bring in your height, but it doesn't have to be from the largest piece.

You could group a large stone bowl with a wooden sculpture and an iron picture frame. Put colorful balls in the bowl, then tuck some greenery under the balls trailing them over the rim of the bowl onto the table.

The accessories on the table should be in proportion to the size and weight of the table. Don't clutter the table so that it looks like you are simply piling the items there for later arrangement. And, don't place a bunch of tiny items on a large table or too many large items on a small one. Just because you have a lot of accessories does not mean you should have them all out at once.

You also need to proportion the weight of the accessories to the weight of the table. This means that you shouldn't place a large bulky stone bowl on a delicate glass and brass table or a fragile, petite figurine on a heavy wooden table. The weight of the items and grouping should be in proportion and feel balanced.

For a more visually appealing arrangement, group the accessories off-center on the table. Space them far enough apart so you can appreciate each item, but close enough to appear as one display.

Also keep in mind the rule of odd numbers. Three accessories and a green, or a floral and a couple of accessories, are more than sufficient on a table.

The grouping also should have a common theme just as you have in decorating the room with fabrics, wallpaper, artwork and furniture. If you have an Oriental vase, I wouldn't place it with a rustic candlestick and a country goose. But, you could place the Oriental vase with a brass candlestick and a swan figurine. Each item does not have to be Oriental but should have the same feel.

Accessorizing is fun and makes all the difference in a well-made room, just as the right jewelry can change the look and feel of your basic black dress.

Gail Mayhugh, owner of GMJ Interiors, is a professional interior designer and author of a book on the subject. Questions may be sent by e-mail to: gail@gmjinteriors.com. Or, mail to: 8170 S. Eastern Ave., Box 4-275, Las Vegas, NV 89123. Her Web address is: www.GMJinteriors.com.

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