A look that works

When Delene Fitzpatrick purchased a leather sofa and chair, she had just one problem: She couldn’t figure out how to make her new furniture work in her existing living room.

“I know my limits,” she said. So she called in an expert, Linda Keturakat of ReDazzle Design.

Fitzpatrick watched in amazement, as in just four hours, Keturakat transformed the stark, cold room into a warm, inviting haven.

Keturakat calls redesign the most affordable type of decorating around.

“You can hire me to do a room for less than the cost of a new chair,” she said. A redesigner’s goal is to use existing accessories and furniture already in the home, but to reorganize it and switch it around so the rooms look better.

“We’re selling a service, not a product,” she said.

When Keturakat met with Fitzpatrick in her home, she shopped the house, looking for things she might want to use in the living room.

“Clients get used to seeing their own stuff,” she said, but with her fresh perspective, items relegated to closets or basements can be seen in a new way and find a new purpose.

The first thing Keturakat did was clear Fitzpatrick’s living room. She moved every item into the dining room and kitchen. She placed saucer-shaped coasters under the corners of the furniture to slide it effortlessly out of the way. Then she was ready to tackle Fitzpatrick’s dilemma.

“The problem is Delene’s beautiful, new pieces are working against each other,” she said.

It took 15 tries for Keturakat to find the perfect position and angle for the large, leather pieces. Next, she added tables and lighting.

The table the TV had been placed on was moved into a space behind the sofa grouping. A chair was brought up from the basement, and metal artwork that Fitzpatrick bought, but never hung, was grouped on the wall above.

A new office/homework area was created where a blank space had been before.

Finally, she had Fitzpatrick bring her every throw pillow in the house. From these Keturakat selected a few to bring out the coppery hues in the print she’d placed above the sofa.

Strategically arranged plants brought much-needed life to the room. Candles and vases of varying heights added texture and color.

Fitzpatrick was thrilled with the results.

“It looks like I went out and shopped for this room instead of pulling things from other areas of the house.”

Her 16-year-old daughter, Jacy, agreed: “It looks like a page out of a magazine.”