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Creating a wish book for your home

by Kit Davey

Creating a wish book is a fun, mind-expanding and free way to begin any design project in your home. Even if your budget or schedule will not allow you to begin your project immediately, you can start assembling your book today. The more time you spend compiling your book, the more your project is likely to reflect your vision and your tastes.

What is a wish book?

A wish book is a file folder, binder, notebook or scrap book filled with photos, notes, magazine articles, sketches and images of home designs you find appealing. The contents of your wish book can serve as a goal-setting tool and resource guide in making simple to radical improvements in your home. It can also help clarify and define your unique style. Any time you see or read something that might be helpful, pop it into your wish book.

In your search for materials to add to your book, allow yourself to stretch; don't limit yourself because something looks too expensive or too difficult to implement. Even if you don't know why you're attracted to the image, add it to your file. Even if you know you'll never have enough money to build it or buy it, include it anyway. Tear out the magazine page, photocopy a book illustration, sketch your neighbor's front gate, clip an article from the newspaper or photograph that house on the corner you've always admired and add it all to your book.

Your wish book might include:

** product catalogs with current addresses, part numbers and specifications

** pages from mail-order companies depicting accessories or furnishings you'd like to own

** pages from Sunset or Better Homes and Gardens on easy decorating projects you'd like to do

** floor plans of cleverly designed bathrooms

** fabric and paint samples

** notes you've jotted down while going through a decorator showcase home

** sketches of a window treatment you admired at a restaurant

** business cards of contractors, tile installers and electricians.
Organizing your wish book

After you've collected a few items, begin organizing your book into logical sections. Paste tabs on sturdy paper or buy dividers to set up easily-accessed sections. Your section on "Bedroom" might include pages from linen or furniture catalogs, fabric samples, photos of bedrooms from design magazines, a leaf with the perfect shade of ochre and sources for museum prints. Your section on "Bathroom" might include pictures of tile patterns, pages from catalogs showing bath sets, an article on the benefits and drawbacks of various countertop materials and a flyer from a cabinet refacing company.

Another element you might like to include in your book is a brainstorming list. Set up a blank page for each room in your home. Stand in each room for a minute or two and jot down ideas for changes you would make if time and money were no object.

** Look at the walls: Would you repaint in a new color, sponge, put up wallpaper, or cover with framed art?

** Assess the floor treatment: Want to re-carpet, refinish the floors, buy an antique area rug?

** How about the window treatment: Would you prefer blinds, shutters, a swag over gauzy sheers or drapes of thick velvet that puddle on the floor?

** Check the furniture: Need to find a matching pair of end tables? Would you prefer a floral instead of a checked sofa? Can you fit in a piano?

** Analyze your accessories: What would you like to see on display? How about the sculpture piece you saw at the art and wine festival, more family pictures or the collection you've always wanted to start?

** Which architectural changes would you make: add a skylight or bay window? expand the space? change the doors?
Dreams can come true

Even if you're an apartment dweller, live on a limited income or don't think you have what it takes to feather your nest like a designer, you can still benefit from setting up a wish book.

When I was struggling to make ends meet at my first job out of college I started a wish book. I clipped out pictures of bedspreads, warmly lit rooms, cozy corners with overstuffed armchairs and fun accessories. Once I had a fair-sized collection of photos, I could see trends in what I was attracted to and this helped me crystallize my own style.

Over three years I was able to create the look and feel of the home I had always wanted, using my wish book as a guide. Because I knew what I needed and wanted, I was prepared to purchase my treasures as I happened upon them: I ran into the perfect chair at a garage sale for $5, I bought art prints at a going-out-of-business sale for $3 and finished them off with frames found in a dumpster, and I used shells and rocks from the beach as accessories. Kit Davey is a Redwood City-based interior designer who redecorates using what you already own. You can call her at (650) 367-7370, e-mail her at KitDavey@aol.com, or visit her Web site at AFreshLook.net.