Copyright © 2011 by Deborah Needleman

Illustrations copyright © 2011 by Virginia Johnson

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Clarkson Potter/Publishers,
an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of
Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.clarksonpotter.com

CLARKSON POTTER is a trademark and POTTER with colophon

is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data For Jacob,

Needleman, Deborah. Lily, & Nathaniel
The perfectly imperfect home/Deborah Needleman.—1st ed.
p.  cm.
Includes index.
1. Interior decoration.  I. Title.
NK2115.N345  2011
747—dc23    2011020194

ISBN 978-0-307-72013-9

Printed in the United States of America

Book design by Hilary Fitzgibbons

Illustrations by Virginia Johnson
Jacket design by Hilary Fitzgibbons

1  3  5  7  9  10  8  6  4  2

First Edition

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introduction

 
G
rowing up, I was struck by the fact that our house had
nothing personal in it. Nobody ever tacked up a picture

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she found amusing. No memento was brought back
from a holiday and put on a shelf. No bunch of flowers
was ever cut from the yard and stuck in a vase.
In fact, nothing ever got moved around or changed, until the
day the decorators were brought back for an update. There were
certain rooms, like the dining room and the living room, that we rarely
entered. And there was a piano that no one knew how to play.
It was by no means a sad house. We were loved and cared for,
and the house itself was neat and attractive. But I have come to
realize that the soul of a house needs attention. Our house had very
little life—it wasn’t heavily used, engaged with, or loved. It didn’t add
much to my conception of childhood or happiness.
This led me to appreciate deeply homes that are imbued with
a sensibility and spirit—homes with a strong personality and signs
of life. It made me long for a home with interesting people and

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dinner parties and friends spending the night. And it made me

dislike homes that look perfect and unlived-in, or that have no
whimsy. That is the bias of this book and the reason for writing it.
Embracing imperfection in a home does not mean that any-
thing goes. Here it means aiming for beauty tempered by reality.
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If real life involves mess, accidents, memory, and the incidental,

then so too must decorating account for serendipity, and even
embrace it.
The point of decorating, as far as I can tell, is to create the back-
ground for the best life you can have. So this book is organized
a little bit backwards, starting with what you want your house
to do, how you want it to make you feel, and then suggesting
furniture or styling tips that may help you get it there. While this is
a book about things, I have tried to approach them from the
perspective of what these things can offer us.
Decoration can be life-enhancing. It can make dinner par-
ties more fun, kids happier, relaxing easier, talks more intimate,
guests at ease. And to think decorating is often considered frivo-
lous. Making a charmed and happy home is a noble endeavor.
The simple secret is making sure that every decorating decision

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contributes to the creation of beauty and comfort. Beauty to uplift

our senses (to transcend the mundane) and comfort to make us
feel taken care of (to embrace us in the mundane).
Often, decorators simply impose a style on a client, without
regard to location, suitability, or the particulars of that client’s life.

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Yet every decorator in every interview and in every book will pro-
fess that he or she prefers a room that feels personal, that money
doesn’t matter, and that rooms must be comfortable to be chic.
Most don’t mean it! Why else would there be so many perfectly
decorated, perfectly anonymous, entirely expensive, cold rooms
filling up the pages of decorating books and magazines? For so
many, the “look” is what matters.
Good decoration solves problems elegantly. A stylish home
is highly functional and reflects the best possible look for your
life, budget, and mode of living (even your peculiarities), and
the problems and advantages of the place you live in. This will
lead to a home that enhances your sense of well-being, that
inspires you and looks after you. Luxury cannot be defined by
expense or by grandeur. Style is luxury, and luxury is simply
what makes you happy.

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A BIT
OF
QUIRK

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I prefer an ugly, personal room to one that is just

cold and correct—a mausoleum done by a decorator.
—billy baldwin

A
n element of quirkiness in your decor shows that you do not take
decorating or, by extension, yourself too seriously. A room that is
decorated within an inch of its life feels self-important and static.
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Style ought to be loose and easygoing; capacious and expansive!

A little something unexpected makes us comfortable. Quirkiness and its side-
kick, charm, represent the lighthearted humanity of your home.
To say that a home should feel light, and have a sense of wit or whimsy about
it, is not to say that a house should be ”fun” or goofy. (Kooky is fine for people,
but not for decor.) When everything in a room has provenance or is absolutely
just so, that room fails to put you at ease and welcome you and then, well,
what is the point? I have seen rooms by decorators that
Previous pages: In are so gorgeous they are like visual poetry. Yet usually
a room decorated
by Johnson Hartig, they are not livable—only gorgeous, only perfect. They
nothing is too perfect: are rooms without spirit, without serendipity, without
unmatched pillows sit
on a loosely slipcovered potential for amusement. Sad. Sad. Sad. A bit of humor,
sofa; shelves are a touch of fantasy, or even something haphazard feels
stocked with bar
essentials and hung welcoming. It invites us to let our guard down. Quirk is
with an old mirror and less about shopping or objects and more about attitude.
tiny framed pictures.
In fact, it’s perfect. Quirk humanizes.

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Irreverent Accents These are small, whimsical touches that show

you don’t take the objects in your home too seriously: snapshots stuck
into the edge of a beautiful antique mirror, a hat atop a formal bust,
a beaded necklace hanging from a lampshade. Putting things where they
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aren’t ”supposed” to be shows that you rule your roost and not the other
way around. Framed pictures leaning against the wall or against a mirror
show that the house is dynamic, alive, a work in progress. Rita Konig, my
friend and patron saint of quirk and style, tapes Polaroids of her friends
on her living room wall in an ever-growing collection. She also hangs her
coat and hat on a standing lamp in her front hall because she is short on
closet space.
In really grand English country houses there always seems to be a lamp-
shade askew, especially in photo shoots, making me wonder if Lord Who-
ever tipped it slightly before the shutter snapped so it wouldn’t look like
he cared too much. Whatever the truth, the trick is not to care so much that
you can’t make space for the silly or the sweet. My irrepressibly loquacious
friend Maria came upon a note she was forced to write as a child in school:
“I will not talk in school. I will not talk in school. . . .” She framed it and hung
it on the wall. It is deeply personal, and also hilarious.

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Jollifiers Jollifiers are sentimental things that spread a little joy every
time you cast your eye upon them. They are among the easiest deco-
rating tools, as they require no skill, no complicated understanding of
color, texture, or composition. You basically set them out and, like a talis-
man, they exude their subtle power. Rita has a big poster with the word
love on it, and every time my eyes brush over it I feel some tiny, almost
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imperceptible lift in my mood. When she first moved to New York from
London, the poster was one of the few things she took with her. For
a while, it was almost the only decoration in her new apartment. Some-
how it made the empty apartment (and probably the brave, uprooted
girl who lived there) seem less lonely.
Rita loves to dress beds with Porthault’s heart-covered sheets and
shams, so that the beds themselves seem like big happy things eager to
have you join them. I find polka dots very jolly. Anything spotted is slightly
silly and friendly.
Among my favorite jollifiers is a collection of ceramic pieces I found in
the basement of my husband’s childhood home: they were from a one-man
show he had in the school hallway in sixth grade. The collection includes
a Crest tube oozing paste, a whale spouting water, and a glazed doughnut
that opens like a box. The pieces occupy a shelf in a gray-painted Swedish
bookcase atop a few stacks of books. Their shiny surfaces are a nice, happy
counterpoint to the soft wood.

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a bit of quirk 

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Quilts and Coverlets My ideal top layer is a pretty sheet folded

over a beautiful patterned coverlet or a soft, solid quilt. In summer I also
love a loose white matelassé and in winter a thick wool blanket tucked
in tightly. I think the simplicity and ease of a soft, plump white comforter
pulled all the way up looks sexy in other people’s homes, but in mine
it always reminds me of the lumpy surface of the moon.
A throw folded at the foot of the bed brings in a nice pattern, color, or
texture to complement the main cover. But more important, throw blan-
kets are perfect for pulling up around you for a midday nap. For this you
want something super soft, like cashmere, or an old, worn-in quilt.
Experiment a little with your bedding, trying out different textures and
styles. Contrast perks up a bed: Mix some thick linen shams with shiny
sateen sheets, or some super feminine flowery shams with a rough wool
blanket or a handmade Indian quilt.

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Not Too Many Pillows There are two kinds of pillows: the ones
we use and the ones that end up on the floor. One or two, or maybe three,
decorative pillows can work, but after that your bed starts to look like the
Bloomingdale’s floor model and requires its own staff to manage every
evening before bed.
I understand the instinct to break up the big, boring landscape of the
bed’s surface with color and pattern. Both Euro squares, those wonder-
fully large square pillows, and a throw pillow or two can do the trick,
though. You can find Euro shams (washable pillow covers) in loads of
wonderful patterns and designs; these will seem more like gorgeous tex-
tiles than plain cotton pillowcases do, and so they’ll add a layer of polish
and finish to a bed.

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Pillow Recipe (serves two)

4 1 or 2 1
down-filled standards smaller pillows Euro square
Thirty-inch for queen or larger Either a boudoir pillow—those A twenty-six-inch square pillow
+ +
for king, for actual sleeping. dainty tiny things—or a small throw that is great for propping
If you have allergies, go for pillow for resting an elbow or your yourself up on to read. Make sure
natural, non-animal materials. neck while reading or watching TV. it is firm, not limp and squishy.

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NICE TO KNOW
Making the Bed (fancy)
There are many ways
to prop your pillows. 1) Bottom Sheet: Using a gener- 3) Blankets: Lay a blanket (thin in
Square Finish: Stack ously sized flat sheet for the base summer, wool in winter) over the
a pair of standard (flat sheets lie better and tuck more bottom three-quarters of the bed.
pillows, and lean neatly than fitted ones), lay it evenly Tuck in the bottom.
a Euro square in front
over the bed, and smoothly tuck 4) Coverlet, Quilt, or Duvet: Lay
of them.
it in at the bottom and top edges. a coverlet over the blanket, its
Domino Effect: Lean
Then make “hospital corners.” top edge meeting the top of the
the large Euro square
upright against the (Lift a corner triangle of sheet fabric blanket. Fold the sheet down over
headboard with the up onto the bed and tuck in the both. You can either let the sides
other pillows leaning part that remains below, then lower drape sweetly over the sides of
up against it in the triangle and tuck it in.) Then the bed or tuck them in for a more
descending size order. tuck in the sides. buttoned-up look.
Standard Issue: Skip 2) Top Sheet: Lay a second flat 5) Pillows: Fluff your pillows and set
the Euro, and just sheet over the bed with its top side them on the bed, either laying flat in
stack the standards
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facing the mattress so that it will a stack like pancakes or up against

and add a few little
be visible when the sheet is folded the headboard, like dominoes.
throw pillows resting
back. Pull the sheet up so it is even 6) Extra Blanket: Add a soft throw
against them for
with the top of the bed. Make sure at the base of the bed, folded in
a bit of a flourish.
the sides have an even amount thirds, with the bottom edge of the
of sheet hanging over them. Tuck in blanket flush with the bottom edge
the bottom end. of the bed. Voilà!

Making the Bed (fast)

1) Tuck in the bottom sheet. 3) Pull a duvet up to the top of
2) Lay the top sheet over it, the bed.
fold it over, and tuck it in. 4) Put pillows on top.
5) Go.

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g l a m i f i c at i o n s 

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Flowers The thought of arranging flowers can unhinge even the most
stylish people. The secret to “doing” flowers is not to be intimidated. You
are the boss of them! You can whack the long stems off roses so just their
flowery heads peek over the vase or cut a flowering plant and turn it into
fodder for the vase. You can do whatever you want, and then redo it the
next time if it doesn’t work. And anyway, sometimes the chicest thing is
just to drop a bunch of flowers like some daisies or sweet peas in a jam
jar and call it a day.
I love the way white and green flowers pick up on the white and green
pottery and boxes on my mantel, but I also am crazy for how bright-pink
flowers shock against my dull-green velvet-covered table. In addition,
I have certain vases that I know look good in certain areas. When some-
thing works, don’t be afraid to keep doing it over and over again. A style
signature is not a lack of imagination; it’s the definition of one!
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Flowers on the Cheap

Fancy flower shops? Not necessary. No farmers’ market? No problem.
You can get decent flowers from the deli year-round, rarely spending more
than fifteen dollars every two weeks. Here’s how:

• Before you buy, decide what vase • Buy flowering plants when you
the flowers will work in and where can, like hyacinths, paperwhites,
you’ll put them. and amaryllis, which last much
• Flowers are least costly (and longer than cut flowers, and
most delightful) in their natural drop them in a cachepot.
flowering season. So tulips in • Go for the impact of scale with
May and peonies in June, not a few large branches or giant
in February. tropical leaves.

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STYLE TIP
Choose flowers and
their vases in hues
that either mimic or
boldly contrast with
colors in the room,
and watch your
flowers magically
integrate themselves
into your decorative
scheme.

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delicious scent 

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Four Basic Vases

THIS IS HOW

Arranging Flowers
Think about a mixed
bouquet as three
Flared Vases Cachepots
elements—the filler,
Vases that widen at the top are These pretty decorative containers
the flowers, and the
lovely for loose bunches of wildflowers may seem a little old-ladyish,
wispy bits. These
ingredients build an or for flowers like tulips that naturally but they are wildly useful. You can
arrangement. bend over the vase. When you obscure an ugly plastic
1) The filler is the have ramrod-straight flowers, like long- pot by simply dropping it right in—
foundation: the leafy, stemmed roses, they tend to fall to hence the French meaning
branchy stuff that the edges of the vase, leaving an empty of the word: hide pot.
fills the vase center. A string or rubber band
and forms the base. around the stems can control the splay.
2) The flowers,
like daisies, dahlias,
tulips, and roses, are
the stars, the main
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attraction.
3) The wispy bits
are the taller, stalkier,
grassier things
that rise out of the
arrangement and
loosen it up.

Pinched-top Vases Bud Vases

Vases that are slightly tighter at the You can’t get much simpler than
lip, like most pitchers are, seem a container that holds
to magically “gather” the flowers into one stem, or three. (Odd numbers
an arrangement on their own. look most natural.)

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Gardeny Plants For someone who hates houseplants, I seem to

have quite a lot of them. They really do establish a homey, well-tended
feeling in a room. The key is having plants that look as if they’ve just come
in from the garden rather than those dreary leafy things, like spider plants
and philodendron, that seem to belong in a second-grade classroom.
It’s really nice to have blooming bulbs and flowers in the dead of
winter. Things like lemon trees and those unfairly maligned geraniums,
particularly the scented varieties, are wonderful reminders of sunnier
days. Plants ought to anticipate the passing of winter and the coming
of spring, the way potted bulbs do, not just sit there doing the same thing
(i.e., nothing) all year round. The reason those classroom plants are in the
classroom is that they thrive on neglect.
Growing flowering plants or nice topiaries indoors is much trickier, so
you have to be prepared for failure. Tender, more sensitive plants give
way to bugs or desiccation or just go dormant, and you must be firm.

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If you don’t have a garden to nurse them or a basement for them to sit out
their dormancy, man up and toss them. You do not want to end up living
in a hopeless plant hospital. Style counts; a bit of photosynthesis doesn’t.

Nice Plants
If you don’t have your own garden to cull from, you can buy some lovely
things in flower shops, such as:
• sweet-scented jasmine
• a big pot of rosemary
• clipped balls of myrtle
• bulbs like amaryllis or daffodils or paperwhites
• cyclamen
• velthemia
• geraniums
• citrus trees

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