Smart, sophisticated apartment remodel(15)

Some thoughts on design from Eva Quateman:

Make it flow.
That's Eva's No. 1 rule in decorating. "One room should flow into the next unobtrusively. The design should sing the same song as it progresses along from space to space," she insists. Even houses with a lot of different colors in the palette should have continuity. "If green and orange are in one room, then maybe it's green and red in the next. The idea is that some elements of color should segue from one room to the next so the spaces flow." Two exceptions: teenagers' rooms and basements. In Eva's scheme of things, these decorating-defiant spaces are best left alone, in the no-worries zone.

Don't think about "the list."
"Shop with your heart. Find the thing you love, and buy it," she coaxes. "Buy what's fabulous, not what you need. I promise you, 'the list' of what you need will take care of itself. You'll eventually get a sofa and a bed." But you may not be so lucky as to ever again run across that special antique table or crystal chandelier, she warns.

Break out of the box.
"I don't like an entire room consisting of a bunch of boxy shapes," she says. Note the turned arms and tops of the upholstered chairs in her master bedroom -- and the round ottoman between them.

Mix the scale.
Cases in point: the Eva-designed tiny gold table beside the master bedroom's recamier, and the tiny tables pulled up to the library's massive 12-foot-long sofa. .