CITY LIFE - Barbara Kaplan [CITYSunTimes March 2010]

Barbara Kaplan, IFDA, ASID Allied member, helps people express their “interiors” through interior design and is the author of The Bajaro Method: Rooms Have No Feelings, YOU Do!
To contact Barbara, call 480.998.5088, send an e-mail to barbara@barbarakaplan.com or visit barbarakaplan.com.

Become The Decorator

For those of you who doubt that you can do this, it’s only because you haven’t been asked the right questions. That’s why I created the Interior Design Preference Profile. It asks the right questions. The results give you the design confidence necessary to express your decorating choices and create rooms that you love. You will learn about your personal preferences for colors, fabrics, metals, woods, textures and finishes. You will have the confidence to always know – without doubt or fear of making a mistake – which design choices you prefer.

color wheel

To learn how you can be your own interior decorator, I am offering readers of CITYSunTimes a gift of half off the original price to take the Bajaro Method Interior Design Preference Profile.

Go to thebajaromethod.com and click “Take the Profile Now.” Enter the promotional code bajarocity and fill out the credit card information; it will come up at half price. Then, answer the questions in the profile and print your personal results.

Always remember, rooms have no feelings, YOU do! Have fun, and if you have any questions, just e-mail them to me: barbara@thebajaromethod.com and I will answer them in this column.

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CITYSunTimes Web Exclusives March 2010
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You Can Be Your Own Interior Decorator

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By Barbara Kaplan

I would like to share a bit about my personal journey in interior design. As I began my career as a traditional interior designer, I became aware that I had no right to design for clients without their participation and understanding of what they require from their most personal environment. This led me to an innovative way that helps people be their own interior designer. Thus, The Bajaro Method was born – a process that uses self-discovery to create environments that have heart. In the Bajaro world, the most important consideration when designing a room for yourself…is YOU.
Always put yourself first in every decision you make for your home. Your heart will guide you. There is unending information on how to decorate your home, but only you can put your heart in your home. There are three elements that will never let you make a mistake, which is what people fear most when decorating for themselves.
The first step is understanding yourself and the project. Take time to look within yourself and at the parts of the project that require you to express your taste.
Once you have an understanding of what you need and want, the next element is accepting, which is when you get comfortable with the knowledge you have gained about yourself and your home.
Now, you are ready for the last step, allowing. Take all you have learned and become aware of yourself and the project, and bring it to action. Bring in people, materials and ideas that you have chosen and decided on to make you happy, and now the project begins to come to life.
Using understanding, accepting and allowing as the system by which you can be your own “interior” decorator, ask yourself these questions – because only you know:

How you want to live
What you like, need and can afford
The colors that make you feel good
The furniture that is both comfortable and pleasing to your eye
How much lighting you need
The type of art you would like to surround yourself with

MORE: Become The Decorator

CITYLife Web Exclusive | CITYSunTimes March 2010