Foolproof decorating

IDEAL HEIGHT TO HANG A MIRROR: 60 INCHES FROM THE FLOOR TO THE CENTER OF THE MIRROR.

THIS PATTERN TRICK ISN’T ONLY FOR FABRIC—IT APPLIES TO RUGS AND FURNITURE, TOO.

Palette math: Choose one color for 60 percent of the room, a second color for 30 percent, and a third color that’s brighter than the others for the remaining 10 percent.

A spot to sit + mirror + table (or shelf) = instant “finished” foyer.

Switch up shapes. If the bulk of your living-room furniture is boxy, choose a round coffee table, ottoman, or side tables for balance.

The ideal coffee table is two-thirds as wide as the sofa and a couple of inches lower than the seats (typically 14 to 16 inches high).

Instead of installing them directly above the window, hang curtains high— between the ceiling and the top of the window—and your space will feel a lot loftier. (And don’t let the bottoms pool. They should just graze the floor.)

Mount a mirror opposite a window. It’s the best way to bounce light around and create the illusion of a bigger room.

A rug should never float in the middle of a floor. Place it under at least the front feet of a chair, a couch, or a bed to anchor it.

Throw-pillow math: two 20-inch square pillows in a matching bold pattern, one on each end of the sofa; two 16-inch pillows in a coordinating solid color, overlapping the square pillows; and one lumbar with a subtle pattern (like a pinstripe) in the middle.

You’ll never mess up pattern mixing if you combine bold, large-scale prints with subtle, smaller-scale prints in complementary colors.

Think in threes. Similar-sized accessories on a shelf or a table look better grouped in odd numbers. Even amounts can feel too uniform and stiff.

Written by Stephanie Sisco and Rachael Weiner

A SMALL AREA RUG HELPS DEFINE THE SPACE.

WANT MORE STYLING SECRETS? Find 16 ways to make a small space seem larger at realsimple.com/ designtricks.

Have you ever noticed that your washer says it has 7 minutes to go for over 25 minutes? This actually could be caused by too many suds from your detergent, adding an additional rinse cycle to your machine. Tide HE Turbo Detergent is designed to solve this problem, with quick dissolving suds that save up to 25 minutes to get you back to your day.

SPEND YOUR TIME: 1. Crafting with the kids 2. Reaching out to an old friend 3. Reading a book 4. Spring cleaning 5. Pampering yourself

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•Did you know High Efficiency washers make over 100 decisions per cycle?

Load balance, suds management, and temperature control can save 10 gallons of water and 25 minutes per load. Basically the smart Wphone of appliances!

•Most HE machine owners don’t realize that their detergent can be to blame for long cycles, sudsy clothing, and dinginess. Using

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Photograph by Stephen Lewis