Creative Interiors: Your accesssories are your home-decor ID

It's like being in a room with a psychic and wondering if they know what you are thinking or being with a psychiatrist and wondering if they can read your body language and know just how you are feeling at the moment. All hocus-pocus aside, accessories do tell a lot about your likes and dislikes, your hobbies and your fancies, so choose them wisely.

You can practice being a reader of personalities by opening up an interior design magazine or any such periodical to a page displaying a fully furnished and accessorized room. How would you describe the person that lives in that house? It's not that difficult, is it?

To get an idea of how important accessories are, open again to that same page. Mentally strip away all the accessories and visualize how bare and unwelcoming the room looks. Now take one more step and put accessories of your liking into the room. How does it look?

If you're having a difficult time mentally putting the right accessories into this magazine room, or in your real life room, let me help. Start with compatibility. Unless you are one of those rare and very talented people who can skillfully combine unrelated objects and make them somehow flow together artfully, I'd suggest striving for unity. Examples: a rustic room should have rustic accessories. Fine crystal bowels will look out of place in the setting. A casual family room will make fine porcelain look "uncomfortable."

Of course, you wouldn't want to take this unity-compatibility thing too far or you will be back to boring or even worse, contrived. Surprise the eye. A very contemporary room will do well with a few antiques. An Oriental motif will find visual relief with a few contemporary accents.

Let's get personal. Try accessories that mean something special to you like an old pitcher or a vase you made in high school or a gift from a friend. Family portraits certainly personalize a room. Groupings work well here. For example, pictures of all the grandchildren similarly matted and framed and hung in a pattern will warm up any room. Try your wedding picture in the center; then add your children's pictures around it. For a newsletter with more ideas on this order, send $3 in a self-addressed stamped envelope. Mention the title "Reflect Your Personality Through Accessories." Send to L&M Publications, PMB 229, PO Box 413005, Naples, FL 34103.

Balance and proportion are of paramount importance. One large solid picture helps unify an area that is perhaps 'busy' with individual chairs and tables. A large painting can balance a large window.

If you have collections, be careful not to create clutter. A note: An odd numbers of accessories make a more interesting group than even numbers do. Well thought-out groupings can look good, but here again, don't overdo.

Rosemary Sadez Friedmann, a Naples interior designer, is the author of "Mystery of Color," available at Barnes & Noble Booksellers and Amazon.com