See, Envision, Touch

"Color is hugely important; it sets the mood" says Kim Hendrickson-Radovich of Kim E. Courtney Interiors in Muttontown. "It's the jumping-off point whenever I begin working with a client. The first thing we determine is the color palette of the home. If the color story isn't determined right off the bat or if it isn't well thought out, it could really be a nightmare."

A number of factors should go into influencing your color choices from the architectural details of your home and the amount of natural light flooding the room to your personal preferences. there's no wrong color per se, insists Hendrickson-Radovich, but the chroma or purity of the color could miss the mark. The good news? "There are millions of different hues of blues, greens and browns, so we can always work within a person's preferences to come up with a classic color story."

Designers love working with luxurious fabrics like silk, mohair velvets, crisp linens, gauzes and natural cottons. It's a sentiment echoed by designer Hendrickson-Radovich. She stresses the importance of understanding the blue of fine fabric. Hoe it feels in our hand when you hold it, the weight of it and how it falls. She recalls seeing a beautifully constructed window treatment in one home that was ruined by a cheap material. "It did the room no justice. The money was just thrown away."