ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 1, 1996 TAG: 9612030124
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PALM BEACH, FLA.
SOURCE: CHARLYNE VARKONYI KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Linda Schilling stood behind a table in the Pavilion Room of the chic Chesterfield Hotel and dipped a yellow sponge into a large chrome bowl filled with water.
``This is your brain,'' she told the class of five students as she squeezed water out of the sponge. ``Forget everything you ever learned about interior design.''
Carole Talbott, originator of the Visual Coordination concept, and Schilling, her assistant, thought they needed to hammer home their message. It was the second day of class, but a few students continued to clutter their minds with old rules and preconceptions of interior design.
The rule book has been totally rewritten.
Both designers and coordinators change the way a room looks, but that's where the similarity ends. Designers may redecorate part of or an entire space - walls, flooring, furniture, artwork, accessories and lighting. They may even order some structural changes. Their bills typically are figured on an hourly charge or a percentage tacked onto each item purchased for the client.
But visual coordinators rearrange a client's existing furnishings based on the room's architecture and Talbott's formula. Their fees range from $300 to $750, depending on room size and whether a lot of heavy furniture and breakables have to be moved. Most offer a money-back guarantee. And some will add accessories that the client can accept or reject.
``People can't believe this can be done,'' Talbott said. ``They are so used to having to buy something to make a difference.''
Students learn how to make that difference with Talbott's four-day course - 11 hours of classroom instruction, a visit to a fabric store and three trips to ``work homes'' where students can see how her formula works. The course does not require a written examination.
They pay $1,800 each, but afterward they can call themselves visual coordinators and open a business. In the past four years, Talbott has taught more than 200 students in seminars across the country. They range from housewives with little or no design knowledge to professional interior decorators.
This concept and other similar businesses throughout the U.S. hit all the hot buttons of the 1990s' lifestyle. Clients are required to buy nothing extra. They get instant gratification instead of waiting months for furnishings to arrive. And their egos are boosted because their choices have been enhanced and reinforced. Visual coordinators are taught to make no judgments and never to criticize any item in the client's home.
Sounds great, but what does the competition say? The American Society of Interior Designers, a professional organization that requires members to meet certain competency requirements, has not endorsed Visual Coordination as a continuing-education course.
Robert Angle, the deigner group's executive director, said clients need to realize that visual coordinators may have no more design training than this course. In some parts of the country, state law requires anyone using the ``interior designer'' title to be licensed and to pass a written examination. There is no licensing or accreditation for visual coordinators. Angle was also concerned that visual coordinators do not interview their clients. For a good interior designer, he said talking to the client about how they live is essential.
``Visual Coordination is a snapshot, but a snapshot doesn't have staying power,'' Angle said. ``The visual coordinator gives visual impact, but that's entirely different from being able to live with the design. Our home is where we go to recharge our batteries; it's important that it meets our needs.''
Asking clients how they live in their homes is asking for trouble, Talbott said. Not only does she advise students not to ask questions, she says it is best if the client leaves the house.
``If we asked permission to move something, they would say no,'' she said. ``When they come in fresh, they love it and don't mind if they have to call the cable TV man.''
In fact, Talbott and her disciples couldn't do their work if they asked clients how they lived. They use a formula based on the room's architecture and there is little flexibility.
To gain the client's confidence, though, her students are advised to offer a guarantee.
``If the [client doesn't] like it, we will put it all back for no charge,'' she said. ``When you are selling air, you have to offer a guarantee.''
Talbott, who has no formal design training, has been rearranging furniture for clients for 11 years. It wasn't until she was on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" in 1989 that her career took off. Her telephone lines were jammed with questions from people who wanted to learn how to do what she did. For the next three years, she documented every instinctual move she made in a project.
``A pattern started forming, and I realized through repetition that I had a formula,'' she said. ``It was actually the same step-by-step process that I used every time.''
After her analysis, Talbott came out with a simple system of flashcards that she calls ``Deck the House Deckorating'' ($19.95). And she is trying to find a publisher for a book she is writing.
Talbott has been published in several newspapers, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Washington Post and Newsday. Her top television appearances include "The Home Show" and "Good Morning America" on ABC and "Home Matters" on the Discovery Channel.
Recently she addressed a luncheon for the furniture industry and retailers at the Furniture Discovery Center in High Point, N.C. Dawn Brinson, the center's executive director, sees Visual Coordination as a great tool for retailers and designers.
``From a consumer's standpoint, if they don't want to purchase anything else, they don't have to,'' she said. ``From a designer's standpoint, it's an added facet that they can offer their clients. It also gives the designers more credibility because they no longer have to walk in and say, `We have to start over.' I see it as a win-win situation for the industry and the consumer.''
Talbott agrees.
``Visual Coordination is not a trend,'' she said with conviction. ``It will be recognized someday as a design breakthrough. It takes the fear out of decorating and changes the way you decorate forever.''
LENGTH: Long : 115 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: KRT. A Palm Beach living room becomes visuallyby CNBcoordinated, in part, by pivoting the piano so that its back is
tucked into a corner and by moving two love seats to form a right
angle, creating a greater sense of connectedness. color.