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Home Decorating

Help decorating our new home

13 years ago

My husband and I have just moved into our first house and we are over the moon excited. I lurked on the forums while we were building and now I need your help. :)

I am attempting to decorate our home and am having difficulties with the accessories and artwork. I am hoping that you all might be willing to post tips and photos of your own home and how you make the accessories and artwork flow together to create a cohesive look.

Thanks in advance for any insights you can provide. If it helps I am mainly concerned with our openfloor plan living, dining, kitchen area.

Thanks again! :)

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Comments (5)

User
13 years ago
Kate Marie, how very exciting for you. I remember the first home we had built so I know just how you feel. For us to give you ideas it would really help to see photos of the rooms and the furnishings you have. We need to know what style you like and what your vision is for your home.
nanjean68
13 years ago
Without pictures I would tell you to buy a really good quality sofa and 2 chairs. You can google all kinds of home sites like the HGTV decorating one, the rate my room, etc. Lots of places to look. Check out House Beautiful and rip out your inspiration pics. I bet everyone here does that. If you can show us your empty house, lots of people here will give you ideas! Have fun and use color!!
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It will be hard to bring out the beauty of the gorgeous floors with some gray paint tones.. The floors are blonde or weathered in your photo dreams. You do like gold and brass? That is awesome. <https://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/best-gray-paint-colors-home.html> What she says in this blog with pictures is appealing! To add warmth and drama to your room combo...see that front door? Find a darker version of your chosen wall color/hue trying to note the common floors that match yours in the link pictures she posted...and go dark on the wood trim and window frames. It will add class and a richness to the area. She did give you a white paint trim to use, if you want here, but wood trim that is painted a darker shade is enriching. Also this blog gives you the technique for painting stained trim, you might want to consider for your area since it is of good size. Painting the trim a darker shade of your wall tone, will give it more substance and may suit you fine?
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My Husband and I went back and forth on what to do with our mismatched home. Either change the grey paint throughout the house or change the warm colors in the kitchen. Although it's the more expensive choice, we opted to go with the latter since our furniture is modern and grey. So without spending an arm and a leg we are wondering what is the mininum we can do to make the kitchen more modern. The cabinetry is in really good condition so we are going to paint them white. We also purchased polished nickel cabinet hardware pulls and a polished nickel chandelier and pendants. We are thinking to change the backsplash matte white subway tile with grey grout to try to match the countertops. The countertops are very busy and have a ton of warm colors running through them, but they also have a nice amount of grey, black, and white. We're hoping the lighting and hardware will pull out the greys and whites and minimize the golds and browns. We are also debating onnif we should keep the built in custom appliances or get new appliances. The current appliances work and are in hood condition but are a bit dated since they've been there since about 2009. The big range hood also looks a bit dated with the little decorative ornament on the front. Any suggestions or ideas would be great!
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Beverly – I hear you and respect your opinion. That is the long term goal but reupholstering the chairs was an easier fix and believe me the previous fabric needed to be replaced….it was a good first step. Hoping to stain paint both pieces eventually but I have just too many projects going on at the moment.
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larke
13 years ago
When my DH and I redid the living room (years ago) we began with an oriental rug we loved, picked colors from that for the walls, furniture, etc. etc. and it all pulled together in the end. Obviously you have to use some sense with regard to choosing one color (relatively neutral) for walls and/or big furniture pieces, and just a couple more colors for accents, but the concept really worked for us.
carl_richardson
13 years ago
It depends on what look your trying to accomplish.

For a sleek contemporary dining room look, try this at jcpenneys http://bit.ly/b2mlhA if your going for an old style home try a cupola or dining room stuff for http://www.amishcountryproductsandmore.com or you could go green and do stuff using non toxic paint, solar energy, and energy efficient lightbulbs and stuff websites like http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/green-living/ways-to-go-green help on that
chicagoans
13 years ago
Regarding accessories and artwork: I wouldn't be in too big a hurry to be "done" with those. For my home, my favorite artwork is either nicely framed photos from our vacations; professional photos of the family; or art pieces that somehow mean something to us. (e.g., a painting we bought at an art fair that DH and I both loved; another painting of a local garden that has been in books; an antique mirror we found at a fair; etc.) I feel the same way visiting other people's homes: I like looking at their family pictures and hearing about artwork that has some kind of history. (They bought it on their honeymoon; got it from Grandma; etc.)

IMHO, when your artwork and accessories mean something to you and have a story to tell, they'll be so much more interesting than if you went out and purchased a bunch of pieces just because they all go together.

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