I intend to in our new house. The new living room has similar architectural interest, although not the same. We have a painting we love and I intend to hang over the fireplace again. And I intend to again take the color cues from it. Some of the furniture and accessories will be different and we will add a rug this time. But I expect the overall feeling will be very similar.

I've moved many, many times in the past 20 years and I use the same ingredients, generally, each time. I've had the rug the longest and it has served as my color inspiration in different ways in different houses/apartments. Over the years, I've added a sofa, loveseat, two different coffee tables, two chairs, two stools, a map box end table, a set of nesting end tables, a round end table, and more. The upholstery is sun damaged on my sofa, so I will probably move in a different direction somewhat when I reupholster it.

I don't think you would look at a picture of my living room in each abode and think that it looked exactly the same as the arrangement of the furnishings is different, the architecture of the rooms is different, and the accent pillows and accessories are different. However, you would recognize the various pieces of furniture as being the same. I wish now that I had taken pictures of each room, but I never thought about doing that.

I also tend to use certain of my furnishings in different rooms when I relocate. An armoire that started out as a television armoire in the living room has served as clothing storage in a bedroom, china storage in a dining room and currently holds DVDs, books and light bulbs in the library/den. A different armoire that matches the bed in the guest room resides in the living room to store bits of seasonal decor and some dining essentials too large to be stored elsewhere.

This post was edited by Fun2BHere on Sat, Dec 8, 12 at 13:04

I think it's a wonderful idea for your Dad. An elderly friend just moved to assisted living and has four rooms. She's always had a beautifully decorated home with lots of antiques. She had the four rooms completely done just like her home with some of the larger pieces missing. When you visit her, it feels just like her home. Let's face it. For the elderly to go to a totally different look is like leaving part of them behind. Do it Pal, he'll be so happy.

I also think it would be a very nice thing to do for your Father. I'm sure recreating a room in a new home would help many older people to feel more secure. I'm technically old in years but not old enough in my mind to want or need that. I still love change and make frequent changes in my decor.

I've never recreated a room in a different house altho have always used most of the same furniture. I've never been one to get rid of everything when we moved altho the style of the new house certainly impacts on how furniture is arranged, new window treatments, new floor coverings, etc. So even tho much remains the same the look always changes. I also use a move as an excuse to buy a few things. For instance when moving from a house with carpet to one with hardwood I bought new area rugs. I will also dispose of anything that is looking tired (or that I am tired of) and may replace those items after moving. It's also fun to visit new stores, especially antique shops, thrift stores, and non-chain little home decor shops which are my fav places to shop. In one house I used an extra bedroom as my sitting room so played 'musical furniture' with the entire house! Great fun to move things from room to room and get a different look.

I've often wished I had taken pictures of all my many homes because I know they would look very different altho still have some variation of traditional/eclectic/cottage vibe. None would be anywhere near an exact recreation tho.

I would have to for my daughter if we moved she is very attatched to her room and does not tolerate change well. I would also use the same living room wall color and furniture that I have now if it worked in a new abode. If it was totally out of character for the style of the new house then no I would change things up. My sister, who unlike me moves often, takes pictures of her rooms and when she moves every nicknack is placed in the exact same spot on the shelf as it was in the last house. OCD runs in my family though. So I guess I am saying that I would usually only repeat a room if it worked with all the other elements but in my DD case I would redo it the way my sister does, to the last detail, to avoid trama;)

It is interesting to read the responses. For me, I'd say no...moving to a new place means a new change, and for that I'd bring in my old things in new ways.

When we moved I packed things up according to what they were rather than room they were in at the old place. That allowed me to create a whole new look. I guess because I change up the rooms in my house frequently-at least every 2 years I rearrange, change out, repaint a particular room just to make it seem fresh to me.

This is really odd, too, given my birth sign and my OCD tendencies. I really LIKE to change things so they create a different feel.

I've never lived in homes that this would work in frankly. And I think it would be too boring for me :). The only thing I recreate at all is holiday decor. I store trees based on their location and put the ornaments for those trees with them. But for the mantels :p I tend to change them up a bit each holiday, though some root things there stay the same. That's as OCD as I get :)

It's interesting but currently I live in 1838 and I will be moving into 1963 and the bedrooms aren't all that much different, so despite relatively strong differences overall architecturally, there is not much to "not work" in those particular rooms between one house or the other. The other rooms are a different story.

I am in the camp where we use old things in new ways. I also very much changed the kinds of homes I lived in (not always intentionally). I went from an awesome victorian to a 100 yr farm house to a suburban home.. and now preparing to go to a 1960s ranch. Typically I kept the same basics--but used them in different ways and upgraded/replaced some along the way. Unfortunately for this move, a lot of my furniture will no longer work due to a pretty big difference in scale.. number and size of the rooms, height of the ceilings and width of hallways and access paths. I do hope for budget reasons that I will be able to make it all work.. but I know I won't be able to. It would be fun to go with a completely new look if I could. I'd LOVE to go MCM --but I just can't afford to restart from scratch and the pieces I am drawn to just arent in budget even as accents. I don't want to go towards a caricature of MCM.. if I were to do it, I'd want to embrace the great woods, textures and lines..and that aint inexpensive, I've found.

We just moved my grandmother into an assisted living apartment-- unfortunately, she's in a studio until a large apartment is available (they give first priority to couples-- though as lovely as her room has become, I suspect she may stay even if one does become available!). She chose to keep her two favorite chairs and her desk, the rest is all new. She actually delighted in buying new furniture, new linens. It still has her flavor but it's updated and fancified.. and it makes her giddy with pride that the facility has asked her to use her apt as the model they use to show prospective residents. I think it was important to her to make it new and different just like her life is new and different. She'd have celebrated her 70th wedding anniversary this past spring had my grandfather not died a month prior. She had an amazing life with him-- and she isnt leaving that behind but she is moving forward. I admire the crap out of her.. and my mother (who was responsible for working out the layouts and scouting the right mix of new and CL pieces for her room).

So, yeah, I think it depends on ones circumstances and their personality. How do we view change.. and what makes our living space home? I used to feel at home as long as I had my books and CD collection.. and now I want to purge the CDs and a good number of the books.

I can't even recreate a recipe, let alone a room. I think I'm constitutionally incapable of it because they are always different, even if I'm trying for the same thing. My seasonal decorating is different every year, too, though I haven't purchased new things for a while.

I enjoy using my things in different locations and ways, so I don't believe I would recreate a room even if I had the chance.

When my Father moved in with us we did recreate his BR and small sitting area with all of his things even though they were a little large for the space. He lived with us for 5 years and I know he really felt at home here.

However when I move, even if it's into another home that has a similar look and vibe as the one we're in now I know it will be quite different. We'll still keep the grandfather clocks and and a few tables but I'd welcome the opportunity to start fresh. Perhaps it's because we've been here for over 30 year and even though we've reconstructed part of the house and remodeled and redecorated several times I'd just like a different feel and an entirely different color palate.

I've actually been thinking about this quite a bit recently.

Most of the furniture I have now was not bought for the house we're in now. Like Fun2behere, we've moved a lot -- 5 times in 7 years, at one point. Along the way, I've accumulated a lot of antiques, some to suit the house of the moment, but most because I love them. This has resulted in a motley assortment of furniture and styles, but I don't care. It's what makes each house our home. And like others, I move pieces to different rooms when we change houses. So rooms aren't really recreated, but the general feeling might be.

The wood furniture is a piquant blend of mahogany (Hepplewhite and Empire), really old oak (ca. 1680), newer oak (ca. 1890-1910) and one honking great walnut armoire (ca. 1880), along with a piece or two of maple (ca. 1830). The upholstered furniture was generally purchased new, although some pieces can hardly be called that now. The upholstery is kept in fairly much the same color scheme, so I can move a chair from one room to another without reupholstering it.

I do try to keep like or at least compatible woods in the same room, which has led to my current dilemma -- and the reason for my recent pondering. The buffet in my dining room was bought for our previous home, which was a 1920s "Normandy chateau" -- it's a Victorian French highly carved, massive piece -- I love it. But the table that went with it broke and we are now using one from a condo we had while my husband had an out-of-town job. It's reproduction mahogany Hepplewhite. And the room is arts and crafts style, with mahogany-stained woodwork. And it's much smaller than the previous dining room. So logically the table works really well, but the sideboard doesn't. But I love it. And who knows if we might move again soon. But that doesn't appear to be on the horizon. But it never does, until it happens. So do I hold onto the sideboard I love far more than the table, thinking we may again have the right home for it? It doesn't work in any other room. Right now (meaning for the past two years) I keep the table draped with a tablecloth, so the mis-match isn't so apparent.

Aargh. Sorry, Didn't mean to hijack the thread. My short answer is yes,, I would recreate a room, if it felt right. I also really admire those people who sell a house with all the furniture and start fresh -- and even those people who redecorate totally every two years or less. Do what is comfortable for you. Everything is right.

Please forgive any typos Our cat is helping me with my mousing.

I would too if it felt right, but it never has. The architectural, and geographic, differences have always been too strong. I have tried to copy wall colors I loved in the past, with limited success.

I do this all the time. Yet, many times the recreation is changed and many times improved from last house.

Yes, have recreated rooms from one house to another, both intentionally and unintentionally. Our dinng room is eerily like the one I grew up in, unintentional but perhaps unavoidable as the furniture and most of the china belonged to my mother and grandmother.

We built our house in 1999/2000 for my parents to live in the walk out basement. The downstairs layout was essentially planned by me and approved by my mother. The master bedroom area and adjacent bathroom were planned so it recreated their current bedroom at the time ( although it became much bigger) and the traffic flow from the bed to the bathroom would be the same as the old house.
The furniture was very similarly placed in that room but the decorations were new, mom picked out new bedding and was excited about the space. She died before the house was finished but my Dad has been here since summer 2000 and has adapted beautifully. When he was brought to the house for the first time, and to live here too, everything was in place and completely set up- his tv room, recliners, bedroom, all his furniture was in place.
So in essence, it was all recreated for him, and his comfort, not me.
In this past year, I have finally mentally been able to move on from what we brought from the family home and have redecorated everything with my tastes in mind, although still using much of the same furniture, and have made the place my own. Dad isn't aware, could care less, hasn't noticed, etc.
For many years, I would open the dresser drawers in Dad's bedroom and see all my mothers stuff exactly the way she left it and be immediately transported back to my childhood which is why I didn't clean it/many things out much sooner.

My style never changes and many things are reused. Although I did buy new furniture for a smaller living area and with the same essence. Long time love of my paintings and specific colors follow me. Keep wanting to change, but it just never feels right. Tis' like an artist trying to change their signature style.

I have not but I had a boss one time that transfered across the country and he had the same exact house built here because his wife didn't want to leave the old house. All rooms were even painted the same color. They eventualy moved back because their grown children were there. I often wonder what they bought for a home.

I think there are ways to recreate a room without doing it verbatim, just by capturing some essence.

This often seen picture is my father's current bedroom.
I would not want to recreate those window treatments if you Could get the fabric, for example. (A pattern like this is probably available, though) --but I think you could do something that Looks like this without Copying it:

{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}

I change up my house all the time. But I can't sit still. Get some coffee in me and couches start moving, hutches get slid around. I tinker too much to keep the same thing all the time. I think my husband is sick of me refinishing Craigslist stuff and adding or changing everything!

When I find something that works I stick with it.

I have living issues specific to me- enormous dogs that factor into every decision- the placement of every table (tails!), the width of passageways (stepping over sleeping giants), upholstery materials (200 lbs. of toenails do a number on bad leather!), the height at which things like televisions and shelving are placed (HIGH- these beasts can grab stuff off the top of the refrigerator, and open it, too), flooring- everything.

I have spent decades fine tuning these issues and finding solutions to living with multiple Yeti and still having an attractive home that works at least equally well for humans.
Of course when I moved the new place had the same concerns so I duplicated as many of my solutions as I could.
So yes, it is much the same right down to the layout.

Although I have been chasing Ben Cartwright's living room at the Ponderosa Ranch since I had a dollar to began decorating.
That space, to me, represents the ultimate in durability and comfort.
I need tables you can tap dance on in hobnailed boots and scrubbable furnishings, lol, and I got 'em. My furniture is nigh indestructible, suits my needs, and looks good- I chose well.

You can walk in the door not even knowing Yeti live here and it looks good, so win/win.
For me what works in the first house works in the second and third just as well.

It's not a rut, it's a groove!!

I do LOVE that wallpaper!

My house evolves all the time because I am a collector but things don't change. I am very rigid about furniture placement and I hate nail holes so once furniture has been decided on, it stays put, and pictures tend to as well. I hang pictures salon style, so the arrangement grows out organically from the center until it hits the ceiling or the floor. Only the stuff on the horizontal stuff moves around, and that's mostly because things are added but rarely subtracted.

I would probably recreate the function of a room, but not the same room as usually I want to try something new....I'd welcome the opportunity to decorate a new space. Plus, if I really loved the old space, I'd be afraid that the redo would always be poor cousin to and sad reminder of the first space....

But I understand the reasons for recreating a space for the comfort of an elderly parent. Pal, you are such a wonderful and thoughtful son...I'd be happy to adopt you any time!

I would recreate a room in a heartbeat.
It's wonderful that you are doing this for your Dad.
He will be very content with his own comfortable
things that he treasures.

Change is good most of the time, but not all the time.

Remember Fraisers Dad's old duct taped recliner
that he wouldn't part with? :)

When I moved from a 1984 built,1600 sq ft condo to a 2600 sq ft new home, I had visions of using the very same florals that had made me happy for the last 5 years . Sage green, pink, ivory, with several pieces getting the ivory paint treatment, definitely a shabby chic style. In the course of the build, with flooring, cabinetry, and other 'new home essentials' the house began to speak to me. It didn't even mention florals, but I happened to find a small area rug, unexpectly in a floral, in colors I thought would compliment the new house~ it was this rug that inspired in what colors the house should be 'dressed.'

IMO, certain homes accept different styles better than others, and try as you may, what you 'want' may never seem right. I once went to an open house where a historic home was 'trying' for it's owner to be contemporary. It sure didn't 't feel right to me and the friend I was with. Sometimes you may need to live in your home for awhile before you can hear it speak to you.

I LOVE Arts and Crafts, and I have many lifetime furniture pieces in that style.

So, yes, I would recreate a room (probably several!), as I am not going to run out and get all new furniture.

Some very good wallpapers like DeGournay and Zuber come with specific instructions about how to hang them so they can be removed and sold or removed and taking with you if you move. With $50K invested in a scenic wallpapered room, this makes sense.

It certainly does. That is something I would certainly never leave behind, if I were so fortunate as to have it in the first place.

I don't think it would be difficult to recreate that room. It has basic arrangement and good furnishings that could be used for years. In more contemporary homes, this basic arrangement is still used, night stands or tables on either side, with pairing of lamps, valet type bench or sofa at foot of bed, slipper or occasional chair for reading.
I had grass cloth which looks very similar in my bedroom in the 1980s.