Happy bunny, very exciting to move into your first home! Congratulations. Take it slowly and do what you must. Good points were made about window coverings and furniture-if you paint everything white, are the window coverings going to then look bad? How will white paint look with your furnishings?

I like your idea of painting the walls warm white with white ceilings and trim. It will give you a chance to live with those colors for awhile and then decide if you want something different. Like always1stepbehind, I would rather move into a house that's freshly painted. Why would anyone want to live with walls painted colors you don't like if you can change them ? Not me !

Congrats on your new home !

I would rather move into a house that's freshly painted. Why would anyone want to live with walls painted colors you don't like if you can change them ?

Because of the title "Decorating on a budget". Painting an entire home can be a significant cost, when working with a tight budget. I bought my first home not that many years ago and I remember every extra trip to the paint store to buy another gallon hurt my wallet. Also, I thinking painting is a definite skill one has to develop, and a first time home buyer may very well have to hire out in order to get a good result. If an all white or mostly white home is the desired end result, then absolutely paint prior to moving in. But if it is just a stop gap, then IMO it's a waste of money.

First, you don't tell us if it's you and a partner/spouse/roommate. Or if there are children. This DOES make a difference. Also, who will be doing the painting? If you have small children and can afford to have the entire house painted as it is now hideous/unlivable, then do so before you move into the house. Painting with small children around can be tricky.

But if it's just you, I'd suggest coming up with a master plan and then doing one room at a time. If this is beyond your ability, then hire a designer to help you with your master plan.

You say you have a budget; most people do, but a budget can vary from $500 to $50,000! Paint (even if doing the painting oneself) can be very pricey and can shoot a very small budget.

Start with the room that bothers you the most that you also use the most. In most cases, this will be a LR or kitchen, followed by MBR. Go from there.

Wow what a great response from you all thank you very much! And thank you for the congratulations, it's the scariest thing I've ever done.

I really like white walls, open, fresh and gives a sense of clarity! I just thougt I could have a fresh start and give a good base for any future choices by painting everything. However, maybe I could just poke up with things. By the way in england we often have skirting boards a the bottom of the wall hense the 'skirt' do you have these?

Most rooms are pretty neutral besdies the lounge which has peachy walls then a dark red feature wall. Dusky lilac on half of the hallway and in the bathroom. The place is edwardian, origonal tiled floors, high celilings, big fireplace and bay window, ceiling roses. Origonal french doors from the bedroom which open to the conservatory!

Sooooo I am being given some gorgeous vintage mustard coloured super long velvet curtains and they will go in my lounge. They are my starting point! Would love to see some colour scheme ideas of yours! The floor is dark wood. The only furnishing I own is teak with painted tops in a very subtle mink white. This will go in the bedroom. I own a victorian armchair which can have a throw or needs recovering.

I'm single, I have no children. My budget for just paint could stretch to £150. I can get 10L of good quality paint for around £20. I will be seaching free ads freecycle, ebay ect for furnishings. My mother can reupholster sofas and chairs and restore furniture, do plumbing, electrics, tiling ect so I am going to be having some lessons along the way. She has very kindly agreed to show me if I need it!

I can do all of the decorating myself. I have experience of this and learnt as a teenager on a construction site of appartments! However, I have never had free rein with the interior design of an entire home of my own!

The place is edwardian, origonal tiled floors, high celilings, big fireplace and bay window, ceiling roses. Origonal french doors from the bedroom which open to the conservatory!

Oh, I am absolutely envious, this sounds amazing!

Everything you wrote makes me even more certain you should live in the house and see over time what color/s each room needs. I am not opposed to white walls in general, it works well with some architectural styles. But from what Google shows me about Edwardian interiors, I think richness and nuance in color will enhance your home.

My budget for just paint could stretch to £150. I can get 10L of good quality paint for around £20.

Apparently quality paint is more affordable in England than it is in CA. I still think this is quite a low budget assuming you will need supplies, paint for trim etc. You will also always need more paint than any guide tells you you will! Save the money and the effort for now and paint colors you are certain of. The color palettes you posted are both beautiful and interesting. (BTW, skirting is called baseboards in the US)

The house sounds amazing. I can't even think straight right now because I'm all starry-eyed)) So excited for you!

But I will, as far as I know myself..and curtains are a great starting point!

"Skirts" are maybe baseboards?..

Thank you! May be I could post some photos along the way you are all so helpful and full of great ideas!

Yes it would seem a skirting board is a baseboard!

Your house sound lovely! I am in the camp for living there for a while to get inspiration. And in my neighborhood of old Queen Anne/Victorian houses many people paint their homes with very strong colors both inside and out. But whatever you decide I hope you love it!

Congrats on the new home! My advice, esp if budget is tight at all, is to wait, live there and then do one room at a time. Do one room completely before starting on the next. There's nothing worse than getting a whole bunch of rooms 30% done and then being torn in too many different directions and in the meantime, living with the whole house in turmoil. Focus on one room, get it done, and then move on to the next. This is far easier on the budget too than a whole house attack.

OK..I pinterested the style since I don't know much about it..these are the "The Forsyte Saga" times, aren't they? Anyway, I'm in love. And I see quite a bit of warm whites..I must say. Don't know whether it's the new take on the old interiors, or is it historically correct..but a lot a lot of whites and ivories.

Yes, photos will help, tremendously!

Meanwhile I found the chair in mustard..)) while looking...

Looks a bit gloomy and poetic, I'd say- brings Edgar Allen Poe to mind. But I still like it. This is a hard-to-ignore chair. So I had to post it..))

You are a very lucky young woman! You have a house with age and architectureal features those of us in the US can only envy. Add in a clever mum, and you're in great shape. Skirting boards are called baseboards in the US. And to think we supposedly speak the same language!

Start with the LR (lounge) with the velvet curtains. Hang them and then decide on a wall color. If they are mustard colored, think about using a green such as Farrow & Ball's Lichen. If you can't afford their paint, have it matched. Their paints are wonderful - so full of pigment.

Your house is going to be wonderful!

Congrats on what seems to be a lovely classic! As someone who has bought five homes, sold two, I strongly advise you to not do anything major until you "get" the home. I made the most changes to my first home and some were necessary and some, not so. You need to see it in all times of day, all lighting and seasons before you make major changes. If painting is not major for you, and it will allow you to remove some filters for you to see the house better, that's great. But wait a little on other changes. JMHO.

If you have enough saved up for unanticipated repairs that new homes seem to throw at their new owners, then yes, paint away. It's very hard to pick colors when the prior homeowners choices are throwing your current samples off. It will make the place feel fresh and clean. Try to decide what kind of white appeals to you and goes with the types of furniture you want to use. There are "clean whites" which go well with crisp colors, and "dirty whites" that lean more earthy. If you like earthy colors for your fabrics and rugs, then don't try to use a bright clean, white, or it will end up making your furniture look dingy. Maria Killam explains the use of whites on her blog.

Happy decorating!!

I have quite a bit of color in my own home, but I think having a warm white makes so much sense. I've often thought if I were starting over, I would do that. Not a bright white, but a warm white.

I LOVE your color palette!

My suggestion would be to paint the room you have curtains for now, and wait on the rest, since like you said, you have a starting point. That way you have one fresh room to start making your mark on, and as you live in the house for a time, start building your master plan. I'm a huge believer in master plans - but this is because i'm impulsive, and having a master plan makes waiting easier during months when the budget is tight, helps me prioritize, etc. I have one for each room, and they are pretty detailed - they include all of the items I plan to purchase, DIY, and all of the big and small projects I want to do. I also have them laid out in order of priority, but sometimes that changes. Having them helps me feel like I'm making progress because even when it's a busy month I can usually look over my goals and find something small I can attack next, depending on my time and resources. Since I love creating in my house more than anything else, this is a big deal for me.

OK so I think I'll get strait in and prime the lounge with some warm white! That chair is lovely by the way. I'm glad you like the colours. I welcome any other ideas of colour pallets to go with the mustard curtains! I have seen Mustard with a dark blue in interiors recently althouigh not sure that's for me!

King Edward the VII had a short reighn from 1901 to 1910 then it was King Geroge V. Edwardian and Georgian houses are not too disimmilar over here. Also, it's the sort of place where you can quite freely have a lot of styles. I have recently seen some places of the samw age with a very modern twist and it looks great. This is somewhere I could live for a long time hoewver, I am concious of you want tobe able to sell it and make profit with your changes.

Yes I am very lucky, like people say some work is esssential and does need doing and I will need a backup for those situations life could throw you. I am hoping to do most myself. There is an origonal tilled path in the front forecourt which was pulled up to replace the main water pipes and the people that did it made such a mess putting the tiles back down and they are falling into a hole! The path is like this picutre. However, in the 60's people ripped these up of covered them in concrete so it's lucky in it's self to have it is a state of disrepair!

I have an eclectic tatse, so if things were pretty neutral (maybe a green feature wall around the fireplace in time) I thought maybe I could highlight the curtains with a couple of things such as cushion covers. I can get them for £5 to £10 and have in your face ones around cheaper plain ones. What do you think of this sort of style? It's not for every one.

That Farrell and Ball Lichen colour is lovely!

I've just found out there is actually a radiator in the bathroom... just saved at least £100 :)

LOL Wish I had a picture of the "old" bathroom. Avocado green tub/shower surround/toilet...HAD to pair it with yellow. Your tulips are beautiful and a color scheme I had in my room from 8th grade until marriage when it moved to the bathroom. Very fresh!! And of course yellow tulips are my all time fav!!

I actually really like those old advocado bathrooms! When everything is freshened up around it I think it's nice haha .

Great taste and lots of fun :) I think people forget that the pound is worth more than the dollar so still a bit of chance to plunk down :)

I like the yellow pillow with a pheasant..if it's a pheasant..))

I think you can go so many directions with mustard as your starting point. You just decide which direction to choose..

I think I should have several photos saved, with mustard in it. Will try to find them and attach them later...

I also love that pheasent pillows, and am again envious you have those encaustic tiles, even if in disrepair. I have a mustard/yellow/gold chair in my LR, and find it quite easy to decorate around, so you'll have tons of options with those drapes.

..ok..I have tons..

I'll attach some as not to bore you too much..not all of them are rooms..just for the sake of the possible color combinations...

Yes it's a pheasant!

At the moment £1 is $1.33 !! :) Less than 2 years ago it was nearly $2 to the £1

So not so dissimilar. I did find when I was over in America there were something that were much more expensive than in the UK but then somethings a lot cheaper! I enjoyed my stay you lovely people :)

Those photos are great, I like that it's a selection showing smaller spaces too, this is a terrace so they are a lot smaller then detached homes! The living room is just 12'10'' x 12'10'' not including the bay :) I part5icularly like the one with the big fireplace with what looks like an ever so slight green white. Lovely!

When I worked at the bank the exchange rate was $1.00 to 1.5£ so it did get quite high at 2. Very interesting! Anyways the smaller rooms will cost less to paint regardless :)

Lowest it's been in years at the moment. Not that I follow any of that sort of things haha. Yes this is true, however the ceilings are very high! Might need a step ladder to change the bulbs. Where I am now I can touch the ceileing just standing :)

I personally abhor the colour mustard ... but I think it does look good with greys.

Look up this on google and you'll see lots of things: grey mustard fabric

Very pale grey walls with slightly darker grey skirting boards and other trim, with the velvet window hangings and some fabric for slipcovers or reupholstering that picks up a bit of the mustard color. (that chair with the black birds is awesome, but not "budget" ... unless you find a mustard chair and stencil it)I like fabrics like these because they would pull in the draperies and leave you lots of other colors for accents.

It's certainly not a colour for everyone!

If it were not for being given these curtains I think I would be choosing another colour. However, it's funny when you are gifted something you love it.

I love the flower pattern on the fabric you have shown. Where are these sold?

Yes grey does seem to go very well. I do like the idea of that, I have seen some grey interirors which look cold. The lounge faces west
so I imagine in the evenings during most of the year it is bright
though.

Like others say you need to see it at different times and through the seasons.

.

If it were not for being given these curtains I think I would be choosing another colour. However, it's funny when you are gifted something you love it.

Be careful here. Before you start building your entire scheme around mustard, make sure you truly, truly love it, and not just that you love it because it's free. It will start costing you when you begin to purchase things to with it, in order to make it work, and forego things that you love, but they don't go with it. Trust me, I've done this. And then had frustration and even "arguments" with those things when they start bossing around how the space is decorated. It's not a peaceful home when you are arguing with your curtains, lol.

When we first moved into this house, the front room's walls were sponge painted this dingy golden green color, which was probably a lovely Tuscan technique 16 years ago, but time and a coal stove had done it no favors. We were planning to redo the space, eventually, so I was trying to work with it in the mean time. I hung up some rusty red plaid valances that looked great with the paint (the paint that reminded my kids of a smoker's house...) and they flung the room into a primitive, country look. They felt dark and heavy hanging there, and they drove me batty. I glowered at those curtains every day for several months until I realized they didn't. have. to. be. there. I had power over the curtains! I found some different valances that were airy and very inexpensive, and gave a huge sigh of relief when I ripped down the red ones and put up the airier ones. The $15 "investment" in those white curtains made a huge difference for me in how I felt when I was in the room every day. I didn't have to be "controlled" by rusty red valances. : )

Oh how funny arguing with curtains! Well the walls need priming to get rid of the red and peach paint.

So, some very good advice, I will hang the curtains and let them stay a bit before making any other choices to save me arguing with them and myself!

Just went to a charity shop today, are they around in america? Anyway just picked up several ceramic plant pots and an 8 person dinner set for £4.

You'll be pleased to know, I wont be basing the kitchen scheme on the dinner set hehe.

I'm not sure where those fabrics were being sold. I just looked for a couple of things that looked like the could work the grey and yellow.

Either one would let you swap the mustard drapes for another color from the fabric.

Also, making it a plae yellow and grey, with the mustard as the darkest "anchor" shade for the room could work and stay out of the "inside a bottle of Grey Poupon" effect.

Just had to google Grey Poupon! These curtains as I recall are more English Mustard... much hotter and makes your eyes water

Very funny Happy Bunny.

So although mustard is a strong color, in some ways it is a neutral. I mean, what colors does it really clash with?

Here is my LR, lots of color, aqua walls, and a strong gold, maybe even mustrard? chair.

I love mustard when put with the right colors, but definitely don't think of it like Grey Poupon, but more like the first three pictures Aprilneverends posted. Congratulations on your first home! It does sound lovely and please post pictures so we can follow along with making it your own.

Thank you :)

I will when I get some photos of the place when it's cleared out! I'd love to share with you all and get your ideas.

Aimeekm your living room is lovely

Pro "NewLinkz" has been spamming several threads pushing their products.

NewLinkz, do you know that spamming is against the rules here? I have reported your posts, on several threads, as spam.

I looked up the flower fabric that lazy_gardens posted above that you liked, and it seems to be no longer available on every site that I looked at. It's part of 'PB & J fabric by BASIC grey for Moda Fabrics'. It was a lightweight quilt fabric 45" wide.

I haven't read the replies, so excuse me please if this is a repeat!

If possible, I would hire a designer to plan a cohesive color scheme, fabrics and textures, room layouts and suggestions for art and other decorations.

My thought is that house painting is expensive and I wouldn't want to do it more than I need to.

I saw this and thought of your drapes ... get a big chunk or canvas, such as a dropcloth, and make a stencilled floorcloth that matches the drapes.

Thank you My3dogs for looking for the fabric! I wouldn't have known where to start. There will probably be lots of other things similar to choose from. Just comandeered some old chairs which don't look much now but going to paint and reupulster them and hope they look amazing.

I have this picture I painted 14 years ago! The white of the painting and wall looks off in this photo due to the light. I hope I can incoporate my painting somewhere too :)

A house designer is a very good idea mimipadv, however I would like to do it myself and I don't think that will come cheap!

I have found you all so helpful and full of great ideas! I agree painting will not be a cheap thing. So with the spaces I can tolerate I will take the advice of living there a little while. As for the others I will come to a decision before the work is over prior to moving in.

Thanks lazy_gardens for the further input. That's a great idea :)

Don't hate me- I was looking for some old pics and stumbled upon another mustard and it reminded me..:)

Wow mustard ahoy!!

Back to your original question about wall painting, I'll tell you what I did when I got my first house at 44. I had limited funds too, so I prioritized the worst rooms. One room was bright blue sponge painted walls with hyperlink blue trim, that one I had to paint before I even moved in. If I had to do it over again, I think I would have hired the whole upstairs to be painted before I moved in, but I had to do it in stages and mostly myself to save money. All the rooms upstairs had ugly walls and the trim was painted a different bright color in every room. That I really disliked. I think if you have to have painted trim, having it all a neutral color is the way to go. I chose an antique white, and it took forever to get it all done. I still hadn't done the AQUA trim in the master bedroom when I had to move, because it had a window seat and so much trim. I also had to paint a hyperlink blue radiator--not fun!

Downstairs the rooms were more subtle and I left them. I used the money to get the floors upstairs refinished. If you're doing any of that, with wood floors, do that before painting because refinished wood floors often look very different than old stained ones, color-wise (oh, excuse me, colour-wise ;)

My current house is all open concept "builders white" and I will say this, it really helps you get a color scheme going with everything else before you commit to a wall paint color, which I don't think is a bad thing. I already had art and furniture I wanted in some rooms, and that is what helped me build a color scheme. Like your curtain example.

Hi pinkmountain.

Wow it sounds like you had a lot to contend with!What do you mean by a trim?

In two rooms in my place there is wood pannels on around a 3rd of the wall down. There is also painting haniging rails near the top which is pretty standard in this sort of place!

That's good advice to hire someone to get it all done. I will certinaly look into that.Ah so you had the floors sanded down? The floor in the living room here is stained very dark brown! I think back to natural and conditioned instead would be lovely!

Yes builders white is fine by me, or an off white. Really opens everything up. I currently live in a 400 yr old tudor house. Traditionally these houses have lime plaster and limewash walls. I like it! There are restrictions with houses this old in england, they are 'listed' which means there are rules as to what you can and can't do by law to preserve the history! :)

Yes I think the way forward is go plain as a start off just to get rid of the things I really dislike!

I'm so looking forward to showing you all the first day in with no furniture!

This is what I mean but it's only in the hallways and part of the kitchen

The trim in my upstairs bedrooms were: aqua, mud beige and hyperlink blue. The problem with that was, painting and repainting trim is a PAIN. With neutral trim, you can relatively easily redo the walls to accommodate different color schemes. So if I was hiring painting done, neutral trim would be my priority over the walls. I keep this photo of the "Smurf Explosion" room for old times sake. It doesn't show but the carpet was bright red! In the PO's defense, they let their teenage son do the room himself.

As for the floors, I redid them in the middle bedroom after I painted the whole thing and carefully parsed the color scheme as I had decided to keep the weird beach stained wainscoting that was real wood GLUED to the real old plaster walls. It sort of grew on me like a fungus, but eventually I think the color choice turned out good. But when I then redid the floors, they sort of clashed in tone. Didn't think about that ahead of time. I could have painted that wainscotting like your bathroom example, but like I said, the funky stain sort of grew on me and if I had to do it over again I would have made the place way more beachy. It was my guest bedroom and I wanted the master to be the beachy one. Here's a before and after photo montage.

Unfortunately I never got around to painting the aqua trim in the master, nor change out the aqua carpet. We called that bedroom "the aquarium." A little TOO beachy. It looks kinda innocuous in this photo, but all that aqua and the insipid 1980''s iris border did not go with my style. And the acoustic tile ceiling was all grungy looking, which bugged me every night as I stared up at it. But I had other larger fish to fry with a patio redo and redoing the bathroom and the worse offending rooms.