House Decorating

[medpedspouse]

How do you go about decorating? Do you
A. look through magazines and replicate or
B. were you born with that ability to pull things together and make something out of nothing or
C. Have a degree in interior design
D. Don't care about decorating...who has the time?

I ask because I have been struggling with our house since we moved. It is no mansion but it is waaay bigger than our homes while in training. In addition, I find that I now really struggle with buying items for the house. Before, DH and I did not spend much on items because our homes were not permanent and as such we bought temporary furniture/decor etc. Now I want heirloom pieces and I am always second guessing myself as to whether or not this is "the right" purchase. DH helps some but admits that he does not have strong feelings about the stuff most of the time. I am so design challenged that I sought help. I have brought 3 interior designers in and all three have not quite worked out. I think the first heard dawkter and thought that meantt loads of money (ha!), the second, never got the fact that we live with our big dogs and no, I will not crate them all day even when I am in the house, the third does not like the few things I loved so much that I actually bought and brought home. I am so frustrated. I am the kind of person that buys something because I love it. It may be ugly to everyone else but I will love it for-ever. Hence, I am not into whatever in trendy right now. I still love everything that I picked out for our wedding registry 1 fellowship, 2 residencies and 1 medical school ago.

How do you do it? Decorate your home? Got any tips for the interior design challenged/hanging pictures on the wall anxious/not very crafty much less do it yourself-er???

[Meenah]

I suck at it but don't really care!!!

[Momo]

I am living in our first year out of training house(what almost 7 yrs now) and I still have art work& mirrors on the floor, sitting against walls.
I have only painted the kid's rooms.
I've purchased linen look, Ikea, full length, tab top curtains for our family room & kitchen eating area.
We have made serious furniture purchases(Horchow, Thomasville, Pottery Barn) which all deserve better flooring, wall color and window treatments.
Oh, there's also the fact that we need the bathrooms& kitchen updated. We still have the builder grade cabinets & counter tops in the kitchen and builder grade cabinets and corian sinks in the bathrooms.
We replaced all the appliance w/ stainless a few yrs back, but it looks a bit sad w/the faux slate Formica covered counter tops.

DH wants to start looking for our dream house and just let this sell as is. We did the outside(major landscaping) and just sort of forgot about the inside. Apparently according to some realtors, our outside space makes this place uber desirable/sell-able. We, on happy accident, found out we had the largest lot in the entire subdivision! We had to put in an above asking price offer, all before the "for sale" signs went up!
DH barely had time to come see it & make the offer b4 catching a flight back to MI.

I still want to get new cabinets & counter tops for the kitchen as well as @ least new counter tops for the bathrooms. New carpet would be nice too!
ITE I am stuck living in a house I want to finish but knowing we will eventually be moving to a house where we will have to hire someone to help us decorate...sad part is the type of homes we are looking @ will demand the $$$ to do the job! I say keep trying decorators until u find the right fit. Calico corners as well as many others offer free in home consulting. I am thinking about having the JCP decorator come and consult us on window treatments. I will tell her she can do ALL of the house's windows, but only when they have there semi annual big sale or if she can utilize their outlet stock. I want to get wood/ wood-like interior shutters as well as drapes roman shades ect. I want to see what 2grand will buy vs 5 grand...maybe find something in between...who knows?

[MrsK]

Here is my philosophy. Decorating your home is not a perminant thing. Your home should evolve over time and as you live your life in the house. Buy things that you love without worrying whether they will match. You'll find that the items you like have certain things in common -- a certain color or stripes or florals or whatever. It will pull together and look like your home and not like your decorator's vision. (BTW, those decorators sound horrible.)

[SoonerTexan]

I read Southern Living magazine religiously--the decorating ideas in there are beautiful! I'm a self-proclaimed decoratoraholic--I even tried to decorate my apartment in college. Not going overboard on our new limited budget is going to be a real challenge--thank goodness for wedding registries!

[SuzySunshine]

I'm not good at decorating, someday when we have a nicer house I'll be paying someone to come in and help me decorate. A lot of our decor right now are photos, photos of the kids, family and art that we have picked up. Mostly prints of famous paintings. I like looking at magazines for ideas but when I try something it never looks like that.

[medpedspouse]

I read Southern Living magazine religiously--the decorating ideas in there are beautiful! I'm a self-proclaimed decoratoraholic--I even tried to decorate my apartment in college. Not going overboard on our new limited budget is going to be a real challenge--thank goodness for wedding registries!

I wished I loved decorating. I think the reason I do not is becasue it is something I am not good at and it always seesm like it takes me forever to pull things together in a way that they are ok...for the moment. I have enough of an "eye" to tell something does not look right but never know how to fix it. My SIL is constantly changing "her decor". She loves to decorate...for example, she will do her kitchen/bedroom/bathroom in one color one year and change her mind the next and buy a whole new theme/color accessories/furniture. However, she buys cheap stuff - which makes sense because she is always changing it. I, on the other hand, am such a Hobit that I rarely move stuff around once I am happy with it and now that we can afford it would prefer to buy furniture/art/ etc. that are investment pieces.

[medpedspouse]

Here is my philosophy. Decorating your home is not a perminant thing. Your home should evolve over time and as you live your life in the house. Buy things that you love without worrying whether they will match. You'll find that the items you like have certain things in common -- a certain color or stripes or florals or whatever. It will pull together and look like your home and not like your decorator's vision. (BTW, those decorators sound horrible.)

For my Valentine's day present one year, DH had these two ladies come in to our little house (while he was in fellowship) to decorate. It was amazing - they took things that I already had and made them look fantastic. I kept looking around and thinking wow why did I not think of that? I kind of want that from a decorator now. Like I said, I have gone through three - I feel like maybe there is something wrong with me. The good news is that my decorating loving friend promised to make a road trip to help me in a couple of weeks...I think she felt sorry for me because I was so upset by the last decorator.

[DCJenn]

I almost went for my degree in Interior Design. but yet I chose social work and gosh, that was the smarter of the two...

Anyway- three things to not be afraid of: Big color, big furniture and big art. I'd much rather see one huge painting than a bunch of tiny ones. One big gorgeous piece rather than bachelor pad rejects. Color in a room vs. tan/beige/ecru/ivory/etc.

and MOVE the furniture around. Sometimes the unconventional spot works the best. Right now my couch is in the craziest spot and everyone who has seen it has commented that it works and they'd never would have thought to put it there.

Jenn

[Vishenka69]

Is there an independent home decor store in your area that you like? Most offer decorating/consulting services.

I've spent years religiously watching HGTV and reading home magazines while living in small rentals filled with IKEA stuff. By the time we bought our house, I think I stored up enough ideas to decorate several. We've been here a little over a year and are just finishing up major purchases and barely started with the accessories. I tend to start with room color first and then try to figure out what I want that room to feel like - energetic, relaxing, fun, cozy, etc. For instance, all our public spaces are very bright and the bedrooms are light colored and muted. I hear you on buying nice heirloom pieces but don't think every single piece should last you forever. We got a solid wood hand-made Amish dinning table but modern inexpensive chairs (that I'm having reupholstered to give them a more personal feel). I also didn't want to spend a lot on couches because between DH, a kid and pets there isn't a couch regardless of the price that would last more than 5-6 years. I don't want to have a heart attack whenever the baby decides to projectile vomit on them. But we did spend extra on our bed, which I'm hoping to keep for many years.

I think you need to figure out what works well for your lifestyle and go from there. Also don't be afraid to mix and match with cheaper accessories, things like candleholders and pillows don't need to be super expensive. Changing them on occasion will make the whole room look and feel different. Often it helps to design a room around a great piece that you love, it gives you a starting point. Don't rush into any decisions, you don't want to regret them on daily basis for years to come.

[DCJenn]

and don't be afraid to mix your grandmother's dining room table w/ funky art and a wild color. and don't be alarmed when it doesn't work on the first try.

and here's my #1 tip for future home happiness- go through every catalog and sale brochure you can find and know that in year those trends are done. vessel sinks- done, copper fixtures- done, etc.
If it's being sold to the masses, the masses are buying it. It's kind of like your prom dress- you don't want to walk into someone house and find your kitchen, your bathroom or your couch.

Jenn

[medpedspouse]

and don't be afraid to mix your grandmother's dining room table w/ funky art and a wild color. and don't be alarmed when it doesn't work on the first try.

and here's my #1 tip for future home happiness- go through every catalog and sale brochure you can find and know that in year those trends are done. vessel sinks- done, copper fixtures- done, etc.
If it's being sold to the masses, the masses are buying it. It's kind of like your prom dress- you don't want to walk into someone house and find your kitchen, your bathroom or your couch.

Jenn

Good points AND I think that is the reason why I did not like the last decorator. All her "after" pictures looked the same...that "Tuscany" with the pictures of poppy fields and vinyards look. Very pretty but just not my style.

Also, thanks Julie for the tip about mixing heirloom with cheaper pieces that I can change later...and don't have to stress out about making the "right" investment. You seeeee - all these ideas I just find brilliant but then I think "why did I not think of that"

[oceanchild]

I'm not good at this either. We aren't in our forever house, I don't think, but we are in our first house, and I've stressed a lot about the decorating. In the places where I've succeeded, I've generally had one big idea that, once implemented, has led to other ideas. The first was red curtains in the living room - simple thing, but led me to a rug I really like. Another was a cheap towel set at Target to design a half bathroom around. And DH has quilters in his family, so the bedroom have quilts as their focal points.

It's a huge work in progress. I'm giving myself lots of time.

[Vishenka69]

and don't be afraid to mix your grandmother's dining room table w/ funky art and a wild color. and don't be alarmed when it doesn't work on the first try.

and here's my #1 tip for future home happiness- go through every catalog and sale brochure you can find and know that in year those trends are done. vessel sinks- done, copper fixtures- done, etc.
If it's being sold to the masses, the masses are buying it. It's kind of like your prom dress- you don't want to walk into someone house and find your kitchen, your bathroom or your couch.

Jenn

I completely agree. That's why I originally didn't want granite countertops but unfortunately dawkters don't make enough to afford recycled glass, so I had to settle for granite after all. My solution was to blend it in with the cabinets instead of contrasting, which is the overwhelming trend. The only two trendy things in the whole house are the glass tiled shower and a microsuede sectional. I think as long as you buy what you truly love, it'll all come together in the end.

[DCJenn]

But microsuede is critical when you have husbands, kids or pets and you have all three.

Jenn