Moving to a new home and need decorating help
#1
02-14-07, 02:19 PM
Moving to a new home and need decorating help
Hello everyone
We recently purchased a new-to-us home. We're bringing furniture that has generally warm colours-sage green, spicy oranges/browns, creams and yellows, a hint of red too. I would classify our taste as minimalist/modern. The new house is entirely cool. All walls are painted white (wainscotting on lower walls, chair rail and walls above all white), tile white floor, kitchen cabinets are white with a gray counter top and mousy gray carpet in all rooms where there isn't white tile.
Obviously we don't have a budget to redo everything right up front. Where should we start? Paint seems to be the cheapest/easiest place to start. There is a lot of natural lighting and presently the rooms are all separate (yes, those walls will be coming down later for a more open concept feeling). I'm particularly fond of behr colours: creme brulee, wooden cabin, rejuvenate and fudge truffle (browns and creams essentially).
Help please!
Chris and the misses
We recently purchased a new-to-us home. We're bringing furniture that has generally warm colours-sage green, spicy oranges/browns, creams and yellows, a hint of red too. I would classify our taste as minimalist/modern. The new house is entirely cool. All walls are painted white (wainscotting on lower walls, chair rail and walls above all white), tile white floor, kitchen cabinets are white with a gray counter top and mousy gray carpet in all rooms where there isn't white tile.
Obviously we don't have a budget to redo everything right up front. Where should we start? Paint seems to be the cheapest/easiest place to start. There is a lot of natural lighting and presently the rooms are all separate (yes, those walls will be coming down later for a more open concept feeling). I'm particularly fond of behr colours: creme brulee, wooden cabin, rejuvenate and fudge truffle (browns and creams essentially).
Help please!
Chris and the misses
#2
02-15-07, 10:36 AM
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yikes. welcome to my world! 
i would say, just wait to have any parties for a couple years! it's just not going to look good until you can re-do most of it. sounds like you'll be painting or replacing everything eventually. i'd just take it room by room. when you paint the walls, also paint the white trim to cream or espresso or whatever. when you're done painting, then change all the carpet. cover the kitchen tile floor with the biggest area rug that looks right. eventually, either paint/stain or replace the cabinets. good luck on the gray counters (living that particular nightmare myself). one way to integrate gray counters into a warm color scheme is to use a lot of black as an accent (it seems to work well with the gray) and avoid the creams, yellow or brown tones in there. instead, use your reds. & try to distract the eye with great accessories.
of course, the other alternative (quicker & easier, but maybe more expensive or just downright not do-able) would be to recover yours or buy new furniture that will instantly work with the house the way it is.
i would say, just wait to have any parties for a couple years! it's just not going to look good until you can re-do most of it. sounds like you'll be painting or replacing everything eventually. i'd just take it room by room. when you paint the walls, also paint the white trim to cream or espresso or whatever. when you're done painting, then change all the carpet. cover the kitchen tile floor with the biggest area rug that looks right. eventually, either paint/stain or replace the cabinets. good luck on the gray counters (living that particular nightmare myself). one way to integrate gray counters into a warm color scheme is to use a lot of black as an accent (it seems to work well with the gray) and avoid the creams, yellow or brown tones in there. instead, use your reds. & try to distract the eye with great accessories.
of course, the other alternative (quicker & easier, but maybe more expensive or just downright not do-able) would be to recover yours or buy new furniture that will instantly work with the house the way it is.
#3
02-16-07, 07:06 AM
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Your new house reminds me of a hotel we stayed in in Miami once. EVERYTHING was white, except a few accent pieces in bright red and bright blue. Very retro and uber-hip. I like Annette's idea of getting covers for everything until you figure out what to do. Stick with bright bold colors on those covers and embrace the new look...
Then save up for a complete re-do. I think if you repaint the walls before you switch out the carpet and tile it'll look too weird.
Then save up for a complete re-do. I think if you repaint the walls before you switch out the carpet and tile it'll look too weird.
