Need Help Decorating My House!

I read this fabulous book called "The Emotional House." Lots of great tips to help you figure out what style is right for you and your family. The nice thing is that decorating your home can be a constantly evolving process. You don't have to choose how you want your home RIGHT NOW. Work with what you have and add or replace pieces as you get a better sense of what feels right for you.

Hi D.,

Your tastes run similar to ours. My husband has inherited a LOT of dark wood furniture, so we've used color on the walls as well as lighter-hued artwork.

I agree with DM, using a styleboard or pin-board for ideas you like can help. My only caution is to find a variety of magazines. Some tend to be very one-note and offer lots of fairly similar styles, so got to a good magazine shop, look at catalogs too... this will offer more variety than a years worth of "Better Homes and Gardens" (I have a gift subscription-- while I enjoy perusing them, I rarely find anything *I* like enough to want to buy). Think sophisticated: interior design mags are great.

One thing that has worked well for us is to keep our darker colors down low, and make sure there's a sense of space on the walls. Use your darker colors (like that deep red) for accents like pillows or a throw, or a great rug. Keep your curtain linens in a light, neutral shade. I use baskets in warm, honeyed hues for library books and extra toy storage. You can play with color and punch up the window sills with a bright-but-neutral trim. Our living room, for example, has lemon chiffon walls, a deep raspberry ceiling (this is reversed in the dining area-- the dark color on this ceiling makes the room a bit cozy), a deep sea-foam green around the windows and a turquoise door/door frame. It sounds crazy, but is perfectly balanced and fun. We also needed picture molding, but the ceilings were too short, so we bought copper pipe,capped the ends, and mounted it up high. (We get a lot of compliments on that!)

All this to say: if you are confident and like color, you can use a lot of it without it feeling overwhelming. A candleglow-type yellow might coordinate well with all of the colors (rich browns, reds) you have in mind, too, expand the room out a little bit, and keep it 'warm' in the winter.

Have fun and good luck!

I love to go to model homes to get decorating ideas...along with decor stores like pottery barn ,and pier one. These stores have been a lifesaver !
I would also take a trip to barns and noble and check out books on decorating and design. That's how you'll find the style your trying to achieve. By the way... Adding family photos is always a great idea... Dedicate one or two walls in the house to showcase your portraits.
Good luck and have fun!

Congratulations on the new home! I would suggest that you find some magizines or look online and just cut/pull what catches your eye and put them together. Then once you have a collection you can see what your style is.... Enjoy!

You already know your style - you just described it to us.

You just need to incorporate some light things in your home so everything isn't dark. Some light pillows on the sofa, or bright colored ones, light picture frames (you will have to pick out something that goes with dark wood other than gold, since you don't like that).

Since your furniture is dark brown, and your sofa is dark brown, you need light colors on the walls, a lighter colored rug, etc. You don't want it all to be dark, is all.

I would think your style is kind of Room and Board-y. Have you ever checked out their catalogue? How about Crate and Barrel?

I don't think I have a style, I suppose it is the ADD. :p At least in my house there is no one style that carries throughout the house. You really don't have to since each room is a different purpose. Well not totally true I am not sure what I would think of a house where you walk in and see modern and then get to the family room and see a more classic style.

Dark is not a style though. If you know the colors you like then see what style it looks best in. I wouldn't go with modern with kids, shiny surfaces get very annoying when you are dealing with hands.

Troy loves mission style, since he is making our cabinets with his father, mission style it is! :) I like wrought iron so I am not bad off since it goes with mission.

Congratulations on your new home! I think trying to do everything at once can be overwhelming. Sometimes it's best to find an inspiration that you absolutely LOVE (like the pattern and/or color in a pillow or curtains)and build around that, but... after you've had a chance to sit in your rooms for a little while. See how the light comes in; see how you will use that room... is the living room going to be a place where the family gathers or a play room full of toys...?

I LOVE color, but I use it on the walls and in my accents, like rugs, pillows, curtains etc... our furniture tends to be earth tone neutral.

As far as the pictures go... you can display all of them on the same wall in different STYLE frames as long as they are the same COLOR.

It think the biggest trick is not mixing too many styles together. Decide if you like traditional, shabby chic, modern etc... and then research different ideas. Look through magazines to see what resonates with you to figure out your style and go from there!

Good luck!

Cut out pictures from magazines or catalogues of rooms you like.

Work with those picking out some stand out pieces like pillows etc.

I would definitely lighten up the room w/the darker wood furniture.

Lighten up w/light colored accent pillows, maybe paint those walls a lighter color to bring in some light into that room.

Watch HGTV to get some good ideas.

Lighten up the floors w/lighter color rugs (the big ones).

Lighten up the couches w/the light colored pictures.

You can even purchase light colored drapes or blinds if you need to lighten up the room even more. If you have dark wood floors & furniture, lighten up w/the lighter colored pillows & light colored rugs.

You should start by picking out something that speaks to you-a pattern in a pillow, drapery, painitng and use this as your starting point. Go to Joann Fabric if you need some inspiration. The fabric should have the colors that you would like to build around. You can also pick a complementary fabric. I personally like to pair a geometric (like stripes) with a pattern. Use the fabric to either make throw pillows, panel;s or both. From there go to the paint store and pick a palette that pulls all of the colors in. The paint stores have them arranged on cards with colors that can go together.

I would do your dark and deep red as an accent wall if you have all dark furniture and cabinetry. Together they are too dark. I like celery green with red and it would look good against dark cabinetry.

Think about using your photographs all together by making a dramatic photo wall. Check out the Pottery Barn catalog for great examples of this. I would also look into decorative mirrors as an easy accent.

Here is a great design blog-esp for picking colors:
http://www.mariakillam.com/

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Have you considered an interior decorator? My sister got paint colors, decor ideas, help rearranging her furniture - and a clearer sense of her own style, after an hour an half session with an interior designer in her new house. She paid $110 and is very happy with the results.

Just a thought - with all that dark, you'll probably want light walls.

I have these long striped curtains with red and deep colors in them from Pier 1. I have decorated my whole living room around them. So I suggested checking out World Market, Pier 1 or Pottery barn to get inspiration. My IL's saw a clock wall in a Pottery Barn catalog so they went out and got lots of giant cool clocks and did a room that way. It looks awesome!!

After moving and remodeling a few times my best advice to you is to TAKE YOUR TIME.
When you first move in it's very exciting (of course!) and you can feel overwhelmed with everything you want and need to get done. But it's good to live in a place for a while. You need time to see how it flows, what's awkward, how the light changes during the day, etc.
If you like dark, sleek woods add a little contrast and pop of color with things like throw pillows, paint/trim and accessories (lights, candles, etc.)
When we did our big remodel a few years ago I cut out pages from magazines every time I saw something I liked, from a living room setting to bathtubs to cabinets/counter tops to fabrics and faucets. I taped it all up onto an empty wall, forming a large collage. This really helped me SEE my style. I like light, clean spaces, and natural materials (wood, wicker, iron, stone, glass, etc.) with lots of garden/country/nature motifs, kind of like Pottery Barn, with a sprinkling of antiques and plants/flowers mixed in.
You can also think about a decorator. I did that with our first house. For only about $120 she spent two hours helping me narrow down pant colors and window coverings. Since I was nervous on spending a bunch of money on colors that might not work I felt it was worth it.
Good luck and HAVE FUN!!!