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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask if you have a nicely decorated house...

103 replies

StarlightIntheNight · 01/03/2019 14:32

How did you do it? Did you get an interior designer or did you sort it yourself? Im at loss on where to start for selecting sofa, art, rugs etc. We moved into a house a couple years ago and just brought our temporary ikea furniture (possibly considered permanent as we have had for 5 years! lol). The idea was to buy nicer furniture once we own a house and when kids are a bit older...well we own a house and kids are older...but I am at loss on how to pick things...so nothing gets done really and I am feeling frustrated. Interior designers seem very expensive...but I am afraid if we don't get one, our house will always be unfinished. I am looking for helpful tips here on where to start or if you have used an interior designer - Thank you!

OP posts:
StinkyCandle · 01/03/2019 16:04

I don't know if my house is well decorated, but it's done to my taste so I like it.

Sofas should be comfortable, furniture should be something you like but practical too. Storage is nearly as important as comfort! No point spending tens of thousands on decor if you end up living in a tip because it's completely unpractical and mess will end up everywhere.

I prefer houses with character, I can't stand bland copies of catalogue. It's fine when you sell and you remove all personality, but it's not very attractive when people actually live there.

Hollowvictory · 01/03/2019 16:05

Yes had some help from an interior designer which saved me a lot of money

TinklyLittleLaugh · 01/03/2019 16:08

For us having a sense of unity for the whole house has worked well. As children have grown up and dining rooms have turned into home offices and gaming dens have turned into libraries, it’s nice to be able to reshuffle stuff and it still works.

We have a brightly coloured rug that started on DD1’s bedroom floor 12 years ago, spent some time in DH’s office and is currently looking great in our new library/landing area with bookcases and armchair. Similarly the bookcases (all birch IKEA Billy) have been gathered from two or three different rooms.

MadameDD · 01/03/2019 16:11

Oh, my neighbour who works in the record industry has a gorgeous house and sometimes I get inspiration from her or snoop round her house with an invitation.

The kids rooms are - kids rooms - one is more pink girly with unicorns etc and the other is more older girl with more grown up pieces. The DM seems to be into inspirational prints and phrases around the house and this is mirrored in the DCs (both DDs) rooms.

The huge sitting room diner is quite unique with very unique patterned wallpaper and sofas but various inspirational and out there prints - I think she has a Damien Hirst original. Lots of very one off lighting features - those small lampshades in a ceiling light fitting etc.

Another school friend but not close - she's a journalist - when I was her friend (still am just don't go on it) on FB I noticed she was really into interior décor, the sofa was a work of art etc and her main hall light fitting was very similar to the blown glass artistic one in the main entrance way of V&A - you will know it - it's by Chihuly of Seattle.

Still I did notice last year she'd had to sell the sofas etc... so maybe was 'downsizing' or had money troubles...

Crankybitch has a good idea if you have a certain colour sofa - mine are just boring tan leather ones but want to replace them. neighbour has leopard print sofa and a mad coloured floral one and has various fluoro prints around the living room and hall area to tie in to this but on proper ankle turned higher legs rather than your usual DHS squat sofa legs.

MadameDD · 01/03/2019 16:14

StinkyCandle you'd love both mine and neigbours houses.

definitely character in both but I've also used inherited furniture from various relatives, I don't GAF if pine isn't in etc. In one bedroom upstairs I have a huge and impractical double pine antique chest of drawers with white china handles but it was my DF's who died a few years ago. Same with a writing desk with stained glass door in the study - a bit arts and crafts with cut out heart decoration on one edge but it was DF's again and I love it.

northernstars · 01/03/2019 16:58

Although I'm not working as one, I have studied interior design. My advice would be to firstly look at say your living room as it is now. Do you like anything in there at all? How does it work for you as a family? Does it have sufficient storage? Lighting etc?
How many dogs/cats/kids etc use the room will affect what materials you use etc. Pinterest and other websites are great but you can really fall down the rabbit hole. I would suggest inexpensive magazines ie Style at Home, Your Home etc and look at each piece. You will see rooms/products that you like or unlike. Make a mood board of the things/colours you like and go from there. Be you and you won't go far wrong.

chandylier · 01/03/2019 17:00

What type of house do you have?
Does it have any original features, or modern?

chandylier · 01/03/2019 17:01

Decormad38- I just bought a house with WM in every room!

GregoryPeckingDuck · 01/03/2019 17:02

I like the painting g method. Pick a painting you love. Order s nice print. Then use the colour palette from the painting to select the colours for your room. It’s great in that it makes it easy to choose items that won’t cash.

CurlyWurlyTwirly · 01/03/2019 17:02

I used to design interiors after a career change.
Rules I used to stick to where never more than 3 colours in a scheme.
Helped to keep it harmonious.

I personally like a neutral sofa. I read that the Scandinavians change their cushion covers with each season: Autumn/ Winter and Spring / Summer.
I would do something like have a sofa in a neutral like charcoal grey.. in the winter I would add velvet cushions , furry throws in eg jewel colours.

For summer I would swap these out for lighter cotton / linen covers in ecru / taupe and maybe a single accent colour like chartreuse/ duck egg / etc.

awaynboilyurheid · 01/03/2019 17:10

I went to Laura Ashley (I know it’s not everyone’s taste ) they have an interior designer who showed me curtains rugs cushions in colours I would never have gone for or put together but look so nice. I love clothes can put together outfits but I am hopeless at putting a room together I never know what colours or styles will look nice. I could look on Pinterest all day but doesn’t help at allI ! Where can I get these things and I’ll end up buying wrong shade size etc
I can paint paper but wouldn’t know what colours look good in a room or how to pull it together .try taking pictures of room and showing them ,they didn’t charge me for the service and it all looks lovely!

origamiunicorn · 01/03/2019 17:14

Pinterest Smile

ZippyBungleandGeorge · 01/03/2019 17:19

You must have your own preferences or taste? We bought a period horse and set about restoring features, but in terms of furniture and decor, it's about what I like (DH had no strong opinions on it).
Do you like stark and modern, cosy country, elegant and classic? Do you like bold colours and patterns, muted tones, florals etc. I've got to admit I knew what I wanted in each room and then sourced appropriate furniture, paint, wallpaper, rugs etc, so didn't use Pinterest for inspiration more for collecting things I liked, so when I came to decorate each room or was there ready to go, but I've you know the kind of styles you like you can search on there eg country kitchen greens etc to narrow it down

MilkGoatee · 01/03/2019 18:00

The way to go is to search for one item - could be the coffee table, the dining room chairs, the sofa or the lounge chair - that you really, really love. Then just fit the rest around it. Don't get distracted about all the stuff in all of the categories, focus on that one item that is most important, the rest will come so much easier after that.

origamiunicorn · 01/03/2019 18:09

I know I like clean, modern, bright and slightly minimal so no dark wood or country cottage so I started with this in mind, made boards on Pinterest for each room and pinned things I liked.
The good thing about Pinterest is that once you have a few pins in your board, it recommends pics to you so it's easy to find what you like (and avoid what you don't.)

lasttimeround · 01/03/2019 18:22

My home is nice. Been here 3 years now. I decided on a style for it that suits my style but also the type of house and have stuck to that whenever I buy something. Most of the walls and big furniture are neutral. But it's a colourful house as I like bright rich colour and pattern.
I'm still going with getting bits sorted but it all looks like one house not different ideas in different rooms. I like that

Blueberryblueberry · 01/03/2019 18:27

We went to a few shops with nice show rooms, and then looked for cheaper versions of stuff! We also looked at rooms we liked on TV programmes and sitcoms and thought about what we liked and why and tried to recreate elements of it in some of our rooms. For big items, we got more classic/plain stuff as it's less likely to date and were hopefully less likely to make a mistake and end up hating it. We went a bit more zany on things like cushions/pictures etc (our house probably isn't to everyone's taste!) We also mixed it up and maybe bought one expensive thing which we really loved (e.g. a lamp) but then got some cheaper stuff. If you've got small kids, definitely think about storage and just buy IKEA kallax and be done with it

missbattenburg · 01/03/2019 18:28

For me, the first step is to know what you like and will feel comfortable living in. Feeling comfortable is important.

For example, I always love dark rooms when I see pictures of them but those strong, rich colours are not ones I can relax in. Ditto, I don't feel comfortbale in bright colours. I see lovely homes brightly decorated but know myself enough to know they would not feel right to me.

For me, pale, dirty colours are the ones I feel best in so I stick with those. I use tonnes of testers and live with big test patches on walls for a few weeks before choosing. Make sure to test in different areas of the room to get an idea of how a paint looks in different lights or next to different objects.

Also furnture: whilst I love the look of fancy, highly decorative furniture like some retro french stuff. I would not feel comfy using it. What I feel most relaxed in is simple, 1950s-ish stuff. So I stick to those kinds of things.

The advantage is that the end result looks put together - all my colours sit well alongside each other and all my furtinure looks ok together.

The age and style of the house makes a big difference, too. I would always try and tweak my style to fit in with the house.

We're only halfway through doing the house but I love the rooms we've done so far.

burritofan · 01/03/2019 18:32

Echoing the "pick one thing and start from there" advice. And think about what type of house you have – don't try to do jewel-toned Victorian grandeur in a 1960s ex-council block, for example. If the house has certain features, follow them.

For example, the sitting room of my flat has a HUGE square Edwardian bay window, a fireplace & a shell-effect Artex ceiling. It's also a tiny room. So I made the window a feature by choosing patterned curtains, which form a big block of print when closed, almost like a feature wall in themselves. Then everything else – ceiling, walls, fireplace, door, woodwork – I painted shell-pink. One colour on everything = tricks the eye into making it look bigger. But I'd have done something completely different in a different space.

Pinterest, Pinterest, Pinterest, then try to figure out what appealed to you about each pin and what the overall trend is – do you like Scandi neutrals, shabby chic, mid-century, etc; or is it that every pin contains a great rug or statement tiles?

You can't go wrong with unifying your house by picking one flooring throughout (so no door thresholds collecting dirt), and one paint colour throughout, and using that as a neutral backdrop.

And remember it's ok to make mistakes! If you get the wrong rug you can return it or eBay it. Walls can be repainted. Lampshades can be changed. Sofas can be reupholstered or, more cheaply, covered in a different throw and cushions. Move art around, rearrange your decorative objects, experiment. It's a work in progress, not a permanent Instagram.

Fiveredbricks · 01/03/2019 18:37

Search living rooms on Pintrest for your era of house. Pick one you love. Copy it. Job done.

SmarmyMrMime · 01/03/2019 19:24

Comfort and practicality matters much more to me than fashion.

I agree with work with the home you have. I love colour, but my 80s estate house doesn't have the high ceilings and picture rails to take richer colours that Victorian and Edwardian houses do. It also lacks features like chimney breasts to add character. I tend to work with strong pastels so the colours compliment through the house with similar intensity, but each room has a clear identity. One of our previous occupants clearly had a love of job-lot neutrals and their predecessor was into job-lot 90s brights!

I tend to start with something like curtains/ bedding which can be hard to retrofit to colours unless you're starting with neutrals. I like feature walls for bolder colours but some rooms don't suit them, e.g. our lounge is too long and narrow so like a PP, the curtains liven up the room. Our sofa is a plain neutral and chosen entirely for comfort for both DH and I. It won't win style awards, but most sofas are hideously uncomfortable for both of us.

It takes time. We've finally replaced some "make do" furniture, some of which is in its second house, and one item being 20+ years old Grin

Our house is more of a collection of things we love rather than a put together coordinated style which is quicker to achieve. We do virtually all of it ourselves so that also slows it down. House 1 was fully decorated to our taste after about 8 years... 5 months after the final room was done, we moved to house 2! We have made-do with some rooms to make them livable, then come back years later to get them right. Our lounge was like that. The original decor was hideously intolerable, and a number of years later, we are now focusing on the furniture and trimmings as we didn't have the budget for it at the time.

Readysteadygoat · 01/03/2019 19:29

Download the Design Home app - you get to practice being an interior designer. Might give you some confidence

Andromeida59 · 01/03/2019 22:12

I just wanted to echo some of what has been said on here.

You can have one item and design the room around that.

Don't follow trends just because. If you like it, fine, but do what feels best for you.

It's fine to have newer or more contemporary pieces in a property but I hate seeing older features in newer houses.

I often find that something will inspire me and I'll just go with it. We've not long finished our bathroom and I just adore it. It also has William Morris wallpaper on the chimney breast.

Also, think about texture, scent, lighting. What do you want the room to say?

DoubleFunMum · 01/03/2019 22:31

It's not true that interior designers (I am one!) make every house look the same. We work to brief and get to know our clients! Definitely consider it. For furniture advice I'd suggest you go to a good independent furniture retailer in your area for good advice. I work for such a company (family run) and I know many of our customers greatly appreciate our advice. If you happen to be in Central Scotland PM me. Good luck!

EntirelyAnonymised · 02/03/2019 10:45

doublefun, some do. Some designers have a signature look that people pay to replicate (Sophie Paterson, Kelly Hoppen, Laura Hammett). Mostly Chelsea types with multiple homes all over the world. The looks tend to be beige and glitzy.