what to do if you don't love it...

[Misty9]

We've just spent a lot on getting our bedroom and downstairs bathroom decorated. And I'm not in love with either :(

The bathroom is bright orange with turquoise tiles above sink and toilet seat. I feel bad because dh chose the colours...but I can live with that, it's the bedroom I'm most disappointed with.

The problem was the original wallpaper i chose turned out to be poor quality and our decorator couldn't actually hang it so we had 10 minutes to choose an alternative. And we can't make decisions at the best of times!

So the bedroom is dark grey/brown textured wallpaper up to the picture rail, and a pale lilac paint above. The woodwork and ceiling are white. My plan was for teal accent colours, but curtains are proving to be a pain (see other thread!). The floor will be sanded and oiled eventually , and I'd like a chandelier possibly. So mmaybe it's because the room is half finished in terms of being dressed?

Definitely can't afford to change anything major, but what do you do if you don't love the end result? :(

What made you choose the colours you did? Not in an 'Oh my god what were you thinking?' way, more of a 'what was your inspiration? what look were you going for?' way.

It might help you with picking accessories to complete your rooms or help you pinpoint what you need to change. E.g. I wanted a calm relaxing bathroom, so I need to change the orange to something calmer. Or, I wanted a bright invigorating bathroom so I need to get lots of bright colourful towels and accessories.

In terms of your bedroom I think the lilac stripe is probably quite isolated, I'd either paint over it or get more purple/lilac into the room. Possibly get something patterned with both teal and lilac in to make the colours feel more tied together.

Thanks for replying, and I agree it'r the lilac which seems most disjointed to me too. It was chosen and painted with the other paper in mind, which was much more purple grey whereas what we ended up with is brownish. I feel like I'm sleeping in a battenburg cake!

As for my original inspiration, on my pinterest board its all dark greys with purple and teal accents, and lots of texture. To be honest I've lost confidence to make further decisions on it now :( i can't even choose curtains!

I think I've come to a compromise with the room and realised I need to stop wishing it was grey and embrace the brown
I've seen a couple of colour palettes on pinterest and now am thinking dark brown with rich raspberry red and dark teal accent colours - and neutral ccurtains. I will paint the lilac a warm cream though.

As for the bathroom, I'll wear my sunglasses!

I hit the same wall with decorating my house. The solution for me was to take a break. Give it a month. Ignore it all. Start refreshed with renewed gusto.

I think brown and lilac sounds really nice if that helps.

A chandelier sound lovely too. I actually think grey with the brown and lilac will look warm, rich and contemporary. If the linen and general room styling are thoughtful rather than just grabbing the first thing, then it will be lovely.

I have quite a solid (if that makes sense- not a wispy shade) lavender/ blue tone lilac on all walls in our bedroom with light cream sheer curtains with a blackout lining.

Some days i love it and some days i think "god deraila, why didn't you go for a pure crisp white" because it can be a bit in your face. DH doesn't like it but it was pricey paint and we wont change it for a few more years. We have some aubergine and grey pillow covers with gorgeous smooth white percale cotton bed linen.

Rasperry red with cream/brown also sounds lovely though if you really can't hack it.

I agree with the advice to live with it for a while before making further changes. You invest a load of effort and money into these projects, and sometimes negative feelings about the result are more a reaction to the anticlimax than anything else. I spent months planning our sitting room, but the week it was done I hated it. It took another few weeks after that before I decided that it had been right in the first place.

Have you spoken to your husband about the bathroom? Does he love it, or us it possible he's feeling the same sort of comedown as you? If you're going to want to repaint in a few months, better to give him a gentle hint now, but make it clear that you're going to give it a fair chance. By the way, pure white with the turquoise tiles, maybe with a few contrasting bright towels etc, sounds lovely to me.

Sounds like you'll have to commit to the bedroom wallpaper for a while, so you're right to work around it. And it won't cost a fortune to repaint above the picture rail. I would still live with it a while, just to make a considered decision about the right colours. I like a good cream as much as the next person, but you've got to choose carefully... If it goes down the brown-and-magnolia route, you might end up feeling like you're living in an episode of House Doctor. If you can't bear the lilac in the meantime, I'd paint it the same colour as the ceiling. But in your shoes, I think I'd be tempted to go for broke and paint it raspberry, which, unlike lilac, will stand up to the paper in both strength and tone.

Ooh, raspberry red above the picture rail...i like the sound of that! Would never get it past dh though

Thanks all. The neutral curtains are up and the hunt for funky bedding has commenced... I'm liking scion berry :) I'm also going to leave the lilac for now. I think the anticlimax comment may be right, so will see how I feel when the room is ffinished.

I've seen a raspberry red rug I like too :)