How to decorate and furnish a REALLY nice house!

[Kikibanana86]

I have come into a huge sum of money from my divorce.

To add context I was with my ex husband for 8 years, we have 5 children together and he owns a large business. I have been on benefits for the last two years ( he paid maintenance obviously) and also been at college so I can get ajob in the near future.

I have made an offer on a house which I have absolutely fallen in love with. I will own it outright and I'm confident it will be accepted as I offered the asking price as I fell in love with it so much!

Only thing is I'm worried about how to decorate and furnish it! It's large detached Victorian house with 1.2 acres of land.

Where I live now is lovely but it's rented, most of my furniture I bought second hand and painted with chalk paint.

The house feels quite grand ( to me) and I can't just get flat pack stuff, where do you even buy really good quality handmade furniture?

It needs quite a bit of work ( kitchen is an odd layout and in general feels a bit old people's home!)

I would love any advice or ideas please!

Hi, without knowing your style, tastes etc it's a bit hard to give advice and while you could use an interior designer that could just be someone else choosing how you have things which is maybe how your marriage was and certainly you can't have your house or life the way you want it when you are on benefits, you're just surviving really. So what I am saying is this house can be totally you and that must be so exciting! Although you are not keen on it, the interior does look liveable and that is what I would do. Live in it for a bit while you figure out how you want it. Buy magazines, make your own moodboards, Lonny is a really good website with some lush design ideas and just have fun and enjoy the experience. So happy for you!

I will have a look at the website thanks for the advice

Congrats OP it looks like a beautiful house. Sounds like you need to develop a Pinterest habit! I'm quite hands on and have done several courses in sewing, upholstering etc - I'm taking my time and working room by room sourcing the right fabrics which are sympathetic to the age of our house, planning decor etc. My advice (if you want to do it yourself and not use an interior designer) is to know your style and overall look for the house but to then work on it room by room - live in each for a bit and see how you use it and what it needs. It sounds like a lovely forever home so there's no need to rush!

Good luck!

I was going to suggest asking the vendors to sell you their furniture but theirs is a bit meh! Lovely house.

I have some wealthy friends with fabulous houses 8 bed mansions with 12 acres and tennis courts ..... For big things like sofas, kitchens, bathrooms etc yes, go for quality (which does usually cost). But they have also been seen browsing around TK Maxx, HomeSense and Ikea too! A lot of the vision is in the coordination and placement of furniture and furnishings. Gorgeous house! Happy new home

Another recommending Pinterest, it is an easy way to arrange your ideas.

We started with sofas. We spent time getting perfect ones. It was something we really enjoyed doing.

I have bought 'brown furniture' and am painting it, using each piece as a practice. It is mainly big bits that fill spaces, none of which I will feel bad getting rid of if/when we choose to buy something more special.

It may take 10 years to get it right, I don't care. It is ours and we are enjoying trying to get it perfect

Lovely looking house. No helpful advice, but just wanted to admire it. :)

Thanks guys!

Not sure what my style is, I don't like anything too match, I prefer an eclectic look but I also want to be sympathetic to the period of the house too. It has fireplaces in most of the rooms, only the one in the living room works though.

I also have to remember that I have 5 kids between 3 and 8 so i will never have an immaculate house!

Also I'm quite scared of colour and i painted my whole house in dulux timless but would love some colour.

I like the sage green and blurt grey colours that farrow and ball do but I'm a bit scared!

Basiclly what I'm trying to say is I've never had much money before and now I have lots and I have no idea what to buy with it! I've always gone the second hand or ikea route because I've had to!

Lovely house, I hope you get it

Move in first.
Live in it for a year - so you see all seasons, how the sun hits etc.
Get collecting samples, points, wall paper bits.
Pin things up on wall to see how what looks.

Then start decorating bit by bit.

Of hire a very expensive interior decorator and painters and let the do it all .

Personally I like the contract between a period property and contemporary fittings, but go for top end quality and, crucially, a fantastic finish.
We life in a period house, we are comfortable but not rich, we have a hugely expensive kitchen (which I will never ever replace). Everything else in our kitchen dining area is from IKEA, including the light fittings
It looks great IMO - well, I would say that....

I love Pinterest for house decoration. There is also an app called Houzz which is good but very American IMO which isn't my taste really.

Also second Pinterest. Country auctions are great, lots of people getting rid of decent furniture that's too big (grand folk downsizing).

Take your time and agree hat livingbin it for a year could surprise you, both with the light/heat/views you discover, bit also the way you use rooms and how and when.

Also suggest you get your children to do their own Pinterest boards (or help them). Get them to tell you what they really love.

Best thing in the world, making your home. Much laughter and good times to you

Laura Ashley could be an option ... beautiful stuff. I would gather some country home interior magazines or agree - pinterest. But I really love the magazines. At the moment they will likely be Christmas themed though.

I would get the Laura Ashley catelouge when it comes out but really - local independent furniture shops would be your best option. One example is a professionally upcycled 'bombe' chest of drawers and red velvet chair from an old church (recovered). They are my favourite pieces. I do mix in with a lot of chalk painted and ikea stuff.

French interior magazines are also good for inspiration.

www.amazon.co.uk/Elegant-Curved-drawers-Chest-Black/dp/B00JWZ1JHM/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1479570479&sr=8-10&keywords=bombe+chest

sorry for spelling error!

Most of my furniture is either antique or bespoke made to my specifications to fit the proportions of the rooms (not built in!). It's not much more to have a bespoke chest of drawers/bookcase/console/dresser/dining table/whatever made than it costs to buy a Laura Ashley 'made in China' mass market item. Plus you'll get a solid wood item rather than solid wood fronts with mdf/ply backs.

A lot of mass market furniture is too small for houses with grand proportions (built for modern houses with lower ceilings and on a smaller scale generally). Find a good local cabinet maker/joiner/carpenter and commission them.

House clearance sales and auctions might be a good idea to pick up solid classic pieces.

Pinterest and Houzz are great starting points. I agree with living in it briefly and getting a feel first. Also if you can afford it an interior designer could be a good option!

Congrats! It's a beautiful house!!

Thanks for the advice. Been on Pinterest loads the last couple of days!

eBay. You see lovely duresta sofas on there.

Don't get too hung up on colours yet, I wanted everything white in this house but white looks awful in our house.

The colour that looks best is.....purple. There's fucking purple in every room. I should be sponsored by cadburys.

You can get opened tester pots on eBay too, I put them on card & blu tack them up. That way you aren't stuck with splodges on the walls.

Your house looks beautiful.

Wow fabulous house ..congratulations

I would gather some ideas of what you like and seek the services of an online interior designer.
There are various ways you can use them, by room etc and can be as little as £65 for advice.

Oh wow, what a beautiful house! What I wouldn't give to decorate a place like that!

If it were me, I'd head straight for the following:
Made.com
ElementOneHouse.com
Wayfair.com

There is a big mix of stuff on all three of these websites, and not all of it is expensive. You can find newer furniture that has been crafted to look vintage (which is going to be a big trend for interior design in 2017 btw)

Have fun with it - decorating can be very therapeutic

I agree with the suggestion of painted "brown furniture". The style would fit with the period of the house and the colours you like.

You can often buy it ready painted in local independent furniture/home decor shops, or you can buy it cheaply at auction and paint it yourself.

Also fairly child proof as it's meant to look a bit informal/bashed anyway and you can patch up any big chips. And it's far far better made than most modern stuff.

Online companies that do painted period-y furniture: Neptune, Laura Ashley, Maison Home Interiors, Dormy House, Cotswold Co.

Decor wise - up to you! If you want something period style then maybe lineny fabrics in stripes or faded florals (see Ian Mankin and Peony & Sage).

Also agree it's worth spending money on sofas. Sofa.com, Loaf and Sofa Workshop are all decent. They do beds too.

Pinterest is good but I think Instagram is even better to see a wide variety of styles in different homes - if you search for 'remodelled home' or 'victorian house' etc.. you'll find some great photos of homes where people have bought and done up their homes, reinstating original features etc. with a lot of modern furnishings into the mix - very inspiring!
Also worth searching for #styleitdark - a trend which big, old 'character' houses seem to do best.

For decor, the kind which you see in swanky hotels; try [https://www.houseofisabella.co.uk]]