How do you start decorating

[normastits5]

I am living in a home that depresses me and I don't know how to tackle this. Growing up I was never exposed to the basic skills of homemaking and have therefore had to learn everything from scratch. I would dearly love to be proud of my home instead of slightly ashamed as I have always felt. When I'm thinking rationally I know that it's just a Matter of getting ideas from magazines, making some decisions about colour schemes and starting the project one room at a time. But I just dread the idea of doing this ! Why is it so difficult for me to just get on with it? Does anyone else have this problem and if so how did you deal with it?

Start simple.
Are you going to decorate yourself or pay someone to do it?

And what is a mood board , how does it work?

My dream would be to pay someone to do it all but in reality I will have to do it with help from DH , who has very little interest in it but will share some of the responsibilities.

My Dp is a decorator and the months of anguish to just choose a bloody colour we both like for each room have been challenging. We ended up not having wallpaper in the bedroom because I was so fed up of not coming to a decision I made him just paint it. It's giving me anxiety thinking about it and now he wants to start all over again.

Start with your least busy room and go for an easy colour like white. That way you can take your time and learn how to use rollers and brushes without having to worry too much about the join between the white ceiling and coloured walls.
Get a good book and/or use Google and YouTube for learning how to do it.
Go for Satinwood for woodwork as it's easier than gloss and matt emulsion for the walls as it hides lumps and bumps better.
Spend at least twice as long prepping the walls (Google it) as you spend on actually painting them.

So sleepless are you saying that you will avoid making decorating/home making decisions due to this anxiety? Because that's how I am & im sick of it now!! I can actually afford to pay for the basic decoration to be done by a professional but I still procrastinate. I actually think I dread the upheaval of it all

And thank you sailing for your practical reply , very helpful

Pick a room you like in the next home directory and copy it. It'll get you started.

Get on Pinterest and get inspired. Look for your favourite colour or style and then just keep searching the pictures and getting ideas and narrowing it down.

Good luck!

Yes, look at online images, pick something you like. I'm a manic painter, I have the opposite issue, I get bored, get up on a Saturday, in a whim and run down to home base, buy paint and just come home and do it. It's a bit of a standing joke with our friends. If I don't like it, I just repaint it. I can do a large room in a weekend, I'm constantly painting shit, it's like an affliction. 😂

I always start with furnishing colours or a loved item that will be in the room and work colours around that.

I tend to go white or neutral on the walls and bring colour in through curtains, cushions, rugs, throws, lamps, ornaments etc. That way it's easy to update

I'm not very bold in my wall colours (see above) and I don't really like feature walls or wallpaper. I'm experimenting with painting a single wall/ chimneybreast etc in a different (still pale ) colour!

I'm also making my first foray into wooden flooring as I'm getting sick of carpet everywhere

I've found Pinterest invaluable, download the app! Super easy to create "mood boards"

I think the advice on here is invaluable. I really enjoy the threads where OPs ask for makeover ideas. If you include pics they attract loads of helpful responses

I'm not a fan of feature walls or wallpaper either but I've just painted 4 rooms and I'm thinking about wall sized stencis as I can just paint over the wall when I get fed up. I wish I could hire them though as they are £££ for one use.

Op, what's your style? Traditional or contemporary? Colourful or muted? Also, look at the light - south or north facing? Who will use what rooms?

I have been painting our house for forty years. I always get some extra in case a wall needs freshening up. Also, I have found that my father's advice, who was a professional decorator, has been correct. That is buy decent paint. Avoid cheaper brands. You end up painting more coats, it makes more work and doesn't end up cheap. Also can look patchy. I head for a Brewers who stock Sanderson. A little goes a long way and no frustration.

I usually try to start with one thing that I already have and love or something I really want (a painting, a piece of furniture, rug etc) and 'build' the room around that, using it as an inspiration for colour scheme, style, atmosphere etc. Then I would decide on wall and floor finishes, then curtains / rugs / blinds and finally furniture and accessories. I love designing decor schemes though. My mother really struggles and she used the Laura Ashley home design service. It's not expensive and you get lovely 'mood boards' which are a really good starting point - you don't have to use laura ashley stuff if you don't like it (you're under no obligation) but it's a good inexpensive way of getting some ideas of colours and atmosphere etc that you can then use to source stuff.

Want to put some pictures of the room you use most or want to use most and what you need that room to do for you and we can throw some ideas?
Like living room: TV watching, dining, reading, having people over for coffee/tea, display something you like or collect? Is it north/south facing? Gets much sun?
What stuff do you have that you'd like to use? Carpets/rugs? furniture?
Paint-wise, I'm a huge believer of the test pot. I'd rather spend £10+ on test pots that paint a colour, I'd hate or is plain wrong for the room.
Any ideas what you like in decoration? Parisian style places, ultra modern, Mid century( G Plan style), shabby, or even what you see on an ikea/next/JL catalogue?

Thanks all for your input, very helpful. Unable to reply as loads going on . I will be posting some pictures asap in the hope that you guys can suggest some ideas to transform my boring brown sitting room. How exciting!

Can I make another suggestion?
One of the first things that set the tone of any room is the flooring, yeah walls are pretty important but they can change quite easily compared to flooring. And you can drastically change the outlook of your room just by lightening or darkening the floor. For example if you have a wood flooring already in but it is the standard warm honey, brown etc you can have it sanded, then stained - in very dark black or white washed in .. well obviously white ;) both are quite trendy with emphasis on white, as it instantly brightens your room, gives you more space and you can do some very good contrast decorations.
For example here is a white floor www.flooringsuppliescentre.co.uk/products/real_wood_flooring/engineered_flooring/kahrs_flooring/1533/kahrs_nouveau_snow_oak_engineered_wood_flooring_lacquered_187x35x15_mm.html
and here is a dark floor
www.flooringsuppliescentre.co.uk/products/real_wood_flooring/engineered_flooring/kahrs_flooring/2927/kahrs_castle_oak_engineered_wood_flooring_lacquered_150x05x7_mm.html
Now these are obviously premade and you can buy them but if you already have wood flooring you can use it just as well. Just make sure that the staining is done by professional as it can be hard to achieve with a DIY approach.