First home, need inspiration
I will get the keys to my Maisonette tomorrow. Hopeless at design. Male 30s, two sons under 4. I was going safe with magnolia but too common, maybe Lemon Tropic or Buttermilk? Should I put a new feature wallpaper? Or just strip it. As for colour carpet I was thinking brown or grey if with the above colours.
Comments (11)
Patrina
5 years ago
Marco Smith
5 years agoRelated Discussions
First time furnishing a home - need tips!!
Comments (21)Bernadette - one piece of advice is to not purchase a sofa and loveseat, but stick to sofa and then pair of chairs. Pair of chairs is much more flexible in setting up seating groupings in different rooms, and ultimately often seat more people. Second advice is to purchase slipcovered furniture, so that you can update and change without taking it off to the upholstery shop or starting over. This will be really useful when you / if you get to the kid phase where you need darker colors, hardier fabrics, or just can afford velvet, high end linen, etc. Many modern and classic profile sofas do come in slipcovers, just take a look at the options at long term. An area carpet should be large enough to anchor your seating group - width of your sofa at minimum - near to width of room if possible. The facade photo on the lower left would really be a mood setter, you could get it printed on an extra large canvas and wrapped, then hang it over your primary sofa. You will want to get this at least as wide as 2/3 of your primary sofa. Then, take an existing end table or open shelf or wood bench and paint it the green in the sign to repeat that marine green / copper patina tone - check out the annie sloan chalk paints in duck egg blue, for instance. I see a hue of that color also above in your inspiration in the bedroom. Learning to use those and distress is a great way to create some of the furniture elements you posted in your inspiration photos - you can take secondhand things that don't look very nice and make them fabulous. Perhaps display the other three together in one frame with a 3 image mat since they all have desert sand and foothill backdrop, and unique elements personal to you both - so you may want to crop them all similarly and present at a smaller scale. Great eye! (i'm from san diego). Finally, if your fella is handy, go to the largest hardware store within a tube ride or drive and just look around at every. single. thing. especially the industrial elements. You will draw on what you see later - this is an inspiration trip. New hardware of the serviceable AND the decorative kinds can be used with found and secondhand things to get closer to the rustic industrial look that has elements you show above....See MoreMy first home-advice desperately needed!
Comments (10)Agreed about the floors, they look lovely. In that case I would definately go for a pale grey curtain, or the room will look very white and the grey couches will stand out in a bad way I think. Or if you want to add a colour to the room, say blue for example, a pale blue curtain and then a rug with bits of darker or lighter blue on it would tie in a colour subtly. If you want to stick with the grey and white colours, I would go for a greyish or cream (darker than floor) rug with a pattern on it to make a focal point in the room. That info is all about the lounge. If you let me know the colour scheme and feel you want for the bedroom I can try and give some advice on that :)...See Morefirst home and looking for inspiration
Comments (10)Hi there, thank you all. I’m quite new to the site so no pictures in my idea book as yet. My colours range from grey/neutral with accents of rose gold in the kitchen/dining room, soft spa blue, cream and soft grey in the living room. My hall way I’d like to touch on champagne and ideally run this through to the down stairs loo. At present we’ll be keeping the fixtures and fittings. My kitchen and dining room colours are in the collage and all other pictures is the theme I’m quite drawn to. Thanks again all xx...See MoreI have a small home and I need inspiration!
Comments (11)This is a super site with incredibly friendly and helpful contributors, I am sure you will get a lot out of it, I certainly have. :) As well as the advice from the great folks on here, there are 2 books that I have found immensely helpful. The first is the Haynes manual for Victorian and Edwardian houses and the second is Farrow and Ball: How to Decorate. The Haynes helped me think about the history of my house, what I could/should/will/won't find as we tackle each room. The F&B book helped me think about colour and how it is affected by the light coming into the room (or lack thereof). It also made me think about the flow of the house from room to room which is especially important in a smaller house I think as a cohesive flow will make the rooms (and the whole house) feel bigger. The best bit of advice I got was from my brother-in-law who said that we should live with the house for a good 6 months before making any large changes. There may be stuff that really needs doing though such as neutralising any particularly strong decor from the previous owners. (I removed all the odd strips of wallpaper stuck at random places in the hall!) Good luck with it and make sure you post to let us know how it is going. Oh and RB, surfing RightMove is a super idea. Quite a lot of the time it does show you stuff you then know you don't want!...See MorePatrina
5 years ago
Gabby Wong
5 years ago
PROCormar Carpets
5 years agoHi Marco, congratulations on your first home! For the flooring we’d recommend a grey carpet. The new neutrals palette of putty, pencil and charcoal has firmly planted its feet as the most in-demand colour in carpet and it shows no signs of waning. The beauty of greys shades is that they are easy on the eye, don’t steal the scene and make a great base for rooms – on floors, walls, curtains or fabrics – plus they suit both period and contemporary schemes. Grey looks sophisticated in living rooms, makes bedrooms feel soothing and creates a welcoming space in entrances. The simplicity of a grey floor makes it a very practical investment for any room in the home. From interior designers and developers to householders looking to update the look of a room, it is grey toned flooring options that are now being sought after. We’ve attached some pictures of neutral walls and grey carpets to give you some inspiration – let us know what you decide! https://www.cormarcarpets.co.uk/ranges/carpet-ranges/
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5 years ago
Sam Potter
5 years ago
G Arnold
5 years agoG Arnold
5 years agowhat about opening the chimney up? and perhaps keeping it simple with white and grey (see example) or be a bit braver and go for a blue? furniture wise... I am a bit stuck on mid century modern design... one advantage it has is the dimensions are often smaller (if you get the original stuff) which means it fits in smaller rooms, you can also pick it up in reclamation/retro refurb places at decent prices... it's quite gender neutral furniture and you won't be like most of the herd who furnish top to bottom in IKEA or equivalent flat pack furniture (not dissing that by the way, I have flat pack stuff in places but also try to buy old 50s, 60s and 70s stuff too)
Marco Smith
5 years ago
Jonathan