I Bought A House, Now Provide Me With A Free Interior Decorator Please

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='Maggie' timestamp='1347231886' post='2480782']
Ah ha!!!

This is what our living room currently looks like:

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/87037699@N08/7966408350/"][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8315/7966408350_c0b4cf80af.jpg[/img][/url]

I stole the painting from Lillllabettt.The fireplace is merely decorative though. AKA, fake. Notice how every entryway is curved which is cool but it means I probably can't put moulding on it very easily.

All the front rooms east, with a southern exposure in the living room and northern exposure in the dining room (towards the lake).

Here's another picture of the dining room. The house has steam heat and window treatments that make it look like a dentist office. I'm talking vertical blinds here. I understand the steam heat is super efficient and cozy in the winter but I have to decorate around the big honkin heaters. Oy.

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/87037699@N08/7966429764/"][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8457/7966429764_53043cb63b.jpg[/img][/url]

And here's some others: our teensy bathroom (but it's the original 30s tile!) our kitchen and breakfast nook.

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/87037699@N08/7966436452/"][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8173/7966436452_86a2c636a4.jpg[/img][/url]

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/87037699@N08/7966411412/"][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8461/7966411412_7752ff4a98.jpg[/img][/url]

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/87037699@N08/7966435032/"][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8321/7966435032_ee2068a846.jpg[/img][/url]

So as you can see the current theme is Beige With Card Tables.

I don't have any plans for furniture right now except that I want to use the Louis chairs that appear in the dining room pictures. I stole them from my parents' house (with their permission... kind of) and there is a dining room table that goes with them. Which should be coming shortly. But it's hard because it's a small house and we need everything to be SMALL. I don't want to overfurnish it and not be able to move around. All the sofas we look at are SO BIG.

Also we can't figure out where to put the TV. We don't plan to get cable as we really don't watch much TV but sometimes we do rent movies or watch football. Obviously don't want to put it over the mantle and make it the centerpiece of the room.
[/quote]

Are you handy with a hammer and nails? If you are, make radiator covers - a simple wooden frame with a front of lattice work to hide them. Paint them the same as the wall color behind it and you will not notice them.
For your rooms you could paint the ceiling color down to that top trim line, and then put borders directly below it, or simply paint the walls a different color.
In your dining room since it is facing north you might want a ceiling color such as a light gold which will warm the feeling of the room without darkening the walls. Mini-blinds are a wonderful option to small rooms. It you use the same general color scheme for the entire first floor the house will feel larger. You can provide pops of color with your accessories and change the whole feel easily season by season.

[4588686]

[quote name='Maggie' timestamp='1347224035' post='2480730']
No My Little Pony wall decals please
[/quote]

Of course not. There will be a fair deal of tasteful nudity, however.

[Papist]

If you got children, do not bother. Just have lots of white trim paint handy.

[Lil Red]

[quote name='Hasan' timestamp='1347259034' post='2480913']
Of course not. There will be a fair deal of tasteful nudity, however.
[/quote]

you'd like my parents' house. my dad is an artist and has a few nudes around the place.

also: Maggie, you have a lovely home. kinda jealous.

[arfink]

Yeah, very nice house. Very very nice.

I love the 1930's tile in the bathroom. If it was up to me it'd stay.

[arfink]

The wainscoting idea is fabulous, I think, especially with a home of that age.

One thought would be to keep the muted colors but pick one or two rooms to do in something other than beige, and to take that thin little trim bead at what appears to be head-height and paint it a contrasting color.

[Tantum Ergo]

Aaaw, your house is so cute!

I love the wainscoting idea. But is there a reason you want it so high? It would certainly add the illusion of more height to the room. However, high wainscoting gives me the feeling of being enclosed, trapped, like I'm reaaally small. Maybe this is just me.

And, you need pinterest. Maybe you've done that already? If you search wainscoting you can find more examples that might give you more ideas.

[Slappo]

[quote name='Maggie' timestamp='1347231886' post='2480782']
Also we can't figure out where to put the TV. We don't plan to get cable as we really don't watch much TV but sometimes we do rent movies or watch football. Obviously[b] don't want to put it over the mantle and [b]make [/b]it the centerpiece of the room[/b].
[/quote]

My wife was somewhat able to accomplish this by putting the TV between two tall standing dark book cases on a wall we have that is covered in a dark wood. With the dark colors of the TV it doesn't stick out like a mounted black TV on a white wall would. She then arranged the furniture in such a way that most of the furniture does not face the TV, but you could watch it if you desired. When everyone is gathered in the room socializing they are directed more towards each other than a television.

Preference would be a TV cabinet with wooden doors that could be closed hiding the T.V from sight, but... .

Just in case any of these idea's on how my wife did it helps with your figuring out where to put your TV . I really really like that our furniture isn't pointed towards the television. It makes the living room a living space, not an entertainment room.

Edited September 10, 2012 by Slappo

[MissScripture]

I am not very good at interior decorating, so I can't offer much, but CUTE HOUSE!

[Maggyie]

Thanks for the kind words!!! I like my house too!! Best part is with taxes and insurance and everything it's only about $100 more expensive than our efficiency apartment was in the city. Granted it was also on the lakeshore. It's so weird to have the sleeping, cooking and living areas in different parts of the house. I get freaked out when my husband is upstairs and I am downstairs. Where oh where did he go!!! He's so far away! So much space!!

I really want the wainscoting to be quite high because I love the drama of it. I was brought up in a McMansion which had builder-grade chair rail-high wainscoting and while I thought it was great and fancy as a child, now I feel that it's too squat. This may or may not have something to do with the fact that I am now taller than that chair rail... ahem...

I do have an excessive Pinterest addiction. A cabinet for the TV is a great idea!!! Then it looks just like you've got a cool chest in your living room.