Interior Decorating Ideas?

[zhuzhu]

Hi All,

We are about to put in a new floor to the house before moving in. The top choice is engineered plank. Could you take a look at the layout of the home and suggest the color and type of planks you would use? What about painting it a different color wall? Is this white "too white"?

Also, how would you display the furniture? We plan on using the living room as a cozy living-room with a baby grant piano sits at where the dining space is, as we watch TV and hang out on the bigger part. Thanks in advance!!!

This picture is the entry way to the livingroom

 

[zhuzhu]

This is the living room, where we would like the TV to be under the stairway and couch against the windows.

 

[zhuzhu]

This is the side of the livingroom, where we will eventually purchase a baby grant piano. That is our agent.

 

[zhuzhu]

This is where the dining will be for us. We want to put in engineered wood floor too. DH hates the flowery window curtain here.

I kinda like it though....

 

[zhuzhu]

The carpet on the stairs got to go. What color carpet will be better here to match a wood floor?

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Hardwood would look great. I would probably put the TV in between the windows and a the sofa facing, with maybe a narrow table behind it. It would look great if you could do the stairs in wood too (but I HATE our carpeted stairs) if not a tan would be my choice. I prefer dark wood floors but it is a really personal decision. Is your taste more modern, traditional, country?

ETA: are you keeping the wood trim or painting it?

 

[zhuzhu]

Do you mean having the TV against the wall instead of the stairs? I just fear that the space for couch under the stair may not be side enough for couch.

We will prob keep the wood trim instead of painting it.

 

[zhuzhu]

This is the area underneath the stairs, which might be too small for our couch.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I would not put it against the wall but "float" it in front of the TV. I do think it is a lot of white but don''t think you should paint EVERY wall a different color. What is your taste?

 

[zhuzhu]

This seems like a nice medium color for CA weather house. Do you like it? It looks like we will have to change the trim wood too as the color don''t match.
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100064694#reviews

 

[KimberlyH]

zhuzhu,

I take it you guys closed? How exciting! The house looks so nice. Did you get things settled re: the roof?

Kimberly

 

[zhuzhu]

Thanks Kimber!
We will close on 4/30. We got the roofer to come out and indeed, there is about ~1k worth of repair, which is not bad at all. We are so glad we did it.
What part fo SD do you live, do you like living here?

 

[Erin]

I would get wood that matches the existing wood.
I would paint most of the walls a creamy neutral and pick a significantly darker color for accent.
I would put carpet that looks like this

 

[Erin]

it would be pretty to put up Bead Board - if that's your style

 

[zhuzhu]

Oh Mine. I really like the wood stairs.... Pardon my ignorance, but what is the bead board?

 

[Erin]

Bead board tends to have a New England Cape Cod feel, can be used in French, Country, or Cottage style, too. Popular for the Shabby Chic look as well.
Shown in the picture above - on the short walls, and also down the hallway...

 

[CrookedRock]

Great house. I would highly recommend not painting every room the same color. I would go somewhat nuetral in the foyer area, then seperate the family room with a pretty green. I think it would compliment the house nicely. I would also say get rid of the carpet on the stairs, it''s a nightmare to vaccum (I don''t clean how do you spell that? lol!) Are you planning on changing the carpet that is alreadt in the family room or leaving it as is?

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I agree. I HATE my carpeted stairs and would love to get rid of it all together. I personally don''t care for medium tone wood. So I would paint the trim a glossy white and the walls a nice neutral. Our downstairs is all open too so it is hard to know where to end one color and start another so I like getting colors from furniture/accents/artwork.

 

[Erin]

Looking at your photo again I would also replace the baseboards with something more substantial and that would meet the height at which your tile rises.

I like Tacori''s idea of painting all your wood trim white and getting a darker floor. That way it would look more like the drawing I posted.

But I did that before in our old 1970s house in Chicago. One coat doesn''t cover and pretty soon you''re tired of painting little strips of white

 

[zhuzhu]

Great points everyone!
I like the raising the baseboard height idea a lot. We will prob do the floor first (all wood throughout the whole house except for the bathroom and maybe kitchen). The painting prob won''t come until a little later. What color of baseboard would you paint knowing that the floor would be wood and wall is white?

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I like white trim/molding. Larger baseboards do make a difference.

 

[pennquaker09]

What is your style of decor? And other than flooring, what else do you plan to do?

If you''re going to get wood, I think I would run the flooring throughout the first floor, including the kitchen. Also, I think that the woodwork either needs to be replaced with something thicker and more up to date or, at the very least painted. As Tacori stated a nice bright white high gloss trim looks amazing. You have high ceilings and you need more substantial base boards and moldings to complement them.

Personally, I don''t subscribe to the whole neutral paint thing. Sure enough, most of my house is painted a neutral color - the same color to be exact, but that''s because I had to select paint colors very fast and i didn''t really know what I was going to do with the house as far as furniture goes.

Do you currently have a sofa? If not, I think a simple stylish and inexpensive sectional would work very well in that space. I''m not saying get this particular sofa, but something like this or something u-shaped with a right arm chaise would be perfect.


I have more ideas, but I''m nut sure how much work you want to do.

 

[monarch64]

Zhu, your new house is fab. As a pianist, however, all I heard was "baby grand piano" and all my thoughts were centered around that future purchase, ha! You may want to think about the incorporation of that future purchase when you're choosing your wood color as far as flooring...paint colors, etc. can always be changed.

When we first moved into our house the original hardwood floors were covered by icky white carpeting (it was clean, but it was cheap, had been hastily installed because the previous tenants had a toddler). When we first talked of buying a house, we both wanted one of our initial purchases to be an upright piano since I'd been playing for almost 21 years. We decided to pull up the carpeting and restore the hardwoods to a natural oak color, and we then purchased cherry furniture as well as a cherry piano. The combo looks great together...the lighter floors really complement the darker tones of the furniture. Just my .02, of course, but it is something to consider in your decision.

Best of luck in your decor choices! Have fun!

ETA: I love penn's idea of the u-shaped sectional with chaise. DH got a great LazyBoy with recliner on one end and chaise on the other (for me) and I absolutely love the chaise. It is a little bit of luxury in an otherwise completely functional piece.

 

[KimberlyH]

Date: 4/7/2008 1:51:41 PM
Author: zhuzhu
Thanks Kimber!
We will close on 4/30. We got the roofer to come out and indeed, there is about ~1k worth of repair, which is not bad at all. We are so glad we did it.
What part fo SD do you live, do you like living here?

Hooray for closing! Did Dennis come out? I''m glad the repairs aren''t terrible.

We live in North County Inland. I do really enjoy living where we do. I would choose to live closer to downtown SD, but we had some housing needs that made where we live our best option. I love our home and there are some wonderful aspects to our neighborhood. One day I think we''ll live elsewhere in the county but I am very happy with where we are right now.

 

[KimberlyH]

Date: 4/8/2008 12:13:06 PM
Author: SanDiegoLady
*koff*

We should really have a SD get together again..

Zhu.. your house is marvelous. I can''t wait to see the rest of it!!

I''m game for an SD gathering. Perhaps one of the first few weekends in May?

 

[zhuzhu]

Let''s do it!!!

Date: 4/8/2008 12:18:14 PM
Author: KimberlyH

Date: 4/8/2008 12:13:06 PM

Author: SanDiegoLady

*koff*


We should really have a SD get together again..


Zhu.. your house is marvelous. I can''t wait to see the rest of it!!

I''m game for an SD gathering. Perhaps one of the first few weekends in May?

 

[zhuzhu]

Thanks! Monarch.

I was a professional musician (piano and bassoon) before going to graduate school for science. I still play and love the piano dearly. You are right I should prob pick a light-medium tone wood floor as most likely the baby grant piano will be black. I will see if I can dig out some pictures of the furniture we have for the livingroom.

Date: 4/8/2008 4:23:28 AM
Author: monarch64
Zhu, your new house is fab. As a pianist, however, all I heard was ''baby grand piano'' and all my thoughts were centered around that future purchase, ha! You may want to think about the incorporation of that future purchase when you''re choosing your wood color as far as flooring...paint colors, etc. can always be changed.


When we first moved into our house the original hardwood floors were covered by icky white carpeting (it was clean, but it was cheap, had been hastily installed because the previous tenants had a toddler). When we first talked of buying a house, we both wanted one of our initial purchases to be an upright piano since I''d been playing for almost 21 years. We decided to pull up the carpeting and restore the hardwoods to a natural oak color, and we then purchased cherry furniture as well as a cherry piano. The combo looks great together...the lighter floors really complement the darker tones of the furniture. Just my .02, of course, but it is something to consider in your decision.


Best of luck in your decor choices! Have fun!


ETA: I love penn''s idea of the u-shaped sectional with chaise. DH got a great LazyBoy with recliner on one end and chaise on the other (for me) and I absolutely love the chaise. It is a little bit of luxury in an otherwise completely functional piece.

 

[zhuzhu]

I am really ignorant about interior decorating. Could you help me decide what style of decor I have? What I mean is, how do I know what my style is? sorry for sounding so stupid....

Date: 4/7/2008 10:39:03 PM
Author: pennquaker09
What is your style of decor? And other than flooring, what else do you plan to do?


If you''re going to get wood, I think I would run the flooring throughout the first floor, including the kitchen. Also, I think that the woodwork either needs to be replaced with something thicker and more up to date or, at the very least painted. As Tacori stated a nice bright white high gloss trim looks amazing. You have high ceilings and you need more substantial base boards and moldings to complement them.


Personally, I don''t subscribe to the whole neutral paint thing. Sure enough, most of my house is painted a neutral color - the same color to be exact, but that''s because I had to select paint colors very fast and i didn''t really know what I was going to do with the house as far as furniture goes.


Do you currently have a sofa? If not, I think a simple stylish and inexpensive sectional would work very well in that space. I''m not saying get this particular sofa, but something like this or something u-shaped with a right arm chaise would be perfect.



I have more ideas, but I''m nut sure how much work you want to do.

 

[zhuzhu]

I found this really cool web site where I can sort of design the rooms. This is what I came up with for the living room. Any suggestions for something a bit different? http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/pac_ctnt_wide/text/0,1783,HGTV_17897_23822,00.html

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Again this is personal but I hate love seats. I just do not like their dimension and think they can be cramped. I would replace the love seat with two arm chairs, maybe with a small side table in between. That way your guests can watch you play the piano

Why don't you post pictures of styles you like and then we can tell you your style

ETA: also I would put the piano on an angle.