decorating help
originally printed on my Onward & Upward blog; please go there to comment
So I am in need of some serious decorating help! Paul and I moved into our new townhouse almost three months ago. We like it, but to be honest, the living room feels so… empty and sterile. This is where you come in! I need some decorating ideas. First, here are pictures of the living room now.
(I was going to tidy up before taking the picture, but then I decided the before/after effect would be more dramatic with the clutter!)
The desire:
- I’d like a mix of contemporary (simple, straight lines, contrasting colors) and traditional (inviting, cozy)
- I want to avoid having a lot of clutter-y knick-knacks
- I have a few prints of some fine art and photography to hang on the walls: Van Gogh’s Starry Night, Ansel Adam’s Redwoods, Founder’s Grove. I also have smaller images of Nighthawks, Two Sisters (On the Terrace), Two Dancers on Stage (1874), and Dance at Bougival. I can hang these in a different room if it doesn’t fit, but I just wanted to give you an idea of what I have.
- I really like this room look, or perhaps a look that would match this painting (a Mediterranean look).
- I mainly need to brighten up the room a bit.
The stipulations:
- I’m not allowed to buy any new furniture (although I can mix and match with furniture we already own).
- Since we most likely will be moving in a year or two, I don’t want to buy things so specific that I can’t reuse it in a new house.
- I am already planning on painting the bottom half of the wall (from the chair rail down), but I don’t want to paint the whole wall
- I am planning to buy or make curtains, but I need to decide what color and style (as you see, the windows are quite narrow… about 2 ft.)
- I am willing to buy a sofa/loveseat slipcovers if I can find them for a good price and the color I want. I really hate the sofa but I’m stuck with it for now, so covering it up would be good. :-)
- I’d love to have some greenery but I’m HORRIBLE with live plants… so fake plants perhaps?
Okay, feel free to pelt me with your ideas! I think the biggest thing I want is a clear theme or color scheme… I can go from there usually, but right now I just feel so frustrated and at a loss with where to start. So any help you can give will be very appreciated! :-)