Decorate My Home!

[koima]

My living room and dining room are ready for a complete makeover, and I am not good at home decorating so I'm turning to you guys for advice. Here are photos of the space before we moved in a few years ago:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34192437@N06/sets/72157620641886411/

It's an L shaped space with a small living room (12"x16") and smaller dining room (11"x10"). We have these white plantation blinds on the living room windows, and no window covering on the dining room. The living room gets good light; the dining room doesn't.

Our house is small - just 900 sq ft - and this is our only living area. We have two young kids (almost 4yo, almost 1 yo) so we need room to store toys and the furniture needs to be kid friendly. Our furniture is all hand me down college chic and I'm ready to part with all of it and give the rooms a fresh new look. I'm open to color but would prefer neutral furniture that will last a long time and more color on the walls and accessories.

Help me out and tell me how to make our home fun, cozy and inviting!

 

[ChristmasElf]

I would keep the Plantation shutters as most people like them and they add to the look of a room. Plus they are expensive.

Are you sticking with the same color scheme? I would paint the fireplace white to match the shutters. White is a nice clean look as well.

Maybe a chenille covered sofa and a contrasting comfortable chair in the living room. A cherry end table with a matching coffee table will look great with the wall colors you have.

JCPenney as well as Kirklands have a nice selection of lamps and are priced reasonably.

If you are looking for some storage for toys, do you have an IKEA close by? They have these great units that have 14 x 14 square openings that make perfect toy storage. They come in a variety of colors and sizes too.

 

[RNMOM]

I like the wall colors. I agree about Ikea for storage units. Perhaps a wall unit and lots of baskets or boxes on the bottom for toys.

I saw a home program where they took a dining and used two thin long tables pushed to each wall for play area but they could be put together for a formal dining table. I used to put mine against the wall beneath the window to make play area in our room. Again, some storage furniture that could double as a buffet or sideboard.

Do you have play areas in the children's rooms? Perhaps that is the best place to concentrate on that. What about a basement? If you can avoid it, I would not make the main living area the play area but sometimes that is just not possible.

One word of advice from an 'old mom'. Have the kids learn to clean up after themselves every evening so you can have adult time in the adult environment. It will serve them well in the future.

 

[RNMOM]

I like the wall colors. I agree about Ikea for storage units. Perhaps a wall unit and lots of baskets or boxes on the bottom for toys.

I saw a home program where they took a dining and used two thin long tables pushed to each wall for play area but they could be put together for a formal dining table. I used to put mine against the wall beneath the window to make play area in our room. Again, some storage furniture that could double as a buffet or sideboard.

Do you have play areas in the children's rooms? Perhaps that is the best place to concentrate on that. What about a basement? If you can avoid it, I would not make the main living area the play area but sometimes that is just not possible.

One word of advice from an 'old mom'. Have the kids learn to clean up after themselves every evening so you can have adult time in the adult environment. It will serve them well in the future.

We have a leather sofa with a dog and 3 cats. It is now 9 years old and looks like new. It is a smooth leather that is treated to avoid stains. I love the leather and wouldn't hesitate with kids. I would not allow any markers or paints in that room though.

 

[koima]

We are keeping the Plantation blinds. They're effective and they were pricy; we have them on all windows except the dining room.

We're open to changing the color scheme (and I'm kind of bored with the green, red, and gold) but painting the fireplace is high on the list, and I'm definitely leaning toward white for the clean look you're talking about.

IKEA is my friend, and just one exit down on the freeway. It gets a lot of love in our house, and we have the Expedit shelf that you described!

Here is my little boy's room:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34192437@N06/3295978280/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34192437@N06/3213359192/
This wall lost the dressers so the baby can move in to share the bedroom:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34192437@N06/3213361716/

The bedroom is small and with two beds, there isn't a lot of floor space to play. Toys are being stored in there, but are mostly played with in the living room. We don't have a basement. The 900 sq ft is all the usable space in the house; we have 2 bedrooms (both 10"x12"), 1 bathroom, a living room, dining room, and kitchen.

We're trying hard to get the kids to pick up after themselves in the evening, but it needs to be pushed a little more! The big shelf in his room will hold most of DS's toys, but there are still toys in the living room most of the time just because that's where we play. For example, right now the bin of trains is in the living room and it hasn't migrated back to the shelf for well over a month because they're the first thing to come out each day. Having a shelf where the regulars can live is a good idea. Right now the baskets are just on the floor, and that doesn't give it a grown-up feel at all!

 

[princess momma]

Ooooh, I love the floors. Not so much the paint colors. That's just a personal preference, though.

I'd probably find the furniture first, then work around that. I'd go with neutral furniture. I have sage green furniture in the living room and light camel colored furniture in the family room. The camel has been so much easier to decorate around.

Go shopping. See what's out there and what you like.

 

[golfgal]

I would start a file by taking pictures out of magazines, books, etc. of rooms you like, colors, set-up, style, etc. Eventually you will see a pattern. Then, find something for inspiration-a picture, piece of fabric, etc. and use that for your color scheme. Take your inspiration piece and your file to a furniture store or decorator and they will help you pull everything together. Usually this is easier then trying to describe what you want to someone.

 

[Bren's Mom]

Slipcovered furniture! Ikea has great stuff with slipcovers. I think Raymour and Flanagan does too. And actually, white is the easiest to clean (since you can bleach).

I'd choose coffee and end 'tables' with storage; chests, or with baskets that slide in. That will help with kid clutter.

Choosing neutrals is the way to go. Use color in pillows, rugs, window coverings, walls...things easily changed.

 

[RadioNate]

I was expecting a disaster and was pleasantly surprised!

I agree with the PP who said a chenille covered sofa, obviously in a neutral color (like beige, tan, brown, lol.) and then a contrasting chair. Dark leather, new style wicker...something like that.

If chenille is out of your budget, I'd go with a neutral micro fiber. They wear much better.

I HATED slipcovered furniture with kids. I'd have to adjust the thing daily.

We have these great shelves from IKEA that look like 'real' furniture and not cheap college storage. It is the MARKÖR series. We use baskets for the kids stuff in the cubes. We also have a big wicker "cube" from World Market for kids stuff.

 

[Bren's Mom]

I HATED slipcovered furniture with kids. I'd have to adjust the thing daily.

Just to clarify; I didn't mean regular furniture with a generic slipcover on it. I mean actual slipcovered furniture. With a custom slipcover. There's no adjusting, these things don't 'go' anyplace. But you can remove for cleaning, and that's important and IS great with kids.

Something like this:

http://www.raymourflanigan.com/catalog/details.asp?ID=9974

or Ikea's Ektorp series:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/series/07488/

 

[koima]

pincessmama, I'm sick of the colors myself, so no harm done!

I was looking at decorating advice last night and came upon this room:
http://www.thisyounghouse.com/2009/02/janis-design-dilemma-solved/

Lovely! I love the blue, I love the dark fireplace, I love the curtains, and I love the sofa! I am not in love with the total lack of storage, coffee table, or tweed chairs. It's also laid out very similar to my room. We'll probably put a TV over the fireplace

I found a similar sofa in my price range (the original is $2000!)
http://www.livingcollections.com/Livingroom/Sydney-Livingroom-Set/flypage-ask.tpl.html

LOVE! I love that it has just two back cushions, two bottom cushions, since our sofa has a million pillows instead of solid back cushions and I'm constantly replacing pillows. It's microfiber, so easier to clean. I'm thinking the stone color is a nice neutral to work with.

I also found this dining room set, which I really like. I think the walls would need to be quite pale to pull off a dark set like this. http://www.furniturexo.com/Mocoa-Di...er-Furniture-708-078-900-905-SET-p-24251.html

I like that the hutch is narrow and up off the floor, so it doesn't look so heavy. Extra dining room storage would be awesome, too!

What do you think? A medium-light blue for the living room and pale aqua blue in the dining room?