Need advice for furnishing my first house

[thalberg]

I just bought a new house with no furniture and I need ideas. 

The walls are mostly white and the carpet is a tan/cream color.  The cabinets are a wood with a lot of red in it.  I need a three-person sofa, and I can't decide if I should get black leather or brown leather.  People have told me black leather can really stick out and look extreme and that brown leather blends better.  There will be a black piano nearby, so that's one idea for why black could possibly work....but I don't know what to do. 

Also, any overall new-home furnishing lessons you've learned would be welcome.  I'd like to learn from the mistakes of others--I'm not wealthy enough to make my own then have to correct them.

Also I'm worried about the bedroom set--will it overcrowd the bedroom?  How can I prevent this?

And, is it possible AT ALL to get a couch with any decent back support?

[Siberian Husky]

Miniature coke machine...this should be priority #1

Big screen Hi Def Wi Fi plasma TV with Dvd/VHS player surround sound system, TiVo and Comcast Digital Cable or Sattelite..whatever they offer in your area..

Pioneer sound system with two 12's...a sub woofer..and maybe some baja speakers...

a VERY large poster of Nils Johan riding a bike

a VERY small portrait of Berhard in his underwear..

and a MEDIUM sized portrait of me in a full body leather authentic Batman costume...


three Dogs

1 Siberian Husky
1 Alaskan Malamute
 and 1 Chihuahua named "Terminator"

a craftmatic adjustable bed..sent in for modification..for extra versalitily, massage options etc etc..this is for the ladies of course...

king size comforter of elegant flowers..and other misc classy designs..this is to woo the ladies on the weekends..but during weekdays...a King size Spongebob comforter is a MUST for the sake of keepin it real...

also..cups plates couches pots pans chairs tables dressers etc etc and all that boring crap..happy decorating...for more information on this type of decorating..just call

1-800-go-bankrupt

Cheers
Luis The Great

[mikeyg]

A nice polished pole in your room  :p

[Siberian Husky]

also..get a dragon..but these dont do well with cats as they are territorial

[pianonut]

you guys make me laugh.

how about just taking a day and watching all the design shows  - you know "divine design, designers challenge..."  or better yet, get yourself on designers challenge.  there, you get professional help for less money (i think) and three opinions to choose from.  i LOVE that show.   like fashion - homedesign can be accessorized once you have the basics.  sounds like your choice of couch is the first question. 

when we were picking out our van, all i cared about was the seats.  my hubby was checking out all the features, and i just went from van to van sitting down on the seats.  maybe you should do this with your couch purchase.  go and try sitting on each one, getting up, and asking about stain removal or if couch covers will fit or if it is an odd design that covers won't.

you may not be thinking family, or you may, later.  what i WISH i would have done is exactly what a girlfriend of mine did.  when she had her first baby - she put down those clear plastic runners in all the main walkways, rugs in front of couch, and covers on the couches.  then, they sold their house for a mint without redoing the carpeting, and left one of the couches in the house (in very good condition).  selling points are condition, i think.  being able to maintain something is almost better than a grand design, imo.  if it is functional, looks good, and you can keep it from wearing (not cheap).  this usually means spending a little extra (our couch had a spray coat of scotchguard).  i clean it with the wet-vac and after 10 years it is still looking good.  also, if you look for overstuffed couches, you'll be pleased after the initial first year poof reduction.

[pianonut]

say, another thing i've experimented with, is using the paint palettes that are pre-made at the paint store.  each is different, and you get a whole selection of colors that work well together.  you could use some color pencils and copy the color of existing items (even the color white can be different colors)

i tend to like bright colors.  my dining room is flamingo pink.  at night, from outside, it looks so cool.  all the other rooms are  more of a pastel shade.  i found a wall paper border that was so cool but extremely expensive - so i decided to make a stencil of it myself and paint it around the top of the dining room.  it is still unfinished.  but it should look great in a couple of years.  it incorporates black, blue, gold, green, etc. and is a sort of phantasm russian looking design that should give some eye popping results to the top of the dining room walls (10-12'' wide - which is more than wall paper border at 6")

in my piano room - i looked and looked for something to design without painting white walls.  the room has very high ceiling.  finally, in a spa design from palm beach (architecture magazine) i found a black geometric design that was painted on the wall with about 15-20" squares that incorporated connecting lines that form a sort of up square/down square ?   it looks very modern and sleek.  it took a day and a half to paint and was very tricky (had to pencil it in, tape it, and paint without dripping black paint).  i bought the kind of paint that has gloss, so when it was finished, it looked cool (to me).

of course, my daughter is much more conservative and is scared of the mural i am going to paint in the entry way of an entire orchestra.  she doesn't like bright colors either, and says when she has a house it will be all muted colors and non of 'these clown colors.'  oh well.

[pianonut]

i found a neat site for design:

www.getdecorating.com/theme.cfm?

and  www.overstock.com for stuff to buy (esp. slipcovers for couchs/chairs at good prices)

[thalberg]

Hey, thanks everyone!  That's some great advice!  I'm going to takea look at those websites, and pianonut, if you have a pic of that cool design in you piano room, I'd love to see it.  Right now, I found this black leather couch I love.  The design is perfect--I just wish it came in brown!!  Oh, well...

I have to go--Terminator needs me (as you can see, I've gotten started already)

[pianonut]

terminator!? uh oh.

our cat left large scratching post rips in my wall paper in the kitchen.  but, i'd rather live with the cat than without.

i'll try to get the neighbor to take a pic of the painting in my piano room.  it's about 10 feet up and i had to stand on a ladder to do it.  thankfully the black paint never spilled (learned to take dixi cup half full and just hold it the whole time).

sometimes with white paint you can get away with a lot.  for instance, in the bathrooms upstairs i just put a border through the middle of the mstr bath - and it looked good.  the other one, i taped stripes on the top half of sky blue/white and then and solid sky blue on the bottom. then wall papered border over the line.  it turned out like wallpaper, but MUCH less expensive.  they have this polyurethane? paint that you can paint clear over your walls to make them washable.  i did this in the bathrooms and the kitchen.  much easier than always having to rub the paint.

another thing i've learned is to look through your windows from outside at different times of the day, and to also look from inside to outside.  you can pull colors from each side and it makes for a comfortable transition.  also, if you take a year or so to finish your decorating, you can experiment with ideas - and see what works.

my daughter was probably right about not using as bright of colors - and if i were to change another thing - your home will look bigger the larger area you use one color.  i used three different colors in open space (kitchen dining livingroom) and liked it after i bought a painting that tied all teh colors together.  it looked a little disjointed when i first did it without something to tie it together.

[pianonut]

sorry to go on about decorating so much.  i got the pic of my piano room tonight.  then, i though, hey - maybe i should post a pic on the pic thread too.  the neighbor should get the pic to me by e-mail tommorrow. 

[pianonut]

Attached is a pic of the border in my piano studio.