Inspiration Board

14 years ago

I'm finally trying to have a decorating plan - and sticking with it. We live in a 1920's Arts & Crafts that was...erm...seriously laid low by a bad 1990's renovation. We are trying to restore some charm to the house with an eye toward budget and function. But, we've decided that we're ready to be grownups and buy furniture we plan to keep for a long time.

Our first floor color palette is...orange and blue. What you don't see on the inspiration board are the navy blue with cream piping track arm sofa and the orange starburst pattern that is on the pair of spool chairs. I ordered swatches, but I don't have them in hand yet.

I'm putting together a notebook of ideas and pieces, measurements and swatches. What other suggestions do you all have for keeping it all on track?

We've ordered our big pieces - a buffet, the sofa, the pair of spool chairs, and the armoire for the TV. We bought the abstract painting to celebrate our anniversary. I've tracked down rugs, but I'm not quite ready to pull the trigger.

I know that the one place I am going to struggle is the next layer. The small stuff. The accessories. That's where it always falls apart for me. Oh, and yes. I love brass.

Also, because we can't afford $$$ window treatments right now, is it okay to go with a simple cream drape with bamboo shade for now? We actually have an "off the rack" ceiling height. A welcome change from our 15' ceilings in New Orleans!

Thanks in advance for any feedback. I want to do this right - the first time.

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Comments (3)

roarah
14 years ago
I love the palette it is so fresh! Can not wait to see the finished room.
EngineerChic
14 years ago
Do you have an iPad? If so, I really like the app called Moodboard. You can get a free version that lets you create and play with one board. The paid version lets you create lots of moodboards, but it's pricey ($10).

Window treatments are really easy to upgrade later. We were thinking about light blocking cellular shades until we got the price from Hunter Douglas. I couldn't see spending almost $600 on window treatments (per window) when the windows themselves cost about $700 each ... And that was for a good quality window (Marvin, SDL, Aluminum clad wood frames). So we got light blocking roller shades - I'll add drapes later as I find some I really like.

BTW - when you say brass do you mean bright brass or antiqued brass? Just curious, something called French Brass is making a comeback and it's pretty and warm without being overly shiny. You might find a good selection of things in that color on the market now and more on their way.

It sounds like you have a great start, though! And congrats for being ready to buy adult furniture :). We had a bed delivered a week ago and it was the first bed I picked out myself at a store, I felt like a real grown up :)
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grlwprls
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks, EngineerChic, I'll look up Moodboard. Right now, I have an old fashioned mini binder with everything for the house inside it.

Brass - natural, unlacquered brass. I've always loved it, but I also hate the bad cheap 80's brass.

My mother-in-law has fabulous taste, but her choice in colors is far more traditional than mine. My husband and I hope to buy great pieces that once we change out our graphic rugs to Orientals and perhaps reupholster, the space can have a whole new traditional feel. We took a quiz that said our decorating style was "New Traditional." (Well, I took the quiz and he grumbled).

I'm glad to hear that I can safely get "stop gap" window treatments. We really have a lot of pattern and texture, so I almost want the windows to recede into the background.