I'd keep the coffee table (kinda cool). But, I'd remove the sofa pillows and add new toss pillows with various patterns with wonderful colors. Curtain panels for the window. If you can swing a new, updated lamp for the side table would help freshen/update the space as well. Are you handy? If you update the fabric on the dinette chairs it would liven up the room as well. That's for starters...have you a mind to paint the walls? BTW..if you take all the picture frames and paint the frames black, and maybe change the matt as well to a color, the art will look new and fresh, regardless of the subject matter.

If you want some "fun" pattern and color maybe floral curtains for some interest.

I love your furniture style don't care for the fabric on the chair. As for the room pain a bold color something like peacock blue. The lamp change the shade to a barrel shade and if your not attached to lamp as it is take it apart fill it with an accent color paint and cost the entire inside let dry and reassemble. Add accent pillows to the coach and slip cover chair. Remove vertical blinds and add drapes.

Your dish washer panel can be reversed most likely making the appliance appear all black instead of almond.

Paint everything white, decorator white, it will simplify things
The coffee table is great
Try woven shades for the windows
Try smaller scale, more tailored upholstery, but take your time on acquiring new items

Just thought I'd pitch in something else. I notice your kitchen ceiling has drop-in acrylic panels that look like they've yellowed (over time, this is something they do, it's not because they are gross or anything). You can get replacement acrylic pieces from Home Depot. They run about $7.50 per panel. The size they come in is equivalent to a rectangular ceiling tile like they use in office buildings. From the looks of it, your ceiling is squares, which most likely means you could cut each new panel in half and drop them in. (Measure!) They sell a special cutting tool (not an expensive kind of tool) to use in cutting them. Get a yardstick, pencil the line, and hold the yardstick steady along the place you need to cut. It can take several times to cut through. This would brighten up the kitchen. Guessing from the picture, it looks like you could do this for under $50. Buy a couple of extras. I screwed up the first two I cut!

Your furniture looks clean, simple and in good condition so I wouldn't worry about a thing while you get on your feet. The coffee table looks really nice. Except for the vertical drapes, nothing really screams 80s and who knows - next week the 80s could be back in again and you will be leading the way.

I do agree with nwduck though on the kitchen ceiling and if it can be so inexpensively fixed then that would be a must.

I like Darzy's floral curtains, and if you can I would definitely change the verticals - they didn't look good in any era. Check out Ikea curtains too, they are not unreasonable and their styles are usually very modern. An area rug can help modernise your lounge room as well. If the dining table is really annoying you, I think I would just put a nice runner on it with a centrepiece that will detract from the table itself - a cloth will only scream "I'm hiding something ugly".

It is hard when you have just moved into a home and are dying to put your stamp on it, but living with it for 12 months will give you a far better perspective of how your want the space to be, what style you want, traffic flow and also what colours to use as you see the condo through all four seasons. You will make far fewer mistakes this way.

Congratulations on your purchase, I hope you will be very happy there.

If you do find yourself at IKEA, don't forget to google IKEA hacks. You might be amazed at how some items are transformed!

We agree, woven wood shades will really warm up the space and add some texture. These are from Bali: http://blnds.cm/17Heiv9 We also have a collection of vertical blind alternatives( http://blnds.cm/YxfBY0), but your windows aren't too tall so you could really do anything in them.

Good luck!

You can consider yourself a very lucky person :)

A tight budget is not a fun thing to deal with ,but when considering all the free furniture that you got it sure help to give you a boost . Clean everything up and begin by introducing new colours in the rooms ,paint isn't that expensive and it will give everything an instant up lift.

you could also paint the kitchen cabinets ,it depends on your taste but I would go with espresso .

If you could give an amount of your budget , that would help on searching for ideas .


for the kitchen




for the living room

If you're really hating the verticals, I saw this at Bed Bath Beyond. Don't know how they look but caught my eye the other day.

I also bought an outdated beach condo with a limited budget for updating. I'd warm up the walls with a light tan and then paint the kitchen a blue or teal like someone else mentioned. Then use that color in the living room for pillows, a throw, frames, etc. Home Goods, TJ Maxx and stores like this have inexpensive decor items. I bought stainless steel new kitchen handles off of ebay very cheap which instantly update a kitchen. I've searched offer up and craigs list and have got some very nice inexpensive gently used items that look brand new. I'd start with paint and give it a fresh look. We also updated the entire condos light switches to rockers for under $50 and got rid of the old yellowed plates around the switches. Just some things we did that instantly made it look more modern. Watch sales at stores like bealls, kohls, then wait for 30% off your order and you can get items very inexpensive! Have fun!