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dena_kim

Apartment/duplex redesign in SF Bay Area (layout, paint colors)

6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago

Hi! My husband and I (and our 2 cats) are moving into a duplex that is in a great location and is pretty spacious overall, but needs updating and a lot of TLC. The owners recently put in new carpets (not my fav, I prefer rugs and the color is kinda blech but what can you do), and we are allowed to paint the walls as long as we don't use crazy colors. The walls definitely need to be painted. The pictures below show our bedroom, then our bathroom, then our living room (which is connected to the kitchen, kitchen nook, and office by different doors). All the furniture/items belong to the previous occupant– hopefully, simply decluttering and having the majority of the "stuff" gone will be a major improvement, but since we'll likely be here for the next few years or longer, we'd like to really make this place feel like home. Here are some questions I have:

1. In the bedroom, is that the best place in the room where a bed could go? I'm wondering if we should put our bed there when we move in, or if another arrangement would be better (or even possible).

2. The pictures of the massive bed with the blue bedspread and the kitty on it are of our bed. I'm not super attached to it but my husband loves it, so we're going to try and use it in the new place. It should just barely fit in the space between the two windows (where the other bed currently is), but I'm worried about the room feeling crowded or cramped. As long as we keep other furniture items in our room to a minimum, do you think we can make it work? Any ideas for how to make a big bed work in a small room?

3. Given the color of the carpet and the color of our bed frame, I'm leaning toward some kind of (not too bright, not too dark) bluish color for the walls in our room, and maybe do the same color in our bathroom. I think I'd like to do a very subtle peachy color (maybe even just a white with a peach undertone?) for our living room, office, and kitchen. This will be our first time painting our home, and I'm not quite sure what the "rules" are for maintaining a nice flow between rooms, choosing a color palette, etc. Should we just choose one color for all the rooms? I don't mind that our bedroom is darker than our office/living room since we'll primarily use the bedroom at night, but I'm not sure how that should impact our paint color choices. How much lighter than the walls should the ceiling be? Any advice or suggestions in this area would be appreciated!

4. I myself tend to prefer white walls and a light, airy feel, but my husband thinks that this can feel too boring/sterile/"hospital-like." He prefers a cozy, eclectic, colorful style, which I think can feel stuffy/chaotic/cluttered. Any suggestions for how we can mix our two styles or recommendations for Instagram accounts or blogs to follow would also be appreciated as well!

Thanks in advance for any and all helpful thoughts :)

Bedroom:







Our current bed:




Bathroom (directly across small hallway from bedroom):





Living room (pictures taken from office doorway):





The open door with the curtain leads into the breakfast nook:


Breakfast nook/kitchen:









Office (pictures taken from closet doorway, open door leads into living room):





A portion of the backyard (front neighbors own rabbits that live in the pens):



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