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Abby, Congrats on your new house! Is your husband keeping his distance now to protect you and the kids? This is such a difficult time for so many people. I have so many docs in our family, old ones ... young ones. A few in the younger generation are applying to schools to be nurse practitioners. I’m kind of amazed that young kids are still willing to go into the medical profession. I hope your husband stays safe.

As to decorating...a first good step is to look at lots of rooms online or in magazines and print out or cut out pictures of rooms you love. Start a file. Also cut out pictures of things you don’t like. Keep those too. In your “good” file, you will eventually have a bunch of rooms that start to look alike and a few outliers. Over a bit of time, you may find you are getting tired of your earlier picks or loving them even more. Having these files will help you define what you like, and what you don’t so that you don’t make impulse purchases that you regret.

I don’t know when stores will actually open so that you can actually test out the comfort of the furniture or see the quality of items (and I have no recommendations about the safety of going into a showroom). In normal times, I would have recommended both you and your husband sit on the chairs and sofas you like before buying them. Is the piece comfortable? Do you like to lean your head back on a high back upholstered chair? Is the sofa too deep?

Try to pick out all your pieces before buying one (and if you are going to paint or wallpaper, make those choices too). Cut out the furniture shapes in brown paper and place all the shapes on the floor in the room. Is the room too crowded? Do you have good walkways? Can you pull the dining chairs away from the table without them bumping into anything. You can order fabric swatches. Do all the fabrics etc go together? Before Covid 19, a decorator would come to your house and help you plan. That may not be in the cards now. Lots of furniture stores offer free “design services.” Some of the people who work for the stores and are held out as “designers” are very good —- others, not so much. Now, the consultations are being done via video conference. Do you have drawings with all the measurements of your rooms? They would be helpful.

You may want to hire a designer (one you have to pay) — make sure they are licensed, insured, and call references. See samples of the work. A good designer should have a portfolio of work to show you. Get a contract and read it carefully. Make sure you have a clear understanding of how the designer’s fee structure works. Hourly? A percentage of the furniture cost? Does the designer pass along part or all of the professional discount to you? What happens if something arrives damaged? If you don’t like what you ordered? If something in your house is damaged? A good designer should be able to help you pull everything together — window coverings, area rugs, lighting, getting cabinets built, getting art framed, etc. There are online sites where artists sell prints etc (e.g., Society 6). If you know people that have worked with a designer, ask them to give you advice. Having a designer work for you can be expensive so make sure you are clear about the arrangement.

I’m currently having a house built. This is a challenging time to pull a house together. I do a lot of research online and then have a video conference with each showroom rep. I understand that when we get down to the final choices, I’ll be able to go into each showroom (e.g. tile, electrical) to see the items in person in a private showing, before they place the order. We’ll social distance and wear masks. Tile samples I bring home will get sprayed with Lysol before going into my car and they’ll sit in the car for several days before I bring them into my house. I suggest you talk to your husband about the protocol your family adopts.

Well, this is getting too long. Hope your family stays well and you all enjoy your new home.

Hello! Thanks so Much for your reply. I have already done most of what you have written, if not all but now I’m in a place where there are way too many options. 😳
Yes, I need a designer which is what I’m looking for - hoping that people are inspired by the photos and make some suggestions because I have officially burned out 🤪
good luck to you and your family and thanks for all the fabulous advice!
Best wishes

I tried the Modsy route and paid to have two rooms designed and what they designed was terrible-

S