Although I don’t have nearly enough time to reply to the kind e-mails you send me, I do read every single one. And let me tell you: Many of you comment that you just don’t have style in your DNA.
I feel your pain. Decorating is hard enough when you lack time or resources, but I’m a big believer that everyone has an inner style voice: You just have to know how to get it to speak up! This is why I love HGTV. There are so many ways to get inspired and find your voice. Here’s some help for a few of you with common design questions.
From SocalRachel on Rate My Space
“i have a round glass top coffee table/40″ round, and i just don’t what to put on top of it. do you have any ideas of what i could use to decorate the top?” — Jan
Round coffee tables are great because they usually have more surface area for showcasing accessories. The trick with a round — or any shape — coffee table is to make sure the arrangement you choose looks exciting from every perspective: from the top and 360 degrees around.
As to what to put on top, it all depends on your personal style. Do you have a collection? Do you like flowers? Do you enjoy reading books or magazines in the living room? See what fellow readers put on top of their coffee tables.
From markbrownlee on Rate My Space
“does the backsplash have to match the counter top? We are doing a vanilla bean cabinet with a glaze and our counter top is in the earthtone shades, I saw a subway tile that was so beautiful but the color is pale green or pale blue (I love them both) but im afraid this would look odd since their isn’t any of those colors in the counter.” — Sandy
Sandy, don’t worry about the design police! Go with your gut. In my opinion, matchy-matchy is boring, and your combination sounds lovely and interesting. I’m a big fan of subway tile (so sleek!) especially in the mottled robin’s egg blue color. Take a cue from Candice Olson, who always comes up with interesting backsplashes that vary in material, or this beautiful kitchen from Rate My Space.
From LaurenThePartier on Rate My Space
“I have no idea why my boyfriend and I thought it would be a good idea to sand kitchen cabinets and stain them a sangria color. I guess its because I love red and we thought it would look beautiful.
But then, I painted the walls orange and green and now the kitchen looks like a Mexican restaurant. Nothing against that – I’m from Puerto Rico myself and love all the bright colors, but it just looks terrible. Since we don’t want to sand and stain the cabinets again (it was hard enough the first time), we want to just change the wall colors.” — Bethsabet
Sounds like a very festive kitchen! Red is a very competitive color when it comes to attention, and right now all the colors in your kitchen are so bold they probably make you feel uneasy. Paint the walls in your kitchen the same color to unify the space and give your eye a breather. I suggest light cream colors (like the above photo), off-white, gray or even a pale green to invoke a traditional/farmhouse style.
If the red is still overwhelming, try antiquing with a dark brown/black glaze. Be sure to test out your technique on a scrap piece of wood before you go to town on the real deal. Or if you want to commit to modern, slap some lacquer on those bad boys IKEA-style and paint your walls stark white.
I have a small master bedroom with black furniture. What would be a good color to paint the walls for this room to seem larger but at the same time cozy.
I have a gold color sofa with dk brown or black flecks in it and My coffee table and end tables
are a lt. oak color. my other furniture is a mishmash of colors which will be covered or replaced, and my floor is going to be redone in laminate flooring. I have no idea what color to put on the walls. Any suggestion you may have
would be greatly appreciated.
I have a red couch and dark furniture. Right now my walls are chocolate and I’m feeling a little closed in. Any solutions on wall colors?
olive green or a shade of gold would look great.
I am not good at color cordinating. I love warm colors. What are some pretty colors that go together with dark furniture in most of the house. I have white cabnets in my kitchen. Any suggestions!
I have a very large window in my living room which faces north, its about 105 inches wide. The walls are painted sw cargo pants, the color is great, sometimes its looks kachi and sometimes green. The furniture is navy blue. I am not sure what color to put on the window and what kind of curtain. Right now, I have white with little blue flowers I have 3sets each tied in the middle, it does not look bad but I am over it. Now I want something new, but with the north window there is not a whole lot of light and I dont really want to cover the window completely. Help
i am getting a plasma aquarium which will hold real fish , however my decor is wood and iron.trying for the tuscany look. where could i put it?
i decided to paint my 1/2 bath brown and yellow…it looked good on the color sample swatch but now that it is up i hate it. in addition, the trim is sloppy and obvious..AND the corners where the two colors meet are crooked….HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I recently got married…..hoorah for me we are purchasing our 1st home contract is signed just awaiting for the bank…anyways I need help bedroom help my husband loves the raiders and wants our bedroom to be silver and black I like brightness yet contempary–(dark Cherry/mahagoney colors) how can we combine our taste? Also should we start decorating the living room 1st or the bedrooms? So confused
I put blue wall-to-wall carpeting (a medium blue) in our bedroom/sitting room. The same carpet is in the adjoining hallway and on the stairs. I wanted to do a brown/blue combination, but it’s just not coming together. Since I can’t change the carpeting, what else can I do? The walls are a light taupe with darker mocha trim. I have light cherry furniture that I don’t want to paint, and a canopy bed with an off-white hand-tied canopy I love. The bedding is currently blue/goldish and the curtains match in both rooms. I have a dark brown chaise (new) in the sitting room. Should I lighten the wall and trim colors? Help!
I definitely don’t have a designers touch in my DNA. I live in a one bedroom apartment and of course the walls are egg shell. Do you think its a good idea to paint one wall in the living room area to add some spunk to it. I am the Plain Jane Queen (smile). I do love earth tones and my living furniture is dark brown w/mint/off white and brown in the pillows. My dining room table is deep brown.. I gather mahogany color. Please help my Plain Jane Syndrome!! Thank You!
I have beige sofa and love seat, tan carpet and a black tv. the end tables are light oak. Help what color should I paint the walls. I have a large painting of a old world street front I placed over my white fireplace. With cathedral ceilings it is very hard to paint so I don’t want to have to do it again and again.
I love the color scheme of the second kitchen. Here is another place for finding similar home design ideas.
I live in a 3 room apt with no storage space. I have eggshell color walls, trim. I can’t change the color. My living rm is 12 x 14. Right now I have way too much furniture in there. Old furniture to boot. Burgandy velvet, formal queen ann chairs(2) with foot stools, a table, a wall unit, another chair and a couch. And, oh yes, a small computer stand in the corner. The only thing I’d like to keep is the two glass, brush tone end tables(square) and the oval glass brush tone coffee table. I could throw all other funiture out. I feel like I need to breath in there. Looking for some ideas but I feel overwhelmed and definately need your help/expertise. I live alone, so I don’t need much furniture, but occassionally I do have people over Even though green is not my color, I was thinking some earth tones, small furniture, small entertainement stand, etc. Help!
I want to redecorate my fam rm and am consiering two choices of color for sofa/loveseat or sectional: Eggshell/White or brick. (I will 1st redo my floors in oak hardwood and walls are butter color.) My 1st choice for new sofa is the white but I’m afraid it’ll be too hard to keep clean ovr time. We have no children or pets, but my hubby is notorious for putting newspaper on the couch. I’m also worried about spills, etc. Is there a good material I can use that would be easy to clean, or would you recommend that I go w/the darker brick color..THX for any help!!
I need some help. I have a black leather sofa and don’t know how to build my livingroom around it. The rest of my house is an Asian theme, but I don’t want to over do it so I want to keep it simple, but still Asian… any suggestions from anybody? Thanks!!!!
Great post, and unfortunately I have come across many who do lack the style gene, but most of the time, especially when planning for their own tastes and not thinking about resale, even those style challenged do a pretty good job. I will be back for more useful info.
Cheers
Chris
I love that warm olive green color in the kitchen!