Help us redecorate our home!

10 år sedan

Hi Houzzers, I am getting dangerously addicted to this site! My husband and I just bought a 1971 colonial and it needs a LOT of work (but we don't have a LOT of money!). I just started blogging about it at www.myinspirationalhome.com and I really could use your professional advice!

We do have a decorator but mainly for color consultations, we can't afford much more than that. So pleeeease check out my blog and leave comments with your great ideas!

We are not creative types and we can use all the help we can get. Our goal is a clean, modern (but not too modern) house with room and storage for our expanding family and all our stuff. We're depending on you and looking forward to hearing what you have to say! Thank you!

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raineycarole

10 år sedan

Start with the basics. Take out the bush that blocks the front of the house. Paint the house a light grey. Add a flower bed with bright colors.

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Kommentarer (30)

Erica Garza
10 år sedan
Ändrades senast: 10 år sedan
I'd also paint that front door and where is your porch light and the house numbers?
Sophie Barber thanked Erica Garza
Sophie Barber
Författare
10 år sedan
Ändrades senast: 10 år sedan
Thank you both so much! The exterior is the least of our problems right now (even though it is atrocious)... we're starting with the inside. But this picture was taken before we closed, the trees and bushes in the front are already gone!

We're planning on taking down the awful faux-brick front around the door and siding the entire house in split cedar shingles (medium gray). We also want to paint the front door and garage door, deciding between black and a bright color like turquoise. And we're sealing and powerwashing the roof, it looks like it's in bad shape but it's really just filthy.

I think there is a porch light behind all that wreckage, if not we will talk to our electrician before siding. And there is no house number, we have to get one!

Please check out the blog if you get the chance, I'd love your input on the inside! Thanks again!
raineycarole
10 år sedan
Leave the garage door the same color as the house. Paint only the front door so it stands out. Can you post a photo of the house without the bushes?
Sophie Barber thanked raineycarole
Sophie Barber
Författare
10 år sedan
Interesting. Do you think black or a bright color is good for the front door? We've been having very bad weather since the bushes came down so I don't have any updated pictures, I'll get some the next time I'm there during the day. Thanks!
Sophie Barber
Författare
10 år sedan
Here's the updated exterior, without all the trees
decoenthusiaste
10 år sedan
Great start on the landscaping! Hope you posted in Before & After too.
Sophie Barber thanked decoenthusiaste
Erica Garza
10 år sedan
we are in the same boat. I have my own thread asking for help in bringing curb appeal for an outdated home that had a much needed makeover! Where do you live? I'm in Tx so I need drought resistant plants. Do you want to keep the green?
Sophie Barber
Författare
10 år sedan
Good luck Erica, I will check out your thread too! We are definitely not keeping the green, it's awful in person. It's going to be medium gray shingles.

I'm in NJ and with this weather, landscaping is currently pretty low on the list of priorities! We just had to remove a lot of trees now so that we could do the siding and connect gas to the house (until now it's been on oil heat).

I may post on Before & After once there's more action. That's what my blog is for, though - detailed before and afters as they happen! I have two little kids and a part-time job so not that much time for double-posting on the blog AND Houzz.
Sophie Barber
Författare
10 år sedan
How do I get the soot off of my brick fireplace? We thought about painting it but I think we're just going to leave it as-is.
saratogaswizzlestick
10 år sedan
Here is a link.
http://m.wikihow.com/Clean-Soot-from-Brick
Sophie Barber thanked saratogaswizzlestick
PRO
Fireplace Doors Online
10 år sedan
Ändrades senast: 10 år sedan
Cleaning the soot should be easy with the right type of cleaner. this cleaner is cheap biodegradable and fast!
http://www.cjshearthandhome.com/speedy-white-stove-hearth-cleaner-22oz/
Sophie Barber thanked Fireplace Doors Online
PRO
Oisin Butler - Painting and Decorating Specialist
10 år sedan
Sophie be carefull of painting your front door black because if the front of the house gets a lot of sunlight, the black paint will blister a lot faster than a lighter colour. I have a blog on how to paint your front door if you're interested - http://oisinbutler.ie/how-to-repaint-your-front-door/
As a general rule, the lighter the colour, the longer the paint will last. This applies to all exterior painting. That said, black can look awesome!
Sophie Barber thanked Oisin Butler - Painting and Decorating Specialist
PRO
Oisin Butler - Painting and Decorating Specialist
10 år sedan
Red is a great colour too
Sophie Barber thanked Oisin Butler - Painting and Decorating Specialist
PRO
Destiny by Design
10 år sedan
You could do a darker brownish grey like BM kingsport gray with cream trim like BM cream cloak. But take a look around your neighborhood when choosing paint colors for your exterior because you don't want your house to stand out as being too different.
Sophie Barber thanked Destiny by Design
Sophie Barber
Författare
10 år sedan
Thanks for the fireplace cleaning tips!

Oisin Butler, interesting, I wouldn't have thought about that. The front of the house does get a lot of sun but the door itself is under an overhang, so it's shaded - do I still need to worry about that? Red looks like fun! If we go bright I'd rather teal or turquoise, though. Maybe orange if we're daring enough.

Destiny by Design, we're not painting, we're siding (a lot of the wood trim is rotten and we're just going to side it) in cedar shingles in Harvard Slate. Thanks for the tip, the neighborhood has quite a mix of house colors (the house next door is blue, ours is currently green, and there are a lot of neutrals).
jewanda1992
10 år sedan
I love the ideas under the houzz ideabook article itled "17 Ways to Increase Your Home's Curb Appeal" (by Laura Gaskill). I'm a fan of the dark gray siding with the bold BM tequila lime door. That combo screams fun young family to me. Good luck!
Sophie Barber thanked jewanda1992
PRO
Oisin Butler - Painting and Decorating Specialist
10 år sedan
Sophie, if the door is well shaded then you have nothing to worry about. Turquoise sounds nice. Be daring! If you don't like the colour of your door you can always change it. Will look forward to seeing how it all turns out for you.
http://oisinbutler.ie/
Sophie Barber thanked Oisin Butler - Painting and Decorating Specialist
Sophie Barber
Författare
10 år sedan
Thank you all! Love that tequila lime door, but it might be too daring for us...
Sophie Barber
Författare
10 år sedan
Any ideas for light fixtures for this room? We're thinking a long horizontal fixture across the center beam or one large pendant with two smaller ones. The room will be a living room/dining room and the table will not be centered under the fixture. We are putting spotlights on both sides of the sloped ceiling but want a nice focal fixture in the middle.

It's a little hard to tell but the room will be big and open. We are filling in the sunken portion.

See more here: http://www.myinspirationalhome.com/?p=67
Sophie Barber
Författare
10 år sedan
Ändrades senast: 10 år sedan
Here's the ceiling. It's 12.5' high.
Sophie Barber
Författare
10 år sedan
Any suggestions?
decoenthusiaste
10 år sedan
Great little sunken hooka lounge by the FP. Quite stylish right now if smoke-free smoking appeals to you.
Rustic ethnic · Mer info

morrocan roof · Mer info
Sophie Barber thanked decoenthusiaste
Sophie Barber
Författare
10 år sedan
Looks like fun but not our speed! Also it's too small, and we just filled in the sunken part... We're building in bookshelves on either side of the fireplace, putting in dark wood or wood-look flooring (wide planks), and replacing the little fence (not in the middle of the room but on the perimeter) with a half-wall and another low bookcase.
Sophie Barber
Författare
10 år sedan
Here's the updated exterior. Any ideas what color to paint the door? We're thinking black, navy or red, but may be open to lime, teal, turquoise or orange. Can anyone here photoshop the pictures to show me what the door would look like painted?

Thank you!
Sophie Barber
Författare
10 år sedan
Any suggestions?
barbarabroerman
10 år sedan
Navy would be classic but you sound like you're open to brighter colors. Go with your heart
Sophie Barber thanked barbarabroerman
Sophie Barber
Författare
10 år sedan
Thanks. I am open to bright colors but I can't decide which one I like best! (Or if I'll get tired of it quickly.)
PRO
Oisin Butler - Painting and Decorating Specialist
10 år sedan
Go crazy! I'd like to see a red door. Its just one door Sophie so it won't be a huge deal to change the colour if you don't like it
Sophie Barber thanked Oisin Butler - Painting and Decorating Specialist
Sophie Barber
Författare
10 år sedan
That's true! Thanks. I'll post new pictures when we decide...