Interiors Rut

Hey all

We moved into our house in December and I have found myself in a real rut for decorating ideas and don’t know where to begin. The house is liveable but all stark white and we have no furniture apart from the bed, sofa and dining table. I don’t really know where to begin and whether I should prioritise the decorating or the buying of furniture. Equally I don’t know what style I like and don’t want to regret it…

Some advice on where to start, how to figure out your style and affordable brands please :pray:

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I am by no means an expert (I’ll leave the team to give the proper advice!), however, I love following https://www.architecturaldigest.com and brands such as Lick for example - https://www.lick.com/uk/blog. I always look at these brands IG tagged photos too for inspo and have created a ‘saves’ folder on there to come back to. https://www.instagram.com/katherine_ormerod/ is a genius and has made so many rental properties look MEGA, I know you aren’t renting but she’s super creative x

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I would say this is going to be a slow process and not to rush! Painting rooms and the use of soft furnishing like cushions/throws etc are a quick and easy(ish) way to make changes to start off with, then decide what pieces of furniture you want to prioritise.

I’d check eBay and Etsy for furniture, they’re great for really good deals. I bought my dining table & chairs off Etsy which was a mid-century replica of a danish architect I love and was a fifth of the price of what it should have been! I got a console table on eBay that had sold out online much cheaper too. Also if you find something you love that’s really expensive, do a Google image search of it and you’ll sometimes get cheaper alternatives.

To figure out what your style is I’d start looking at insta & pinterest for inspo and start saving pics you like, eventually you’ll realise what you’re always saving & your algorithm will get going - this was really helpful for me to figure out what I wanted to commit to for decorating & buying bigger pieces. Hope this helps! X

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Great ideas thank you x

Thank you, I will have a scroll through pinterest tonight and try and make some boards x

I feel you! It is intimidating, expensive and the amount of choices to be made can be overwhelming. For inspiration I would recommend starting with Pinterest. The more you pin, the more the algorithm will start showing you your preferred styles. You can split boards by rooms/categories. IG is also great for saving inspiration.

I second Victoria on the 2nd hand buys from eBay and Facebook marketplace. Use Vinterior / the above for inspiration and try and source pieces second hand as it will save you a lot of money. I’ve got some great danish / czech furniture from these. Etsy can be expensive, but is great if you want something specialist made!

One more piece of advice would be to not rush! There is an overwhelming urge to get everything done all at once, which can lead to wasting money on things you don’t actually need or like. Take your time in your home to really find out what you want in there and what works for each of the spaces. For your sanity, I would start with a room at a time rather than buying bits for everything all at once as it can be frustrating feeling like nothing is ever finished. Put your energy into one room and once you have finished it you will be excited to start the next (in theory).

xxx

Hi there,
I’d be happy to do a free video call consultation to discuss you wants and needs and can give some ideas.
I’m a professional organiser and stylist and love all things interior and just generally helping people LIVE in their best home life possible. www.livstyled.co.uk @livstyled xxx

There are some great online design consultation services around - I wrote this feature with some handy tips.

Also check out our moodboard series - lots of great ideas so help you work out your style and source items you might like. Good luck!

Hi @Eloise_Shackleton, it can feel overwhelming when you have moved into a new home and have several rooms you want to make your own. We’re The Living House, an affordable online interior design company and most of our customers feel how you have described, they don’t know what styles they like or where to start.

Pinterest is a great starting point to see what styles and looks you are drawn too, it can become slightly overwhelming knowing how to recreate a similar look or where to source pieces from. It may be that you like several styles, which we are able to bring together to create one cohesive look that suits your budget too. Once you’ve had a browse on Pinterest, we recommend exploring the layout options for the room, we always begin our design process by looking at the layout possibilities to get the most out of the space and to make sure it’s going to work for the whole family.

We are featured in @Gblaskey article - The Affordable Way To Use An Interior Designer, if you would like to find out more about us. Here’s our website which features lots of helpful blogs and our instagram if you would like to have browse for inspiration too.

Hope this helps! :slight_smile:

  • Sophie