Interior advice needed

DGranger

Hi there,

Hope someone can help.

I am totally useless at interior design. My house is like a bachelor pad ( I'm a married female) because it is completely defunct of soft furnishings and pictures etc

Anyway my next room is the hall. the house was built in the forties and the hall is small. I'd love the hall to be bright and welcoming, but also in keeping with the era of the house...

Would so appreciate ideas on this.

thanks

mari2222

Have you thought of a visit to your local library, where some of the design books might have pictures of what you want to achieve?

ishidaogo

Hire an Interior Designer! For a very modest outlay you can avail of so much accumulated experience. Check The Interiors Association for a list of designers in your area.

DarWhel

I grew up in a new house which was constantly being redesigned. What we learned after a few years was interior design is extremely simple. If you paint the room a light colour it will be light, I mean it's that simple. Add a splash of colour like red or purple in a runner, frames, and light wooden floors and a hall table (if required) and you'll have a light, modern room.

JuliusCaesar

The 1940s House Explained The 1940s Home
and
for expert advise - architects!

MisseyB

Check out http://www.houzz.com/ for inspiration.

I'm all on for having your house reflect your personality. Don't be afraid of getting it wrong initially. You'll be amazed at how much you learn along the way. And have fun!

But if you don't enjoy interior design then i agree with the suggestion to hire an interior designer. They'll take all the pain out of it.

dory

Why not post a photo and we can make suggestions?

Tangled

There's a good book called Style Source Ireland by Eoin Lyons which goes through decorating a house room by room and lists of shops of where to buy furniture etc (may be slightly out of date now but the rooms idea is good).

Otherwise, start buying interiors magazines for inspiration. Cut out pics of looks that you like and start putting them together on a mood board, you'll soon see something coming together.

paddy147

Couldnt be bothered or ar5ed with hiring out an interior designer to waffle on and on and rob us of alot of money.

Its easy to do it on your own,and all it takes is some paint brochures,an interior design magazine or 2,a look at some websites and looking at the likes of "Roomers" and "Room To Improve" on RTE 1 and also the like of "DIY SOS" on BBC 1 and on Digital TV.

We just went and got some paint brochures from the various trade paint suppliers and we then decided what colours to paint the various rooms.We looked at all the various brochure pictures of different room layouts painted/styled in the various colours.

This gave us some great ideas.

The large kitchen and dinning area in our house,is a mixture of whites,greys,greens and reds.I have a large custom made marine fish tank to go in aswell,this will make a "live" room divider,along with several 7 foot tall Kentia Palm plants.The live room divider will seperate the kitchen area from the dining area.

My girlfriend did all the painting throughout the house,and its turned out very well.:)
Every room in the house (except for bathrooms,as they are fully tiled out) has at least 2 different wall colours in it.It makes it interesting.

She also bought some lovely large canvas prints/pictures and coloured glass bottles up in Ikea for not alot of money,and these really do work well around the house.
Oh and the 6 large 7 foot tall Kentia Palm plants also came from Ikea,at 26 euro each.Thats an absolute bargain (usually retail at 50-60 euro each).



Dont be put off by doing it yourself,and I hope this post is of some use and help to you,or anyone else here.

Regards.:)