Design Tip #4 - Total Home Make-Over

This post is dedicated to my dear friend Amanda, who has been asking me to help her "redo" her house. Like many of you, she is living in a house that is older than 10 years old. And she is overwhelmed. And she doesn't know where to begin. So here we go...

We will start at the top and work our way down. Now, understand, there is no right way to do this. This is just my way. Take what works for you.

Let's start buy hiring someone to come in and paint your ceilings, trim work (and cabinetry, if needed). When they do that, they will have to take down all your lighting, door knobs, cabinet pulls, light switches, etc. When they put them back, they can install all NEW. Now a very important word about the finishes of said lighting, doorknobs, etc. THEY ALL NEED TO BE THE SAME FINISH!!! Let me say that again, they all need to be the same finish. Pick the one you like the best and go with it. Knowing it is trendy, and you will probably have to start over every 10 years. No matter what you decided, keep the finish the same. This makes for a much more designer look. It makes the entire house flow together, look like some thought was put into designing your house, and just an overall designer finish.

Now you are ready to paint. This is my favorite part!!! This transforms a home faster than anything. I would recommend hiring someone to pick your paint colors, and or least get someone to help you. It is that important!!! Now a word about designers. I am a certified interior designer. That means I have a college degree, have worked in the design industry for a minimum of 2 years, and taken and passed the NCIDQ (which is a 2 day, 3 part licensing test). Obviously, I will recommend you hire and NCIDQ designer; however, many non-professionals can do a FANTASTIC job of picking paint colors (keep in mind, many cannot).

This is how I recommend picking paint colors. Begin by finding a source of inspiration. My favorite is fabric, but it can be anything, a painting, piece of furniture, etc. It needs to be a piece with multiple colors, that you ADORE. When you look at it, you smile. Mine is a chair. Mrs. Brenda's was a pillow. From that source of inspiration you will pick your colors. This will be your color palette. You will need to pick a red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, neutral. And from that point, you can paint any room any of those colors, and you know they will all flow together, and work together to make a designer house. One of my design services I will be providing is selecting your paint colors. I will charge $100 to do this.

And finally the flooring. Put carpet in the bedrooms only. Ceramic tile in the laundry, kitchen, bathrooms, and wood in the rest of the house. If your budget is less that that, I would again put carpet in the bedrooms, and the wood vinyl planks throughout the rest of the house. If your budget is higher that wood and ceramic, your probably aren't reading a free design blog for design advice!

So, there you have it. Design Tip #4 will be furniture placement, and Design Tip #5 will be picture hanging.