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bf says my house looks empty - Page 2

post #21 of 48
10/25/09 at 9:31pm
I definitely think it is a balance and that balance is different for everyone. I visited a friend of a friends one time and she went on about how cozy it was and all that. The place was a total wreck to me and all it did was make me want to clean. Now, I admit my house is currently not as cozy as I want it to be- although there are certain rooms done. But I refuse to buy things to put on the wall unless it is something I love. And I only have so much money at a time to truly do things like I want them. But it is a work in progree and the big thing is to do it how your family wants.

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post #22 of 48
10/25/09 at 10:06pm
Our house looks empty right now too. We just moved in from a house that had heaps of built-in storage, so buying bookshelves, a hutch dresser, bedside tables etc needs to happen pretty soon. In the meantime, all the unstored stuff is in moving boxes in the spare room and the rest of the house looks pretty bare.

Our "problem" is that neither DH nor I want to buy cheap make-do furniture, lest we get used to it and forget to buy nice stuff and end up living in semi-squalor like I did growing up. But we're also not rich enough to buy nice furniture new, so I scour TradeMe (NZ's Ebay-type deal) and second-hand stores, willing to wait for a good find. In the meantime, I like having the extra space for Rowan to run around in, and the bareness doesn't bug me unduly. It annoys the heck out of my mother though.
post #23 of 48
12/13/09 at 12:06pm
Thread Starter 
so...here are some before and after pictures
before
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2686691...7622864158843/

after
http://flickr.com/gp/26866917@N06/rbB7xA
post #24 of 48
12/13/09 at 12:20pm
I love the colors in your home! I don't think it looks like you need more furniture but, IMO, some of your accessories are just a little small. I love the votives on your mantels but the proportion seems off. Same with the collage of photos (also gorgeous, btw). It's a lot of wall space to take up. I would concentrate on getting some wall art up to warm up the space. But, no, it doesn't look empty to me! All those great colors and the black sofa really anchors the living room nicely.

I am, btw, totally loving your kitchen. My goodness, it's gorgeous!
post #25 of 48
12/13/09 at 12:24pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dawningmama View Post
I love the colors in your home! I don't think it looks like you need more furniture but, IMO, some of your accessories are just a little small. I love the votives on your mantels but the proportion seems off. Same with the collage of photos (also gorgeous, btw). It's a lot of wall space to take up. I would concentrate on getting some wall art up to warm up the space. But, no, it doesn't look empty to me! All those great colors and the black sofa really anchors the living room nicely.

I am, btw, totally loving your kitchen. My goodness, it's gorgeous!

Omg I know! I cant think of anything to put on the mantle! I dont want it "cluttered" but i dont know what to put! I had a small box of votives and no place to put it so thats where it went. I have 3 mantles and no clue what to put there. And behind my black couches are al my paintings/pictures/art etc. I dont know where toput them. on the walls duh, but i just cant figure out how to put stuff so it looks "in place". its all the decor from my apartment and the colors/themes are so different. I need a interior designer lol
post #26 of 48
12/13/09 at 1:26pm
Lovely, lovely home! I think it looks great as if and figure that the longer you live there, the more little additional touches you will add. If I were you though, I would add a few more paintings on the walls (perhaps even children's paintings, framed?) and I'd add a bunch of candle-type accessories all around the house and that's it.
post #27 of 48
12/13/09 at 1:49pm
if your friend thinks your house looks empty, she should come to my place! your house is beautiful and i think it has a great simplicity.
i personally dont like to have a ton of art on the walls just to fill things up, i think things should be added gradually and really be worth hanging. so i have a lot of empty wall space in my house!
your place looks great!
post #28 of 48
12/13/09 at 2:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sg784 View Post
What color is that blue? I LOVE it. It's what I wanted for our kids room, but I can't find exactly what I wanted.
post #29 of 48
12/13/09 at 3:32pm
I love your house. It doesn't look too bare to me.

I love bare walls though. Whenever a particular friend of mine comes over, she goes on about how I need to get pictures on my living room walls. I already have 3 tall bookcases, a curio cabinet on the wall, my computer desk with hutch and the tv unit invading the high wall space in the room. I like the clean and clear walls as contrast. I hate the crowded in feeling I get when there's stuff everywhere, even all the walls. Whenever I go to that friend's house, I feel like throwing out half the stuff I see in her living/dining room, yet somehow I avoid expressing that to her.

I do have pictures in my hallway and in the kids' rooms though, plus smaller ones on the book shelves.
post #30 of 48
12/13/09 at 6:31pm
Love the colors...and the shower curtain! LOL. I don't think it looks bare at all. I think it looks clean and organized. But I'm not a big one for clutter and knicknacks.

Quote:
Originally Posted by sg784 View Post
Omg I know! I cant think of anything to put on the mantle! I dont want it "cluttered" but i dont know what to put! I had a small box of votives and no place to put it so thats where it went. I have 3 mantles and no clue what to put there.
I was there when we moved last year. I went from 1 mantle to 4. I tried putting up what I had on the old mantle (3 colored vases) but the scale was way off. It can be hard but eventually you'll see something, love it and it will work. But um...yeah, the votives not so much.

Hanging art takes time. We've been here a year and we've hung two pictures - and those were in the last month. Take your time and do it right instead of rushing and hating it.
post #31 of 48
12/13/09 at 9:04pm
Gorgeous!

And I think it's just the huge empty spaces over the fireplaces that are making your friend feel like it's totally empty.
post #32 of 48
12/13/09 at 9:08pm
Get some tape that doesn't damage paint and play around with different sized sheets of freezer paper. Let your kids draw pictures on them. Then you can use those sizes as a guideline for the scale and sort of arrangement that works well with your spaces.
post #33 of 48
12/13/09 at 10:20pm
What about a huge mirror over the fireplace? No clutter, just light reflective.
post #34 of 48
12/13/09 at 10:25pm
Thread Starter 
thanks for the ideas everyone! keep um coming!

Quote:
Originally Posted by dsaucone View Post
What color is that blue? I LOVE it. It's what I wanted for our kids room, but I can't find exactly what I wanted.
Its called "charted voyage" its home depots "fresh aire" paint. no chemicals but expensive. 47 bucks a gal if i recall correctly
post #35 of 48
12/13/09 at 10:49pm
WOW!

Your house is amazing! It had such great bones a lot of people can't see past all the work needed. Great job, I think it looks fantastic!
post #36 of 48
12/13/09 at 11:00pm
Wow. What a gorgeous home! IMO, the fireplaces themselves are works of art, I love the mirror idea, though...
post #37 of 48
12/13/09 at 11:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sg784 View Post
thanks for the ideas everyone! keep um coming!


Its called "charted voyage" its home depots "fresh aire" paint. no chemicals but expensive. 47 bucks a gal if i recall correctly
I love fresh aire and I was hoping that's what it was! Great. DH works there, I'll have him grab some!!! It was $37 when I got some for the living room a few months ago. But I was able to paint and my 3 year old was able to help me.
post #38 of 48
12/14/09 at 12:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by catscharm74 View Post
Are you happy with your house??? That is ALL that matters.
post #39 of 48
12/14/09 at 4:12am
I think that your living room and bedroom do look a bit naked but it's not bad, better than being cluttered! Your kitchen looks fantastic. All you really need is an area rug and a large piece of art on the walls or two and it would warm it up a bit. Looks like a great home. You've done an amazing job!
post #40 of 48
12/14/09 at 7:29pm

Maybe your friend is a clutterbug?

sg784, I don't think your house looks empty. There are a couple empty corners (the big area on the other side of the kitchen island) and the furniture arrangement is a little awkward (lined up couches in the living room) but not completely empty.

[Do you need some more storage for those extra pots and pans on the floor? Or are you in the midst of putting things away/decluttering? A hanging pot rack over the island might be nice if those are all keeper items.]

I don't even think the walls look bare. With all that color up there--what an improvement, by the way!--I think the walls look plenty filled up.

I would tweak the arrangement of the two collages over the living room fireplace so that they are both centered over it, even if they are hung at different heights.

I think the votives are fine, they probably look very pretty in the evening all lit up, but if you want something more, maybe cluster them all together on one end of the mantel with something stacked under two of them at different heights for variety. There's a design blog called The Nesting Place that has some really great tutorials on simple, use-what-you-got decorating and especially mantel pretty-fying.

If it were my house, I would move the loveseat into the empty corner in the kitchen area, to make a second sitting area for reading cookbooks or a place for friends to sit and visit while I'm cooking. Then I'd move the couch and coffee table closer in to the fireplace in the living room, so that the walking path goes around and behind the seating, rather than in front of it.

Can I say how much I love your kitchen fireplace?! It is just like the one in several of Tasha Tudor's Christmas books. Her family always set up their Nativity scene in the little kindling box area with votives and hay.

How lucky you are to have an old house! And what a great job you've done fixing it up. Congrats!

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