Interior Decorating

After a weekend of looking at paint samples and fabric swatches at the Fabric store, I give BIG props to interior designers.

We have been in our house for six months and although I love everything about it, I'm getting tired of the off-white, eggshell wall colors...the neutrals. I'm ready to make it our own and put some personality into it. That is what led me to the local supermarket for some home decorating magazines, the Home Depot for some paint samples, and G-Street Fabrics for some fabric swatches.

The supermarket and Home Depot were easy - I just grabbed these pamphlets with different paint colors and two magazines of home decorating ideas and jetted off. The hard part was G-Street Fabrics. I have two chairs from the 70s that I snatched from my parents' house. The chairs are comfortable - but they're a tad unsightly - not that they're in bad shape - they're covered in orange, crushed velvet - very 70s. I want to get them reupholstered into something that will carry through the years and give it a more classic look. I had ideas of how I wanted it reupholstered but when up against book after book of fabric samples, it starts to get a little intimidating. I think I had settled on stripes of a burgundy/natural kind - I got some sample swatches from the G-Street ladies and brought them home to let my husband have a say. I also brought home a sample of a nice, subtle floral print on a pale yellow, off-white background - I figured if the room was painted into a burgundy, then the off white and the floral would give the room some feminine touch.... I think I've settled on a fabric - but the problem is now finding someone to reupholster that isn't going to try and swindle me. I was hoping to try and reupholster myself - but I'm not a great sewer and I don't want to spend all the money on fabric if I'm just going to mess up.

I have ideas of how I want my place to look - but finding a picture of it is harder....sometimes I think I should just draw it out - but who has time for that? I've thought about bringing in an interior designer but I don't want to get swindled doing that either....I'm not a hopeless decorator - I just don't know how to put everything together.

However, after talking to some friends yesterday, I think my plan is to first - pick out paint colors, then hire someone to come in and paint the rooms that need painting (or do it ourselves) - and then work on the fabrics and furniture. It sounds like a plan and hopefully the end result won't be a complete and utter mess.