Learning to Decorate

When Kyle and I bought our house in July 2009, I had no idea how to decorate.  I knew that I liked things that were decorated, but didn't know how to get there.  I'm slowly learning how to get there through reading blogs and magazines.  I'm also figuring out my decorating 'mistakes,' and I'm trying to fix them. 

Decorating Mistake #1  Not having a color palette

In 2009 I was in love with bright green.  The bedroom was painted green.  An accent wall in the kitchen was painted green- moss point green to be exact.  Then the guest bathroom was painted blue because it matched the shower curtain.  Through the next door over, you'll find the guest bedroom is Victorian Pewter (dark purple gray) because I love the color.  Then we have the rest of the house which is the same light brown/dark tan as when we moved into the house.  All of these colors collide into a mess of in-cohesiveness!

Decorating Mistake #2 Being matchy-matchy

Bed in a bag sets.  Matching shower curtains, bath rugs, and sink accessories.  Two of the same couches.  I'm guilty of all of this!  Initially, this made decorating easy for me- everything went together!  I was done with the bedroom, then the bathroom.  However, now when I go into these rooms, I notice they lack personality.  Additionally, since I wasn't mixing and matching, I couldn't envision any non-matching accessories in the rooms.

Check out that matching bed set!  Note how the curtains are made of the same fabric!

Decorating Mistake #3 ???????

I'm positive I'm making another mistake as I type this.  I'll let you know when I wise up and figure it out!

Now that you know my mistakes, I'd like to let you know how I'm learning from them.  First, I am claiming a color pallette.  Much like the folks at Young House Love with Sue the Napkin, I have Burt the Shower Curtain. I love the calm colors- light grays and browns mixed with the vibrant orange, teal, and yellow-green. 

This morning K and I hit up Lowes (to return those blue curtains- UGH!  They didn't go at all!) and while we were there, I picked up some paint swatches for the bedroom! The colors range from a gray called Cold Steel to a green called Pale Moss Green.  They'll be hanging in my room all week as I attempt to make a decision.  K is already a little unenthusiastic about repainting the bedroom.  My rationalization for it is that we did such a shotty job the first time, that we'd have to paint it again before we move any way.  Why not enjoy the color ourselves?

As far as the matchy-matchy problem (and a problem that is!), well- check out this shower curtain post.  Goodbye blue, blue, blue!  Also, I've already moved the curtains out of my bedroom.  They are currently hanging in the living room.  Additionally, I have a 'hot' date with the iron  and a different duvet cover.  Hopefully these little changes will make a big impact! 

Thanks for being patient with me while I learn to decorate!  Any advice or encouragement is appreciated!