How do you redecorate or design your home when you know everything you do will be out of date in 10 minutes? I love design, crisp new looks, fresh coats of paint. Don’t get me started on color palettes though! Okay, I started.

You watch HGTV and everything seems to be the same color: grey, light grey, a touch of grey. Then there are kitchen cabinets which are critical to your design and flow but which cabinet style is trending now?

Lighting? Remember when years ago, designers in TV design shows were in love with suspended upside-down lampshades hanging from the ceilings of living rooms? Really? Where are all those faux pas? A bit passe or a lot ugly before it was even installed?

Flower pots out in the garden over-turned (on purpose) to show the dirt and flowers “spilling out?” I notice that one’s gone too. Good riddance.

I am not an Interior Designer and I do respect the profession. A good designer is a great designer and the best have a way of surveying a room or space and totally improving or tearing apart the space to produce a dramatic retrofit that no one ever even contemplated. It is a science and an art rolled into one and it is a gift to have that skill set.

But how does the average person redo their room or their home as tastes change from year to year? A major redo is costly, so for the average homeowner, it is something that must stand the test of time. And therein lies the problem. Fad or personal style?

Start with the style. Don’t just go with the fads. You can set your own trend. Think timeless. Whatever you do, you want it to be timeless, tasteful, distinctive. You accomplish this by mixing a few styles and design elements with pieces and artwork or keepsakes that you love. If you just found a Van Gogh or Jasper Johns at a garage sale (if you happened to uncover the original, you are definitely no longer reading this article since you have hired the latest Hamptons red hot designer to build your new castle), and you love it, make that a centerpiece of your room and decorate around that.

Out with the old, in with the new? A starting point for many is to completely (or partially) change out the floor coverings and furniture in the room. This is easy. Furniture makes great hand me downs to children starting out their own new homes. My daughter was thrilled when we re-decorated our living room years ago because she decided she would love to take our sofa that “she grew up with.” Perfect, a win-win.

She moved into her first house and very quickly designed her living room with our old sofa but she then added a lot of really cool tables, chairs, bookcases, window treatments and plants to make it her own and gave a whole new look to the old.

Furniture does not, however, make for much in the used market. I don’t care if you paid $1,500 for that oak dining room table and chairs back in 1980 or your solid-oak bedroom set is a hand-me-down from your grandparents. If you are looking to sell it on the market, you’ll be lucky to get $50. Most people don’t even want it unless you deliver it to them!

You don’t want it – what makes you think a stranger is going to shell out $500 when the house down the street has a free dining room or bedroom at the end of their driveway – they just want to get rid of it.

I know. I was in the furniture business for 15 years and I heard so many customers complain that their beautiful furniture that they had paid $5,000 20 years ago was now worth only the price of carting it away. No one wants your old stuff – unless it’s good enough to be featured by one of the Keno brothers on Antiques Roadshow.

Baby boomers are discarding roomfuls of furniture as they move to 55+ communities or nursing care / assisted living facilities. There is a giant glut of used furniture! My brother-in-law just finished cleaning out his father’s house. No one wanted the roomfuls of fine furniture, china and precious possessions. After talking with several estate planners, he ended up contracting with a junk-removal company and they quoted him a removal and disposal fee of $4,000 since it was going to fill seven of their trucks. That’s the reality today.

Here is the most important advice about furniture shopping. When you enter the furniture store and you are approached (or attacked as some customers call it), quietly and calmly tell your salesperson that you respect them and will work exclusively with them – if they will leave you alone for a while to get used to the store. Ask for their card or get their name (most store owners do not allow salespeople to card customers as they enter; a salesperson has to earn the right to provide you their card only after you are leaving the store).

Explain you need some time to absorb the new trends and styles. You don’t need them to lead you around saying, “This is a sofa and here is another sofa…” You can ask where to look for the pieces you want. It is okay for them to follow you, after all it is their job to be available to answer your questions. But ask for some space, ask an occasional question to keep them engaged and you will have a far better experience when you build trust in them to be on your side. It’s the best kind of negotiating you can do to get the price and terms you want. You treat them well, they will get you the best deal they can from their manager. Trust me, I know.

At the furniture store, my advice to customers was always, “Start with the biggest piece first.” In a living room, that is most likely the sofa. So do not try to pick out your entire living room until you determine the focal point. And it will appear, even if you have to go to a competing store. The right piece will pull you in and that should be your beginning. Then you can begin looking for chairs that complement (not necessarily match) that sofa. Same with tables, although you might find some really cool cocktail or end table at a more esoteric shop.

Remember, don’t be afraid to mix and match. As you purchase, take pictures of each piece. That way if you get stuck, you can always ask for help from designers and knowledgeable employees at various stores to help advise you.

Now you can begin to think about room color. Don’t ever paint your walls first and then try to find furniture to match. The paint store only offers about 4 billion color shades which can all be customized – your furniture store probably only offers your sofa in one or two colors. So which sounds easier? Match (or contrast) the paint color to the new sofa.

And while we’re at it, it’s best to stick with solid colors in your sofa. Your chairs (remember to complement) can offer patterns or contrasts that will perk up your room. Once you select your furniture colors, ask for swatches before you leave. When you are ready, head to the paint store to begin finding the right color. You can quickly eliminate about 90% of the shades by focusing on the general range of off-whites, grays, yellows, lavenders while ignoring the deep, dark colors such as black, red, green, purple unless you have a really good eye or a certain look you want to achieve. For a small space such as an accent wall, a dark tone could look cool. You may have also noticed, two-tone is back.

Once you know your colors, you can more easily pick out floor or area rug colors. Accents should pick up on colors already selected and they should reflect your personal tastes such as landscapes, portraits or scenes that speak to you. You can find great stuff reasonably priced at many household and knick-knack stores such as Homegoods, Bed Bath and Beyond, Pottery Barn, Ross for Less and so many more.

When I was in furniture, so many customers told me how stressful it was to shop. “It’s only furniture,” I would say with a wink and a smile. I would then advise them to take a deep breath and just explore, have fun with it. Because, it should be fun. Don’t worry about copying HGTV, look for what you love.

Start big, work down to smaller details and you will surprise yourself – and your guests.

Chris Ebel
10/13/21

Photo credit: @miro_penev