Opinions on paint & carpet for my place?

Your place looks nice, but not fond of the wall colors. What is going on with the ceiling? Is it flecked plaster? At the very least the ceilings should be white. I think you should get rid of the blue window frames for sure, they're odd. At least that much, but I'd probably want the whole place painted as the red, white, and blue is strange.
Your kitchen and flooring are really nice though, and the whole place would be great after reining in the color palette.

Congratulations on your new place! It looks like you have a good start with the bathroom color - it is neutral, but the rest of the home with the salmon color is a very hard color to match up with. I would suggest you change the paint, before the carpet, it only costs 15-20$ for a gallon of paint, and you could tackle one room at a time. I would suggest a neutral color. Since you have a strong colored wood floor, I would suggest a neutral tan, camel or brown similar to the bathroom for the other rooms. Every room doesn't have to be the same color, just variations of a neutral.

 

I would suggest looking at pictures of other homes to see what resonates with you. This article can help you choose colors for your home: http://freshome.com/2011/10/28/how-to-choose-a-complementing-color-palette-for-your-home/ It will help you determine what type of furnishings you have and choose wall colors to coordinate with them.

 

As for the carpet, yes the red is very bold. I would stick with a darker neutral, and possibly just an area rug. Is there wood below the carpet? Have you picked up a corner to see whats underneath? Carpet is more expensive, and think painting would be your first bet first.

 

Hope this helped!

you got spammed, bro, but yes, why not? Professional painters aren't Michelangelos, just tape and tarp carefully. Interior painting is 90% prep, and 10% actual painting.

I am a legitimate poster :) No spam.. I was just including a link to give you ideas of how to choose colors for your place. To answer your question, I think if you have a few friends that have painted before, or even go on some DIY websites and get pointers, painting is not as difficult as people make i it out to be. Needless to say if you aren't patient, if you don't get all your supplies at the beginning, or if you are in a hurry, the results probably won't come out right. I would suggest going to your local Lowes/Home Depot paint department and ask the salesperson for a paint kit that includes a paint tray, brushes, drop cloth, and also purchase some edgers, and painters tape (the blue kind) to mask off your trim, light switches, etc... this should get you started. If you feel very apprehensive, I say hire a professional, but I would start somewhere like your bedroom, on a wall that isn't life or death if you mess up. :) Then try it. Once again, good luck to you, and I'm a painting expert.. he he.. so if you need help, just yell. (Don't always assume everyone is spamming... sometimes people are really trying to help) I write DIY helpful information at Stagetecture.com and Freshome.com. --- Not a plug, just trying to spread helpful information to those in need of house and interiors help. Thanks and have a great day! Ronique Gibson

y not just scrap the carpet if the floors are like what the livingroom has?

Absolutely. I can barely draw a matchstick man and I paid for uni w/ my mad roller, brush, and tape skillz.

OP, do not purchase a flimsy plastic tarp; get two canvas ones. Also get a 5-gallon bucket w/ a sturdy handle, wide masking tape, a good-quality bristle (not sponge) brush of 2 - 3" width, a roller w/ 3 or 4-foot wooden handle, and most importantly a roller screen that will hang in the bucket. Never use a paint tray. Always have a pocket square damp rag handy to quickly wipe away any mistakes.

Remove all the face plates from the light switches, phone/data/cable ports, and electrical outlets. If you have sconces you may remove them; at the minimum you'll need to tape around them. Tape your floor/door/window trim and other areas you don't want painted. You do not need to tape the ceiling trim. Unfold and put one tarp down along the length of a wall; the second tarp is for your 5-gallon paint bucket and it used to limit drips on the first tarp. Using a good step ladder (not a chair) and your brush paint a 2"-wide strip at the top of the wall where it meets the ceiling trim - this will be the most "diffilcult" job because you have to be very careful and need a steady hand. Use your brush to paint every corner, and around light fixtures you didn't remove, and areas too small to fit the roller. Wherever you use the brush make sure to not leave brush lines - don't put too much paint on the brush to control this.

Using a bucket is easy. Just dip your roller about halfway into the paint and roll up the roller screen to squeeze out the excess. As you walk along the tarp moving the bucket and its own tarp be on the lookout for paint drips on the first tarp. You don't want to step on them. Anytime you step off the tarp look at the bottom of both shoes first and wipe off any paint with the damp rag.

Once done the bucket, screen, brush, and roller must be scrubbed clean, preferably before the paint dries.
Edited by curzon - 11/26/11 at 5:55pm