i need help with decorating my walls...pics included

Thats tough, thats alot of diff. walls! Start with a neural in living space, like a khaki or darker gold, just to warm it up and make the room cozy. Then feed off that room, you could go shade ligher or darker for neighboring room. I think the right gold tone color would look good with the kitchen, you could do that back wall next to kitchen chocolate then then go red, gold, or neural. Be crazy, whatever you like go for it, theres  creativity in you somewhere.

I would paint the DR wall that connects to the kitchen the same color as the kitchen. This would then become your focal wall for the entire open space.

A nice complimentary neutral color for the remaining walls would be SW 6108 Latte. This color is neutral enough to coordinate with any color furniture you choose.

I would then continue with  lighter background colored (patterned) curtains for both the DR and LR.  Matching.

You can personalize each space by adding checked or striped placemats to the DR table and vice versa for the sofa pillows. Be sure to look for patterns with similar background color as well as varying scale for the patterns. Also look for plain colored pillows that draw the focal wall color into the LR space.

I would then paint the hallway the same color or one shade lighter than the kitchen and DR focal wall.

Also look for larger pieces to hang on the wall and remember that not every space needs something.  A bigger piece can add more drama and impact then hanging many small pieces

This is what you do.  First go to a fabric store. Pick a real big store with lots of fabric. Look in  the pattern section until you find something that you really like. It can be flowers or a design or anything. Buy a 1/4 yard of the fabric. This will be your  pallet.

As your going to buy furniture I'm assuming you've already decided what style you like. With your pattern pallet you can decide on the color of the couch and other pieces by selecting a color from the fabric pallet.

Take everything out of your rooms. And I mean everything. Select only a few things from your entire house that you really like. You might have only one or two things. A statue maybe. Or a pot. You can build a theme around one or two pieces. If you have a flowered pot you like then use that as a theme. Maybe you like to garden or love entertainment. Use these  interests as a 'theme'. Use your fabric pallet for the colors in the room.

Your rooms are small and a bit boxy. That's always such a drag. I've lived in apartments for years and it's always that way for me. You need to try to break up that boxiness without making things way to small. I have to downsize my furniture. As your buying your furniture selecting the size that will fit will be easy.

Play to your long wall. Set the couch a little on an angle with it's back to the dinette area. Hang something in the top corner but not something that will block your view of the dinette. A hanging lamp or triangle of beads. Something that says "STOP" to the front room and "start" with the dinette area. But you don't want to stop the eye from seeing a bigger space.

You have an opposite "short wall". You shouldn't put anything that's outsized on your short walls. Think "perspective". This is where I'd put the T.V.  Everyone can see it there and even though people would have to walk a bit around it, it's not that much out from the wall.

Because the front room is small and is cursed with only one small window you need light in there. Light color paint makes a room look bigger. Whites, off whites, and blues IF they're in your fabric pallet. You'll need to select the lightest color in your fabric pallet for the walls. If you paint the trim a little darker that will help to open up the room as well.

You also need light and you can't set a table and lamp along your long wall. It'll completly fill that room. Yet you still need light on the wall and in the room. If you like contempory then you could put a box light along that wall. You can have smaller complementary lights on the short opposite wall.  The wall lights would have the advantage of being able to be turned down for watching t.v.

Accent the long wall, under the wall light, between the sofa on an angle and the side chair. Add  your favorite things; photos, things on shelves, etc.

If you put a swag lamp over the corner set sofa you can do another one in the corner by the window. I'd put the side chair here. When you buy your furniture get one of those huge soft foot stools. They double as a coffee table and seat for extra guests and the little one won't bump their wee head on it.

So let's see about costs here: Two hanging lamps. These could be expensive but not if you find them in a resale shop. (I love to find treasures in resale shops.) You're furniture that you've already calculated. Paint. Don't go real cheap here. There's a good reason the good paint is more expensive. Curtains. Any will do as long as you take your fabric pallet with you and select the color from that. Wall lights. These might be a bit expensive unless you or hubby are handy. A couple of shelves if you want that, or picture frames. (remember to vary the size and kinds of frames and even scatter them on the wall). So, ok, without furniture and shopping the resale shops I'm thinking about $200-$300 to redo your rooms.

And as a reward for doing such a great job, pick up a cute little cafe table and chairs at that refurbished furniture shop down the road. I found a wonderful prize in just such a shop. A cute glass top cafe table with cloth seats and metal backs that have sweet coffee cup cut outs. It's perfect and I paid just $120 for it. Something like this will still give you a dinning table yet not interfere with that awkwardly placed door.

I hope this has given you some ideas and helpful tips. Good luck and have fun!

to add... to a great reply, I think I'd move tv from where it is to where smaller sofa is... and put other sofa/loveseat on the "bare wall".  I think this will give you more "space" and flow... and make "decorating" with previous reliers ideas a bit easier!!!  (and yeah, like she said... flowing with dining room, but being 2 separate rooms, no less)  Good luck!!!

On top of painting to add to decor but also keeping your house baby proofed...try some wallies! My mom and I both used them in our houses. You can get vinyl ones that can come right off and move them to some where else. Ones that are like paint. Or wallpaper cut out ones. Depending on your theme...you can check out their site. I only have rooster ones in my kitchen right now but I'm going to be purchasing some word ones for the bedroom that include "dream" "love"...things like that. Depending on what I want to do with the room once I get to re-doing it. Anyways...check it out and have fun!! http://www.wallies.com/index.htm

I hope I am not to late on this one because you posted this awhile ago but Check out my website and look at the page for Canvas Prints. This is something you will probably really enjoy and doesn't have to cost a lot of money. I can tell by the photos that you have a child or children. If you have digital files of your children, maybe from a vacation or something that means alot to you. Send them to us and let us make canvas prints of them. You can do gallery wraps and you want even need frames. Do a Collage or one large print in an area. You can also get Canvas of your childrens artwork to put up in their rooms or bath rooms they make really intresting peices. Any way just a thought  her is the Website. Good Luck and let me know if you have any questions.

Noel

http://artistictouchstudio.homestead.com/