I have a huge problem. I really mean a huge decorating dilemma. We moved into a detached condo 4 months ago. It is an open concept structure which means a cathedral ceiling and one big room divided by a 10' wall to separate the kitchen from the living area. What a nightmare. I have no clue where to begin. What color to paint - should we paint the ceiling and walls the same. The window coverings - help. We are on a lovely golf course and I don't want to loose that view, but need some privicy. It's noisy as all get out, if I'm running water in the kitchen - you cannot listen to the tv in the living area.

Last night I opened our little local paper and saw an ad for one of the local interior decorator. The ad was aimed directly at me - calling out every one of my challenges. For $200 they will give a one hour consultation, one hour at the design studio, then give a presentation of their ideas, They will help plan a working budget, timetable, etc. It all sounds great, but I've never worked with professional decorators before. I basically need ideas - don't know if I want to lock myself in to working with them exclusively.

I'd be interested hearing the pros/cons from those that have used a decorator. I don't intend to spend a fortune on this - just want it to look and feel like a home, not a church.

I tried using a decorator and didn't like it one bit. Oh my gosh. She overwhelmed me. She wanted us to buy so much furniture, I coudln't believe it. Since my husband had sorta given her the job before we met, I went along for the ride. She had designed his office which is very different than doing a living room. We met half-way on most of the issues and ended up liking the finished product, but boy did we have lots of compromising to do.

If you hire one, make sure they are use to doing the type of arrangement you have.

Have you considered using any of those screens to separate the rooms? How about shades/blinds with a pretty valance? That way you can have the view during the day, then close the shades in the evening?

Why not ask us for pointers. Maybe we can save you the money of an interior decorator. Also, is their a model home or have you snooped in any of your neighbor's homes?

I recently moved and redecorated. I used magazine pictures, my own drawings and pictures that I took while I wandered through stores and open houses. Then I made a "model" of my house with cardboard boxes and cut out the pics and pasted them on scale pieces of cardboard. Itwas cumbersome, but I am very visual and needed to see it this way.

I am with Dotsie - decorators overwhelm me, but I am sure there are good ones out there and some that are fun to work with and listen to you.

Good luck

browser, my boss has an open concept living room (LV) and kitchen/dining room/foyer Here's what she did and I really think it looks great. Perhaps some of these ideas will help you.
1. Ceiling white.
2. She choose a color scheme and then 3 wall colors slightly different from each other. In her case she chose shade of taupe.
3. The divider wall seperating the kitchen and the LV was painted the darkest shade of taupe. This color was also painted in her foyer area. And one accent wall in her dining room
4. The other 2 walls in the dining room were painted the next darkest shade, as was the wall in the LV opposite the darkest shaded wall dividing the kitchen and LV.
5. The lightest shade went on the walls in the kitchen and the longest side wall in the LV.
6. For sound she added large area rugs in the LV and dining room (floors were wood)
7. Along the top of the divided wall she put greenery and pottery--however this is a place you could add more sound absorbing material and no one would even know--like fold some rugs and lay up there to absorb sound then cover with a vine or two.
8. Is there a place you could add a privacy screen? You could make one and cover with a pretty material to help absorb sound from the kitchen.
9. is your furniture leather or fabric? what you choose will help with sound. Also window treatments can help absorb sound

Hope these ideas help!

Wow, Thanks for the tips everyone. I'll have to print them out and crank up my visualization techniques... HA! Starting Over - my place sounds just like your boss's... One thing I am going to do today is pile up some old blankets on top of the dividing wall - you're right - no one will know - unless your 10' tall...

We have been poking around in model homes and have seen where the ceiling is painted white - but to be honest, the line between the ceiling and wall is at best a poor drywall job - and covering it with molding is not possible. We are really amazed at the quality of new homes these days. Doesn't seem to matter what price range either. We had previously lived in a home built in 1930 - all wet plaster and solid as a rock. Those days are over.

Any way, we're getting a few estimates on paint - and that alone has sent chills down my back. They range so far from $1700 to $5000 (so making a mistake is not an option....)

As I mentioned, I think I really need a trained eye this time. I have probably spent $100 on magazines already, sadly, this type of architecture isn't popular enough. With luck, maybe an vaulted ceiling here or there - but no cathedral.

Thanks again y'all for the tips!

Browser57, I have never use a decorator myself and have helped my friends decorate their homes from time to time. Now about those windows. If you want the light and the view unobstructed, but don't want people to be able to see in, do as I did. Call a window tinting company, YES the car window tinting guys and have them come out and tint your windows. You can see out perfectly and get light in but, no one can see inside, even at night and you don't need a lot if window treatments that way either. I finally had all my windows done in the entire home and it cuts down the hot suns glare and the electric bill a bit.

Hey that's a great idea--tint the windows! I would never have thought of that one. Did it change the appearance of your house from the outside with the windows dark Chatty?

Browser, maybe instead of paying someone to paint, you could pay someone to install a pretty crown molding instead, giving you a nice straight dividing line between ceiling and wall. You could do the painting before hand and not worry about how good your edge is because the molding would cover where the two colors meet!

We tried molding - mind you the ceiling is 18' and the windows are 10' - it created a mish-mash of lines that gave one a headache to look at. The house still has the builder beige sprayed-on Flat paint job - every flaw shouts at you. It's going to take scaffolding to paint the ceilings and that's a little much for DH and myself to tackle.

But, thanks for all the tips - you've all given me a lot to think about.

I think the windows will need some fabric to help absorb the noise. I actually have a vision for the windows - just need some verification that I'm on the right path.

This has probably already been suggested, but you could browse the HGTV site and the DIY site. They have great tips there on wallpapering, painting, and decorating. I have spent hours there before when trying to decide on something.
Also, lots of realtors have houses ONLINE nowadays and show virtual tours. You could get decorating tips, hints, or colors from viewing lots of those without someone bothering you or calling you.

JJ

I agree with everyone that you need soft textures to absorb the noise.

My living room ceiling is 20' high. The ceiling is white -- basically because I didn't feel like redoing it -- but I painted the walls myself in a deep peach. It's a warm, inviting color that makes the room feel cozy instead of the miles of white that was there when we moved in -- too cold! The natural lighting throughout the day will make the walls appear slightly different shades. The art work on the walls is all natural colored and textural materials -- fabric wall hanging, wood, feathers, bamboo. It's very rich looking.

I don't have a dividing wall, but if I did, I'd hang a gorgeous fabric or maybe more textured art work.

My bedroom has one wall 15' high and the room is painted raspberry sorbet. Keep in mind that the higher your walls are and the bigger the room, the more you can utilize strong colors without being overpowered. Cool pale wall colors will make a big high room look too cold and empty.