Can you give me general tips for decorating a new home from scratch?

Mikkebruce...how lucky you are to start fresh with all new stuff!!!

I would make an idea board for every room to start. On each board put ideas of function ("living room" "kitchen" etc) color scheme, budget etc. Then attach photos from magazines and other sources of your "ideal" room. Collect paint chips of your proposed color scheme....rugs, window treatments and accessories.

Yes you can "cheat" by using ideas collected from decor you admire (friends and family) , magazines, internet and books! He more you collect the more you will see what your preferences are.

Two tips:

1. Save some of your old things to personalize your new space and keep for memories

2. Collect furniture catalogues...they are great resources for placement and setting up little vignettes in your rooms...

Hire an interior designer for specific questions and specific advice.

Keep your large upholstered furniture pieces neutral. Get color in paint and accessories like draperies and throw pillow. Then if you want to change the color scheme it isn't expensive. Go to a furniture store to get ideas for the color scheme you might want. You might find a fabric that you can base the colors on. Each room needs a main color, a second color, and an accent color which is just little bits of a third color. You use those three colors throughout your house. So just for example, if you decide on blue, green and pink (you probably won't) you might use blue as the main color in the living room, green as the second color, so the room would have about 1/3 as much green as blue, pink as the third color, so just little touches of pink around the room. Then in another room you could change the main color to one of the others. So the dining room might be mainly green, pink second and blue third. Little girls room, pink , green with blue accents. Boys room, blue, green and red? - that's close enough to pink. The main thing is to have an obvious dominant color in each room and not equal amounts of two colors.

Keep in mind the color trends now are toward the warmer hues. Gray is on the way out. Gold metal has replaced the brushed nickel silver tones.

First, pick a theme you can put into a sentence. Look through decorator magazines, and take photos of pictures showing rooms you would like to live in. After you have about 30 photos, look thru them to find the common thing they share that makes you happy. Next, pick a theme, for instance, "I want my house to be soft & serene" or "My house will be British West Indies style". Choose your favorite 3 colors that go with your theme. When you are beginning, make sure you think this: less decor is a good way to begin, as you can always add bits and pieces all along, so don't feel as if you have to complete it all immediately. Think plain bedspreads, plain sofa, but add color in throw pillows and a few pieces of relaxing art. Next, when you go to buy things for your home, repeat your theme to yourself, and make sure the item will go with this as well as your favorite colors. If you are in a store and you feel as if you totally love something and you are not sure, take it home and see - chances are if you just love it, it might just work, because if you really, really do like that item, well, chances are you will always really like that item. If you are going to purchase a new area rug for some rooms, you may want to either buy that first, or a keep a few photos on your phone of rug options to refer to as you shop. The furniture stores really do enjoy helping a person shopping with a clean slate, but make sure that the furniture is comfortable and something you genuinely really do like, not just something an expert recommended. It really will be easier than you actually think, if you make sure to see it as an opportunity to put together a puzzle of pieces that you will feel your best in!

Choose a style then browse for pictures that you really like. Use them as inspiration to purchase your furniture and decorate. Don't pressure yourself to have it all done right away. Start with a room that's important like kitchen, den, or master. Then work your way down the line until you are finished.