Wondering what color to paint your walls this spring? Thinking about buying new furniture but just don’t know where to start? Whether you’re updating a room or starting a total make-over of your new house, it’s important to make decisions that you’ll love and you’ll be proud to show off to home visitors.

Keeping your design up to date can be difficult to pin down—not to mention pricey—in the ever changing world of home décor. To keep up to date, make sure to follow these 5 tips and make your house the envy of the neighborhood.

Saturated Colors

A far cry from the light and the whimsical, saturated colors are serious, but draw the eye by making a bold statement. Think dark blue and rich purple, forest green or deep grey. When using dark colors on walls make sure to pair them with lighter accents so that they don’t overwhelm a room. The point of saturation is to add depth and nuance—not to make a room dark and depressing. Used carefully and deliberately, deep, saturated hues can add lasting appeal to your home.

Painted Ceilings

What color to paint is hard to decide, but sometimes where to paint can be equally as difficult of a decision! A new design trend is painted ceilings. The color you choose for the ceiling will depend on the effect you want for the room. Choose a lighter color if you want the room to feel bigger, deeper if you want it cozier. If you really want to switch it up consider a pattern on the ceiling—like stripes.

Throwbacks

Continuing the contemporary obsession with all things vintage, old heirlooms can really add a sense of history to your home. But “history” and “charm” isn’t the same as “old.” Old furniture and heirlooms can be repainted, repurposed, or reupholstered. Vintage bathtubs paired with new fixtures can give the perfect balance between new and old that satisfies your sensibility to create a lasting impression and a comfortable atmosphere.

Mismatch

Though you want your decorating choices to have themes, mismatched pieces are very much in vogue now. Consider pairing an antique table with newer, contemporary dining chairs. Or, what about a newer, simple kitchen table with mismatched chairs surrounding it? When I say mismatched here I’m thinking color, size, or even pattern. Speaking of mismatched patterns, this could go for other areas of the home as well. Gone are the days of perfectly matched throw pillows. To add a little life to your sofa, pick pillows with similar color schemes but wildly different prints—or the other way around—similar prints and different colors. Instead of a perfect match, you’re going for complimentary pillows to add a fun feeling to an otherwise drab couch. Mismatching is the new matching!

Nontraditional Furnishings

A coffee table with wagon wheels, a bookshelf headboard, chairs of unusual designs and shapes. These are just a few nontraditional furniture items you might use to make a statement. One or two unusual items per room can draw the eye, and give character to your home. Nontraditional artwork might fit into this category as well. Rather than a framed photo or painting, perhaps a multimedia piece with different textures and colors, or a mobile to add an artistic element to a room would be a contemporary choice.

My husband and I are looking at a house that has an HOA, but we never lived with one before so we are curious to know if there are benefits to having one. I liked how you pointed out that one good thing is that they will provide a landscape company to help with the yard work. It will be great not having to worry about spending all of our time doing it, but having it still look nice.

Very nice love the colors

I would love to have a tiny home to live in! It seems more manageable and affordable. The Hiatus in Oregon is beautiful. I love the wood floors. can you put a tiny house on any property? Thanks for the inspiration and information!

I have a home in Stamford CT and I am looking for someone to assume my mortgage. Not sure if you are interested in something like this based on what I saw on your website. Eric

Is it possible to buy a first home with a 580 credit score? The house is in Groton ct and is only $90,000