If it does, I’m sufficiently confident that I won’t be wishing for it in my space anyway.
I may be wrong here, but I don’t believe the orange wood of the 70s, 80s, and 90s will be coming back into style anytime soon. It’s a relatively inexpensive and easy fix, especially if you do it yourself. The power of paint is incredible, and we saw it first hand in hearing the stories of people who wouldn’t take on the house we ended up buying. However, there are also some tried-and-true strategies for updating a home that anyone can apply if they are aware of them! I’ve had so many people ask me “ How on earth did you look at that house and have a vision?”. Part of the answer is that it’s what I do- designing spaces in my head is just something I’ve always had a knack for. You can see the before photos of the house here for perspective (and the photos are honestly more forgiving than the reality).
Although it was hard to see past all of those things (and we’ve spoken to many people since who passed on the house because of them!), we saw the truly great bones of the house and had a clear vision for what it could be. All of the trim, as well as the floors and cabinets, was orange wood. There were a lot of dated wall treatments (gold sponge paint swirls, anyone?) and peeling wallpaper.
When we moved in, we knew we had a big project ahead of us, and in some ways we still do. Our 1980s Colonial is what I’m going to talk to you about today. On my blog and Instagram, I share snippets of our life in New England from entertaining, to organizing, to decorating and renovating our 1980s colonial. I live in New England with my husband Mack, our three children, and our golden retriever Lucy. My name is Nina from Nina Hendrick Design Co.
Hey there! I’m so honored to be visiting my dear friend Rachel’s blog today while she enjoys snuggling that precious new baby girl. And bonus, folks, this will not only add beauty to your space but value to your home. is here today to tell you how to add character to a builder-grade home. But we can’t all live in historic homes with architectural details and stories to tell… So what do we do? My sweet (and oh-so-talented) friend Nina from Nina Hendrick Design Co. You can fill an empty space with tons of cool stuff, but if the space doesn’t have any character, it’s still just a bunch of stuff. If there is one thing I LOVE in interior design, it’s character.