What small decorating decision are you really pleased you made?

[SarahAndQuack]

I have been redecorating our house this past year. Limited budget, because it's rented (we could not leave it untouched - think masses of peeling wallpaper, crumbling plaster around sockets, rotting window frames etc. - but it was also really nice to get a LL who was happy for us to do it). I am no DIY expert and did most of it with my toddler in tow, and there are things I definitely wouldn't choose again, and also things that are a bit boring.

But, we got two tins of Farrow and Ball Breakfast Room Green, much reduced, in a Homebase closing down sale, and bought them pretty much on spec hoping it wasn't a giant mistake. I'm sitting in my bedroom now and it's making me so happy. Lovely soft green, quite dark, and I really it as a background for hanging pictures.

What about you? Doesn't have to be a huge thing, just something like a paint colour or a decision about furnishing that still keeps making you feel good.

(And bonus points if you can inspire me about bathrooms, because that's next on the list!)

I recently managed to talk dh into painting our hallway yellow. It's absolutely beautiful, so bright and welcoming. It took a few goes to find the exact paint colour that I was envisioning but it's just gorgeous and makes me smile every time I open the front door.

I agree with @RavenLG, skirting boards have made a massive difference in our house. For whatever reason we didn't replace the skirting boards in the children's bedrooms and I hugely regret that decision.

Cake I had a mirror like that in my old house! I haven't worked out yet where I can put it in our new place. Your pic has got me looking at my hall and wondering if it would fit there . . .

Painting the pine ceiling in my bedroom white then lightly painting blue on top to give it a driftwood beach vibe

@RavenLG

Did you have to redecorate after doing that? DP keeps talking about it because our skirtings are horrible, they ruin the house, but I'm worried it will be too much work and end up costing a fortune.

Op we’ve just painted our bedroom Breakfast Room Green , and I love it. (We got it colour matched so didn’t pay ££)
I’m so glad I went for this colour , it feels so happy.
I also love Morris print. We have curtains downstairs in strawberry thief.

Grout refresher in the bathroom and kitchen when we repainted made a big difference. New door handles and kitchen cabinet handles (Amazon job lots). Nice wallpaper on feature walls in several rooms with matching cushions made a massive facelift on a tight budget. Painted some wood shelves to match decoration. Bought paint glitter to add to paint for a feature wall that was a lot cheaper than buying 'glitter wall paint'.

Coloured woodwork. I love it.

Oh! We also bought a lovely wood table massively reduced due to a terrible water stain. Used an online tip to lift the moisture through the varnish and it looks brand new. Recovered dining chairs with some swatches ordered online and a heavy duty staple gun (new lease of life) worked out a lot cheaper than the crappy looking pull over covers I'd originally considered.

OP,'did you say the bathroom was next? Friends have just had two tiny lights - literally an inch square - embedded in their skirting boards in bathroom linked to a PIR sensor so they come on automatically at night and you don't have to fumble for light switch or turn on bright light and wake everyone else if you need a wee in the early hours. Think they were literally £15 each - obvs an electrician has to fit them but it's not a tricky job. They are fantastic!

Went with my instinct and painted the shelves the same colour as the wall in my ‘feature alcove’. I literally smile every time I look at it ☺️ (The cat is real, btw, not a taxidermy project!!)

FlyingMonkey did you use a colour for the grout refresh?

@LillithsFamiliar No, I went with white as we have cream tiles/walls. But Dd has done her white tiles/grout with a grey coloured refresher over the original white and it didn't go patchy. I tried one of the 'grout pens' first which was a load of rubbish, 2nd attempt was a liquid refresh from Wilko which cost about £1.50 more but the grout came up brand new on approx 9yr old original grout.

Ooh which Wilko product did you use FlyingMonkeys?

@GarethSouthgatesWaistcoat It was the Unibond grout reviver liquid £7. One tube for a mid sized part tiled bathroom, and a 2nd tube for a large kitchen 3 tile depth. It was a bit messy by the end as the sponge wanted to part ways with the tube, but it's still brilliant white 12mths on so definitely worth a bit of faffing. I was honestly surprised it came up as well as it did tbh as my expectations weren't amazing and I'd just wanted a bodge job until I (realistically never) got around to a proper regrout.

Not exactly diy but I recall a thread that discussed what your house said about you- a la through the keyhole “who lives in a house like this”?
My thought was- a family who are messy and never finish anything. And I was sad our home didn’t say much about us as a family and as individuals. So on the back of that I made a few small changes-
I got canvas prints of each child (4 of them) doing their hobby/interest for family room wall. I box/framed each child’s first shoes to display. I made a collage of our wedding photos and hung it in our lounge- more than 10 years after our wedding. I got frames for family photos- some old photos that stay and some that get updated. I try to buy fresh white flowers (mostly from Aldi) every second week and I hope our house says we are a family who love each other a lot.

The one decision I made I never regretted? I chose colours for my house 28 years ago and bought enough paint to touch up any repairs I have to do.

That was it.

Made my mind up. Chose something I liked. Painted the house and that's what it'll be like when I snuff it. Life's too short for decorating. Mind you, I was a professional painter and decorator for many years and loath the whole process so that might have something to do with it.

@Drogosnextwife

We were decorating at the time, as we had just bought the house so it was very easy. I just asked DP (joiner so he actually knows what he’s talking about as opposed to my waffle ) he made some humming and harring noises and said it could be done but if you’ve carpets it’ll be tricky and it’ll need filled / sealed so might need a touch up around it.

said it could be done if you replace the skirting with a wider (taller) board. You might need to fill / Also how good the plaster is, ours was blown everywhere so literally fell off when we pulled the skirting boards.

Added picture rail and a large plaster ceiling rose to a big, high room. I thought I was being self-indulgent and wasting money, but it was absolutely the right thing to do. Before, it looked like a huge empty space, and now it looks in proportion.

@RavenLG

Thanks for asking him. I'm affraid that's exactly what will happen to the plaster, it's quite an old house, should have done it when we moved in!

@Drogosnextwife

Ah yeah it might not be worth risking it then. We could tap on ours and all just sounded hollow so we knew it needed to come off. Maybe in the future you’ll get the dream skirting you want lol!

Thanks FlyingMonkeys!

Adding two downlighters to the middle of our long, dark hallway - made it so much better, especially once we repainted the hall white

Ah, so many ideas! Our problem is the house is ”perfectly” decorated in a neutral way (done by the previous owners for selling) so is all magnolia with white painted doors and frames, skirting and bannisters. So if we wanted to change the hall colour scheme, we have to do the entire upstairs hallway too. Not a small job!

@RavenLG

😂 I'll probably just have to move.