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Original poster

What small decorating decision are you really pleased you made?

90 replies

SarahAndQuack · 18/04/2019 22:12

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. Smile

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

OP posts:
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thatwouldbeanecumenicalmatter · 19/04/2019 21:07

TwoNoisyBoys I love your alcove! (and cat Grin)

Drogosnextwife how about adding your own ogee (the decorative curvy trim on the top of a skirting board) ontop of your existing skirting board edge? B&Q usually have decorative wood beading that would probably work nicely.

thatwouldbeanecumenicalmatter · 19/04/2019 21:10

Like this (not my picture, its off Pinterest)

What small decorating decision are you really pleased you made?
flameycakes · 19/04/2019 21:13

Knocked the wall between my kitchen and dining room down, both pokey and small, but now spacious and light, they were originally one room anyway, but previous owner had put wall up for some unknown reason x

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Home improvement
GummyGoddess · 19/04/2019 21:29

Just FYI, the decorative skirting looks lovely but it's a big dust gatherer.

BuzzPeakWankBobbly · 19/04/2019 21:46

Paying a tradesman to partially refit and retile my kitchen. I could have done it myself but it just wouldn't be as smart and neat as it is, and I love it, even now months later!

It wasn't a huge amount, but for me it was a big deal as I find spending "wastefully" like that extremely difficult.

formul1isSoBoringNow · 19/04/2019 21:54

I bought a window mirror for dark corner of the garden, I'd seen one online for £70 but found a nicer one the same size in bm bargains for £16 instead.

It's brighten the corner up, and when I sit in certain place I now see blue sky and hanging baskets reflected in it.

TinklyLittleLaugh · 19/04/2019 22:02

I painted our front door a really bright turquoise inside and out. It makes me smile every time I come home and our hall is transformed.

princessbear80 · 19/04/2019 22:06

@ThomasShelbysBunnet what shade of yellow did you go for? I’m so bored of my white hallway and would love to convince dh to go with yellow.

MNHQ
HebeMumsnet · 19/04/2019 22:12

We had a strange 'shelf' that was built into the wall on our stairs and I got a carpenter to put a few long lengths of wood above it to make it into a proper library. He thought it was a weird thing to do (no idea why!) but it's my favourite part of my house and is now the kids' library.

Ariela · 19/04/2019 22:39

Not this house, but a previous one was very old and I was trying to sell. The stairs went up and the roof met the landing about 4ft from the floor. However the stairs turned a corner as you went up, so the first thing you saw was the line of where the roof met the wall, right at eye level - and being an old house was NOT straight, it wobbled up and down the entire length. This was putting buyers off, they always enthused till they went upstairs....so I went to a car boot sale and bought about 30 small pictures in natural wood frames, all different. and hung them at irregular intervals and heights along this wall. Then your eye went to the pictures, which were uneven heights from the floor and not the wobbly meeting of wall and sloping ceiling.

Next viewers bought.

NellieBee · 20/04/2019 21:18

OP I love this thread and the F&B colour you got, I had to google it but it's lovely!

Ours is having less stuff; Marie Kondo'd the hell out of our house and it just looks better overall. Made such a difference.

I also think a brightly painted front door makes you smile when you come home. Ours is a lovely bright navy.

Freshprincess · 20/04/2019 21:31

Painting the kitchen yellowy not quite magnolia instead of the grey I'd wanted. I changed my mind in B&Q as I as buying the paint. I didn't even have a swatch for the colour I've got. They grey would have been a bit dark and dingy.

I regret not getting the skirting boards upstairs changed when we had the extension. It was towards the end and I was fed up of the builders being in the house. It would have only been a couple of hours work. Annoys me every time I get to the landing.

Likethebattle · 20/04/2019 22:52

Changed all the sockets from crap white plastic jobs to chrome ones. Living room are a dark smoky metal and have usb points on them. Light switches done as well and most light fittings changed (YouTube tutorials for that) as we had horrible pendant lights.

Original poster
SarahAndQuack · 21/04/2019 00:08

Ooh, thank you everyone, finally catching back up with this after an eventual (!) time with a sick toddler.

@cakeninja, I love stiffkey blue! Such a pretty colour. Also love your mirror. I am really keen to get a nice one for our bedroom and for our living room. DP needs some persuading!

@puppymouse - can you talk to me about painting tiles? How did you do it? We've a really ugly fireplace surround that I'd love to do something with, and we know we can't rip it out. If painting works, I'd try!

@poddington - you are me, aren't you? We have strawberry thief curtains. Aren't they gorgeous?!

@friskybivalves - that's a great thought! Definitely will keep in mind for if (when!) we ever own.

@twonoisyboys, that is such a great colour. I love it.

@isadora2007 - YY, that is something I remember talking about with DP, that we wanted to think of children growing up with evidence they were loved. I never saw many family photos around when I was growing up and envied people who had them. DD is two and there is a photo of me and DP on our coffee table - nothing special, just a little snap in a frame - but she absolutely loves it and often picks up up to say happily 'mama! and mama!' Grin

@thesandman - ahh, yes, sorry, for you this thread is work! Grin I'm afraid it's play for me.

@rosamunddarnley - YY, that's us too! I've tackled every room bar that (and the bathroom), because the double height is too daunting. And it's a cottage with low ceilings, so it's not even that daunting really! But with us the magnolia was a welcome relief from the really ugly dirty peach, so we're living with it. Bleugh.

@hebemumsnet - oh, I love bookshelves on stairs! I saw a picture in a magazine where the whole stairway had shelves build in underneath and I loved the idea. But beside would be great too.

@ariela - that's brilliant! Grin Though, I love uneven houses. I've lived most of my life in pre-1900 houses, and the great saving grace is that if you're dyspraxic like me, you can pretend you definitely did use a spirit level, honest ...

@freshprincess - YY, grey can be a bit too 'concrete' depending on the light. I love subtle greys but not for everywhere.

@likethebattle - you changed the light fittings yourself? Was it hard/expensive? I'm considering it here as they're awful but I can only do it if it's cheap and not an electrician job.

OP posts:
puppymouse · 21/04/2019 04:02

@SarahAndQuack DH did it himself so it can't have been too tricky but he basically just bought some special tile paint and went for it. Limited colour choice he said and while it dries fairly quickly you have to be careful for up to ten days as it can still spoil or something I think. I really wasn't expecting dated rough texture tiles to look good painted. And was worried about losing the white sealant lines but it looked great.

puppymouse · 21/04/2019 04:02

@SarahAndQuack DH did it himself so it can't have been too tricky but he basically just bought some special tile paint and went for it. Limited colour choice he said and while it dries fairly quickly you have to be careful for up to ten days as it can still spoil or something I think. I really wasn't expecting dated rough texture tiles to look good painted. And was worried about losing the white sealant lines but it looked great.

puppymouse · 21/04/2019 04:03

@SarahAndQuack DH did it himself so it can't have been too tricky but he basically just bought some special tile paint and went for it. Limited colour choice he said and while it dries fairly quickly you have to be careful for up to ten days as it can still spoil or something I think. I really wasn't expecting dated rough texture tiles to look good painted. And was worried about losing the white sealant lines but it looked great.

puppymouse · 21/04/2019 04:03

Ffs sorry double post! Blush

thenewaveragebear1983 · 21/04/2019 07:05

Learning to hang wallpaper and then papering my downstairs loo with fabulous palm leaf wallpaper. It's glorious.

Choosing the colour I really want, even if it's more expensive and even if there's a very similar one available- Dh curses me for this, but getting the exact one is worth waiting/saving/ searching for.

We've just had our kitchen done and I'm going dark green on the walls, I'm hoping that that will be one of the best decor decisions we make.

We're very lucky to have a big house with big rooms, so trying to make Dh go brave and bold is my biggest hurdle when decorating.

Kpo58 · 21/04/2019 07:24

Rehung the bathroom door. Before it uses to open towards the middle of the room, bashing anyone standing at the sink and making the already not very big bathroom look tiny. It now opens towards the wall.

peridito · 21/04/2019 08:09

@TwirlyWitch and Something NastyintheBallPool - I did not know that it was possible to paint UPVC !

Annie Sloan graphite chalk paint you say.....

Great thread OP !

Roomba · 21/04/2019 09:08

I painted my living room a (soft) yellow. Everyone thought I was crazy and it would look like a primary school or a fast food restaurant. It looks fantastic and has made a dark, gloomy room feel very cosy and warm. It doesn't look 'yellow' at all, more of a pale golden glow.

Roomba · 21/04/2019 09:08

Annie Sloan graphite chalk paint you say...

Also taking notes as I don't like my UPVC frames...

SomethingNastyInTheBallPool · 21/04/2019 09:59

I’m not sure what paint our decorator used to do our UPVC - it wasn’t chalk paint and it took a couple of coats (and possibly a special primer) but it’s absolutely fantastic. You’d honestly never know the frames weren’t white to begin with, let alone turd brown with a fake wood grain.

Drogosnextwife · 21/04/2019 10:17

@thatwouldbeanecumenicalmatter

I don't think that would even work, they are lumpy like this one in quite a few places, yellowing. They need completely sanded down and repainted but I work from home as a childminder do it would be difficult to get a big job like that done and I can't think of anything worse than attempting that ourselves 😂

What small decorating decision are you really pleased you made?