Please can you help me? - please describe things that you feel add "polish/finishing touches" to you/your home?

[GabrielleChanel]

So I always used to wear nail varnish as it made me feel like I had my shit together even when I - I have also recently moved to a red lip for a similar reason. Since Coronavirus/all the handwashing I have moved to a nude nail because I can see how clean my nails are better

But I realise that this polish is something I am striving for and I think makes one look less frumpy. I think my house could do with a bit of de-frumping too - e.g plumping of cushions.

Are there other things you do?

What do you think makes a house look polished/finished?

In my opinion:
Toilet lid down
Made beds with coordinating throw and cushions
Healthy looking plants
Unusual or interesting art
No clothes drying on radiators!
No finger marks on walls or windows
No piles of paperwork on tables or worktops
Clear kitchen worktops (or little clutter)
Straight, clean towels
Nice soap or nice soap containers
Swept or hoovered floors

Go on Pinterest and make inspiration boards for each room. It really helps you to see if different items, colours etc all work together.

I hope all the house plant supporters aren't also cat owners. Cats are known to be quite partial to spider plants in particular.

@HasaDigaEebowai
You are a domestic goddess.

I think this thread needs pictures - come on, show us your gorgeous interiors.

I always remember one comedian on TV being disparaging about enormoous televisions and saying 'no house should be 98% plasma'. Which I agree with. But, tbh, a TV (as long as it's off) is fairly neutral.

And I never support beds that are made up all the time. Beds need to air out, so I keep my beds stripped back and the doors closed. Firmly. But then I have a terrier who's up and under the covers if I don't. My bedroom is nice for ME, not for public consumption.

I agree that drying laundry out on display looks scruffy (but is often unavoidable). I have a dolly maid that hoists my wet knickers up to the ceiling in my middle room and thereby keeps it out of the way whilst airing.

Houseplants have to be in the right places. Some people's houses are so full of greenery that I feel as though I should say 'Dr Livingstone I presume?' when I walk in.

Agree about a house shouldn't look like a glossy magazine spread, as that's how I grew up. It was the Seventies, so we had green shag pile carpets everywhere and lots of smoked glass and chrome furniture. After being Hoovered, the carpets had to be raked to get them looking their best. Such a thankless task. Hated it.

My bedroom was straight from the Laura Ashley brochure, everything matchy matchy in their pink Dolly Mixtures print and fabrics (remember that?). It looked amazing, but I was constantly being chided to tidy, tidy, tidy up. My bedroom just represented a chore to me.

I have tried so hard to not impose those conditions on my own children, and their bedrooms are generally untidy and messy. They have good quality furniture and expensive soft furnishings but you can't really see them under all the clutter. But their rooms are very much a manifestation of their personalities and it was totally their choice how they were decorated.

Made beds with coordinating throw and cushions

Urrrgggghhhhh noooooo!! Cushions and throws on the bed are my absolute worst. Every night they get chucked somewhere (often the floor) and then you have to just put them back on the bed again. Fine, a nice throw in winter when you need it but cushions on the bed are so utterly pointless.

@ShirleyPhallus
Completely agree about the throw and cushions on the bed. This is what drives me mad in hotels - where are you supposed to put them at night. In one 'quaint and quirky' place I stayed in, I counted 18 cushions - 18 I ask you! There were bloody cushions everywhere and I left a review pointing out that you can have too much of a good thing, just way OTT.

Ha I have just today ordered one cushion to sit on my bed 😂 however it will both look nice when made and will be used when I’m sitting in it reading so hopefully that’s ok 😁

[quote Chilledchablis]@ShirleyPhallus
Completely agree about the throw and cushions on the bed. This is what drives me mad in hotels - where are you supposed to put them at night. In one 'quaint and quirky' place I stayed in, I counted 18 cushions - 18 I ask you! There were bloody cushions everywhere and I left a review pointing out that you can have too much of a good thing, just way OTT.[/quote]
Totally agree, it’s my pet hate about hotels. There is NO WAY the covers get washed every time so it’s just sprinkling all the previous guests dirt, germs, pubes etc all over your nice clean bedding

Yeuch

things that don't come into this house, or went out if they were already here:

eyelet curtains - how do they block light and keep heat in?
farty frilly curtains - fugly dust traps
semitransparent curtains - pointless
florals of any kind
those horrible metal finish light switches
signs on the wall 'live love' etc
anything on the bed that isn't needed for sleeping

and if the sofa isn't near the wall you must live in a giant house or be wasting space. Remember that no 'tricks' actually work for anyone who looks properly.

I thought feature walls went out with sponging paint?

I live in possibly the world's tiniest house, @mencken (not really, but it is very small) and neither of my sofas are against walls. My front door opens into the living room, so one sofa is sort of angled so it forms a kind of corridor as you come into the room, and the other is at right angles to it, two thirds of the way down the room. If one sofa was against the wall you 'd walk into it as you came in, and if the other one was it would be so far away from the other that conversations would be very awkward!

Sofa placement is largely governed by the size of the rooms. We have six sofas of which three are against walls.

It's also governed by the positioning of doors/windows which need opening.

Ah, rats! I can't keep houseplants alive! Are there dried flowers that don't look naff? Does anyone have a link?

Oka do fantastic faux flowers at a high price (Oka do fantastic everything at a high price).

I also have some fake plants from Blooming Artificial which look very convincing. Obviously some people probably with better taste than me can't stand fake plants, but I love that I never have to worry about them (just dust them now and then).

www.oka.com/accessories/flowers-and-plants/artificial-flowers/
Just had a quick look as I've been looking for some decent looking artificial flowers for our holiday cottage and if they're OKA they will be fine I would think. They also happen to have some half price in the sale!

I'm house obsessed. I always make sure all the beds look perfect with lots of added cushions and a throw. Nicely hung curtains makes a room look polished. I'd also say nice lit candles and some fresh lilies in a vase.

@peaceanddove we had a small sofa covered in dolly mixtures fabric- green and white- in the mid 80s. Very of its time! Laura cannot take the credit though- a quick Google search reveals the designer was a Linda Beard

*@HasaDigaEebowai
You are a domestic goddess.

I think this thread needs pictures - come on, show us your gorgeous interiors.

Haha, I’m really not. But I do like things to look beautiful and my interests are interior design and gardens so I spend time thinking about how to make my home look its best. I’d happily show you some pictures but for the fact that I like this username and I post legal advice (not just randomly - I am a lawyer) so I don’t want to be identified 😆. We’ve lived in this house for ten years and have no plans ever to leave it so I do take my time thinking about the space carefully before I commit and I’d rather wait and save for what I really want than just buy things for the sake of it. We’ve just done our master bedroom, dressing room and en suite. It was last decorated circa 1990 so it was in desperate need. It’s now my favourite spot in the house (or it will be when we can finally get our covid delayed carpet fitted!)

The bed thing disturbs me.

I love the look of a bedroom that's all 'made', but I'm hugely allergic to dust mites and can't bear the smell of a fusty bed. So my bed spends most of the day stripped back to the sheet with the duvet hung up to air. How do those of you who make your bed in the morning deal with it? Is the secret to half and half - air the bed and then make it later in the day? And how do I make an unmade bed look tidy?

(My spare bedroom is where I go to town on lovely looking bed. But not loads of cushiony shit, the room is too small to put them anywhere overnight and I don't want my guests to have to do 'Princess and the Pea' style sleeping).

@Zaphodsotherhead
I never make my bed as soon as I get up. Duvet half pulled back - neatly!
Windows opened to let the bed air, I always plump up the down pillows and straighten them up. As I'm usually out all day (Wfh currently) I pull the duvet back up if/when I remember. Like you I hate a fusty bed!

If they're OKA they will be fine I would think.

I think the trick is to mix in some real flowers. My summer front door wreath (appreciate I’m sounding really wanky now) is an OKA lavender one and I just weave some real lavender into it. Then since people only ever glance at things they generally assume it’s all real, particularly with the lavender one because you can smell it.

@Chilledchablis

I hang my duvet up to maximise air flow through it, but it's hard to make the room look 'nice'! I just keep the door shut... and make the bed just before I get into it.

I have one wall in my bedroom which we wallpapered we love the design and it's too bold to do the whole room. I don't care if it's naff only me and dh see it. I don't actually think it is naff though!