Does anyone else feel like their decor is shit?!

[LadyRussell]

I watch programmes like Location Location Location etc and it makes me feel like my house is utter shit.

Never had time to “homemake” working full time and bringing up 3 kids alone. Does that make me a bit crap?

Are there any hacks?

Basically you need a lot of money and a lot of time, plus a lot of ideas.
My house is a bit 'unloved' looking, if that helps (FT job and 3DC)

I don't have much spare, so have always gone for "quirky" and vintage....to avoid having to buy cheap things from high street stores.

I lie I bought the house with ex husband, spent all money paying mortgage until I had built career, then met new husband.

People have like loads of pictures and bits and pieces and I do not

My house looks like we've just moved in (we've been here 2 and a half years) but have piles of laundry, filing, outgrown clothes etc everywhere. I struggle to find the time to sort/file/unpack around just 2 kids plus work.

It's reassuring that it's not just me struggling

Do I buy an interior design magazine, visit Ikea?!

I get one room sorted (for example kitchen 3 years ago) then everything else looks shit

I'm thinking about taking a week off work to dedicate to sorting the house.

Pinterest is pretty good. Also Houz (i think is the name of the app)

I am shit at “dressing” a room

I find Pinterest a bit frustrating, you see something you really like but then can’t buy it anywhere & lots of it is is American houses which seem to be huge compared to ours

I have a Victorian 4 bed semi which a builder ripped all the original features out of in the 1990s.

How do people find time to find the Knick knacks and then find places for them?

For ideas I go on posh estate agents websites and look at interior pics then I source cheaper version off Etsy and amazon. I shop online as otherwise its too time consuming. Small stuff I get delivered to work. Larger stuff I work from home when it's due.

How do people find time to find the Knick knacks and then find places for them?

I just can't be arsed. It's just more stuff to dust isn't it?

Like a pp said, a lot of photos of house decor on Pinterest is American and they’ve got these massive houses with huge kitchen islands and pantries and walk in wardrobes - my box room is hardly going to be able to be dressed up the same way!

I’m quite good at decor I think, when we moved into our current home we picked colours and a theme for each room and stuck with it. Our bedroom for example is a cosy duck egg these so bright white walls and furniture (to make the space look bigger), velvet duck egg curtains (cheap Ikea ones) with matching fluffy pillows, matching decorations like candles, frames and even a glass cake stand that I use to display perfumes on. All simple stuff but matches nicely when put together which is key I think. I never buy really fancy bits as it’s also expensive and also harder to clean

I am renting. 3 children and not much money so not a great deal of scope. Luckily I like the vintage back to basics look! But one time I had a compliment from a wealthy neighbour that I really knew how to group things together and display them nicely. It was a lovely feeling!
I don't like twee objects or ornaments just for the sake of it - especially if they all match to a colour scheme. Mostly anything 'on display' is just a way of storing stuff I already have. So my violin is hung on the living room wall, ditto my guitar. My egg timer is a beautiful oversized wooden one I found in a charity shop and is on my kitchen window sill next to my two nicest bowls. They look nice because they're all sort of similar - natural materials and colours - thats just what I like.
I needed new curtains recently and just stuck with the natural type theme but picked out a small patch of crimson from my instrument and chose curtains with a bit of that colour and tiebacks in that crimson.
I don't think you can go wrong with a clutter free house. Put up some pictures on the wall in similarish colours and frames and keep it simple.

I "tidied" yesterday ... house still looks a mess.... makes me unhappy.... I try to decorate but it always looks terrible.... also got too much stuff but I don't feel I can part with it....

I know when we get money we want to do a massive project but that's not for a few years yet :(

although some of the nice places in magazines and the like don't look comfortable or practical..... I like somewhere cosy to sit... not a show home.

I often wonder if she queen has a nice electric chair that she curls up in to watch her massive wide screen telly... or does she have a ercol uncomfortable arm chair and a tiny 20inch telly

I work for house magazines and believe me, most of the houses in magazines don't really look like they do in the magazines!

Before a shoot, masses of items are moved out of frame, electrical cords are Photoshopped out, fresh flowers are added, everything is tidied and cleaned up. Sometimes we even bring furniture items, rugs, throws, vases etc in to dress up the homes. There are almost always studio lights used to make everything look brighter and lighter. Anything that doesn't look nice (eg unpretty corners full of kids' stuff, big televisions, ugly pieces of furniture) is strategically cropped out of frame.

If it makes you feel better, there are also masses of expensive, architecturally designed houses out there occupied by wealthy people (with plenty of money to spend on decor) that get turned down as magazine features because they just don't have the right look.

Magazines and home shows are not the real world.

ooh Shamelessly you should do an AMA

Me too ! FT , 2 DC

I am just not all that artistic

We moved in 6 months ago. I work ft, 3dc. I feel the same. Plus I'm no good at it. I need curtains, can't choose and feel bad spending too much money. A few days off during summer holidays might help. op you're not alone on this one but some great tips on this thread thank you. I'm thinking of scouring charity shops for frames to start with

I often wonder if she queen has a nice electric chair that she curls up in to watch her massive wide screen telly...

The Queen is notoriously frugal ("tight"), so I suspect that she curls up on an ancient armchair with all the stuffing leaking out, with her feet up on an old pouffe covered with corgi stains, and watches "Classic Corrie" and "Pointless" on a 24" black and white cathode tube TV, snacking on Guinness and pork scratchings.

Next to her, Phillip is snoring on a tatty sofa with the "Racing Pink" over his face and his teeth in a jar next to him.

Try the apartment therapy website for ideas smaller living spaces.

I like the cheaper house mags as they have more budget friendly ideas and are often more quirky which I like.

Yes Shamelessly please do an AMA!

I live in a house I call magnolia manor .... . Very bland and colourless except for a large rug in the living room which just sucks all the light out of the place. Also, im not the tidiest of people and DH hates what he calls “clutter” so I tend to minimise having bits and pieces about the place which just makes it even more featureless. If we ever do get round to putting it on the market (I live in hope ...!) I’ll have to do something to make it look a bit more stylish, but no idea where to start.