How much did it cost to decorate your living room?

[Behappy2]

AIBU to ask how much it cost to decorate your living room? Including IF you got it plastered, wallpaper/paint, carpet, etc.

I'm really wanting to do decorate my living room next year, I've got a bit of damp in my living room but we have to wait until next year before we can actually afford to do it but I was wanting to get an idea of how much it cost you?

You need to find the source of the damp first.

It was from a leaking roof and it went into the walls which is going to be getting sorted out when we decorate. We have just had the roof done.

Depends on the source of the damp

I just answered in the comment up above. It was from the roof, the roof is sorted now and the wall will be getting sorted when we decorate.

We replastered and decorated with paint only and it was £1800 room is quite big took a week to remove wallpaper, replaster and paint walls, ceiling and woodwork

@itbemay my living room is quite small so I'm hoping it won't cost as much. Did you do everything by yourself? I know I'm going to have to pay for a plasterer to come in but I keep going back and forth on whether I should hire a painter and decorator because it's a weird shape and I don't think I'd be happy to do it myself.

I got 8 rolls of unopened Laura Ashley wallpaper off Gumtree for £40!! Rrp £20 a roll!!
Start looking!

We also had some damp (penatrative due to poor pointing). Let tray dry out first.

We had 2 walls skimmed with some extra, thicker plastering in places which was about £400 (was £860 total for 2 rooms but the first room included the ceiling). We sanded and varnished the floor boards which was roughly £300 (again we did both rooms at the same time). New radiator was £400, curtains £80, paint about £150 (4 tubs of emulsion in 2 colours and 4 of satinwood). £80 for a ceiling rose, £60 for the curtain rail. £2000k for the woodburner (supplied and fitted with knock out, hearth, beam etc), £150 for the light fitting (50% off from john Lewis).

We already had sofas, chairs, side tables, rug, TV cabinet and shelving unit. We bought a throw and 5 cushions, about £200.

Total about £3600.

Oh, and our room is 5.5m X 4m to give you an idea.

Our costs have been
£135 to pull down false ceiling & dispose of rubbish
£700 replastering ceiling & walls
? on paint honestly can't remember ! It was just Dulux
£200 on wallpaper & supplies for 2 walls
£480 on new carpet, underlay, grippers
£350 on roman blinds for bay window
£500 2 doors & surrounds & skirting boards with oak replacements
£60 door handles
£800 fireplace

which comes to £3225 excluding paint. We did our own painting, wallpapering & fitting skirting boards etc. Still have to replace the sofas. Our room is 6m x 3.5m

Ive just realised we also replaced our radiator & light fittings so that gets added on to the total. Probably another £250 or so. Husband again did the plumbing & electrical work himself so no labour costs.

Thanks for the idea everyone. I got a quote for £300 for plastering but that's from a friend who is in the trade. I'm going to get a painter and decorator in I don't know how much that'll cost hopefully not a lot even though I know I need to pay for the supplies and I'm going to get a brand new carpet (it's much needed having 3 dogs!) I'm wanting to make it look nice and fresh with some decor and definitely new curtains. I got a new sofa 18 months ago so not looking to get a new one of them, my furniture is all in good condition not the colour I would want now but I can't get rid of it for no reason. I'm not sure how big my living room is but it fits an l-shape sofa in it but you only have about 2ft before the door is beside it. Its a strange shape as well so that doesn't help!

@shazkiwi did you get all new radiators in? I'm wanting to get a new one but I heard that if you do the flooring has to come up and I just got my hall done last year so I'm not keen to get the living room radiator replaced if that's the case.

Depends on whether the radiator is the same size as the old one and what condition the pipes are in. If the pipes are good and the radiator is the same size, the floor doesn't need to come up.

Any reason your getting a decorator in? You'll save loads doing the labour yourself.

@Behappy2 we only had 1 small ugly radiator in the room. We moved it from the bay but along the same wall. The floor did have to come up, but not a huge section of it because we only moved the radiator 1 metre to the left. We replaced the old radiator with a large flat one that runs up the wall.

About £200.
But that was just for a carpet. We have moved into a new build so it’s not cost us a penny to “redecorate” because it’s a lovely off white anyway.

My partner is a Painter and Decorator and charges about £300 for Painting/papering a medium sized room. Plastering depends on square footage. Obviously this is up North, so possibly a lot more down South.

@mortifiedmama I'm doing it because I done my hall last year and I feel like I made a mess of it and I'd rather my living room looks better than the hall and the living room is a weird shape so I feel like it's going to be harder to do. I just hate papering I'd probably do the paint though because that doesn't bother me as much.

@shazkiwi I'd be fine if the living room floor had to come up because I'm getting a new carpet anyway when it does get done but if it was throughout the house I'd probably not do it. I'd be wanting a slightly smaller size only because it's behind the sofa and I'd rather have the sofa completely up against the wall instead of having quite a big gap between the wall and sofa

Our biggest expense was a new carpet, apart from that just the cost of paint. We used mostly existing pictures and accessories but have gradually updated them and had new curtains etc during the three years since we've had it done. So don't feel as though you have to do it all in one go and make sure you use damp seal on the part that got damp and painting to a high standard will make a world of difference on the end result.

We had a quote for our living room painting and it was £180 plus paint. Room is 4.5mx4.5m. We’re in the North West

Behappy2 the wall the radiator is on, is it a wall that divides the hall and living room? If not, it's likely only the living room floor would need to come up for the radiator to be replaced.