to ask about things you did to your home that make you happy?

[BabsolutelyAnanas]

We are somewhere in the middle of purchasing a house (hurrah!)

Looking for ideas of how to nest and interior design our little home is the main thing that cheers me up at the moment, and I am always on the lookout for new ideas to make best use of space and to make it feel like our castle/small terraced house .

I'm interested in non-sickly children's room ideas, space saving kitchen ideas and cosy living room ideas but more than anything else I'd love to know what changes or purchases you've made to your homes to make it feel like yours and a place you're happy to retreat to at the end of the day. Big or small, expensive or completely free I would love to hear what parts of your home make you happy.

Filled it with dpets!!

Get rid of all the clutter before you do a thing.

comfortable sofas.

Seriously, when I watch programmes like Grand design, I always wonder how confortable the setaing is. Much elegant modern design is not comfy.
But I like to curl up, so I want squishy, and I want an arm rest, so armless sofas for me.

Which is really all to say - what do you like and need? I want a squishy sofa, but I think my dh would be happier in an old fashiond upright armchair. I want table space for craft, dh needs study space wher he can spread all his papersover the floor organise himself his way and I don't interfere.

I have a utility room with a ceiling drying rack on a pulley, so that I don't have to use tumble dryer.
I also have a kingsize bed.

I must have things colour co-ordinated. Not matchy matchy, but not clashing/mismatched. Needs to be some uniform of colour and space, or I find it really tiring.

Our kitchen! Turned the old small crappy kitchen into the spare bedroom, our bedroom into the kitchen and the spare room into our bedroom. Best thing we've ever done - it makes the whole house work. Big kitchen / dining room with room for us both to cook and talk to people. Spare room is comfortable bedroom with room for a desk (invaluable for lockdown).

To make it work we also put the washing machine in the bathroom, used wall cabinets as floor units on one wall and put in lots of drawers rather than cupboards. We love it.

And the cost of the whole thing, including ripping out the old kitchen, replastering that room entirely, all the electrics, solid oak worktops, new range cooker and hood etc etc etc was £15k

I stopped trying to decorate in other people's taste and went with what made my heart happy. I now apply that to all home related purchases and have a fantastic mismatched house of oddities!

@Santaiscovidfree That is the dream - the plan was to do all of the travelling we wanted to do first before we had a small demanding furry person in our lives but that's been scuppered slightly... May have to re-evaluate!

Definitely sold on the comfortable sofa - I hadn't considered the arm situation though, that will be the subject of our conversation for this evening in the absence of anything else! And I love the ceiling drying rack idea too. How do you co-ordinate your colours - does it come naturally to you, or do you find colour palettes you like, or start with one colour and see what else fits around it? I have a couple of rooms I need to decide on colours and I don't know where to start!

Have at least one thing you really love in every room. Save money where you can on the things that really don’t matter very much and be extravagant on the things which will last a lifetime and you’ll never tire off. For me, that’s my genuine retro Eames lounge chair in the living room, my favourite Connor Brothers print in the bedroom, the white glass induction hob in the kitchen which looks almost invisible against the work surface. My walls are all painted with basic white emulsion, and I don’t care whether the rest of my appliances are high end or not because I’d never know the difference, but my chair, artwork and hob make a difference.

Put built in cupboards and shelves on either side of the chimney breast in the living room. (think it's called alcove shelving) It wasn't cheap but the cupboards are deceptively big and hold a large amount of tat. Shelves perfect for books, makes the room feel much cosier, but surprisingly not smaller. I am delighted!

In anticipation of dpets buy washable /drier suitable throws and cushions.. Blinds with short curtains are more dcat friendly than long curtains!
And think on laminate is harder than cushioned flooring for mopping up dpuppy wee!!

@nonevernotever - Your kitchen sounds absolutely gorgeous. The range/solid oak countertop combo is divine!

@DefinitelyOdd - See the issue with that is that my taste hasn't really evolved beyond "I like animals"! It would look like we live in a zoo I need outside help!

One thing I swore to myself in my mid-20's when I was depressed, unemployed and living in a damp one bedroom flat in a city where I knew not a soul was that WHEN I turned my life around, my house would always have fresh flowers in it. And I've kept that promise. The florist delivers the flowers every Thursday morning and I keep them strewn in vases around my house. It's lovely and alive.

Knocked out a 60s gas fire and put a book shelf in it. The kids lay in front of it and read because books are to hand.
Made a designated home schooling /study area downstairs.
Moved the door to the understairs cupboard so better storage and added electrical supply.
Put a porch on that means the coats/shoes/keys etc have a home.
Built a side extension that houses bathroom, 4th bedroom and a kitchen.
Took out two doors one in hallway now allows light into the downstairs hallway the other because of my disabilities caused a hazard.
Think the most important thing to do is live in a house and get the feel of how you want to live in it. We've definitely changed our opinion since moving in.

My best advice is to live in it for a while before you do anything major. People need to see what works in a layout and what doesn’t.

Agree with ensuring all your clutter is gone before even thinking about storage solutions. Find a home for absolutely everything you can, then see what’s homeless and why, then look at clever storage.

One thing we did was put a spice rack on the outside of our pantry door. We have/use a lot of spices and the thought of going into a cupboard or lazy Susan every single time I wanted to cook—urgh.

Also have a massive pot rack—which admittedly needs a cull—but again, for things I use every single day I don’t want to be stacking and faffing and generally grumbling, because we do a lot of cooking and I don’t want to be in a bad mood when I do it. Hanging pot racks probably better suited to smaller kitchens than our space-hogging one.

I completely agree with filling your home with items you love rather than consider current designs and trends. I’m not a fan of show homes, nor a fan of “re-sale value.” Live in a home that brings you happiness when you walk through the door.

@Fastedbrownie I love the weekly flower delivery idea, I had no idea that was a thing you could arrange (silly really). I absolutely love that, I'll definitely do that. Do you get specific flowers or is it a surprise each week?

Fitted furniture, a good kitchen tap, trying to keep colours coordinated, cushions.

I agree with PP who said live in it for a while before deciding.

To quote Grey's Anatomy, I have a bath I can get my boobs and knees underwater in.

BEST

BATH

EVER

Those of you with hanging pot/drying ceiling racks - how tricky is that to install? I have basic DIY skills, DP is pretty handy but it's been a while since he's done any major DIY projects. Could a pair of idiots put one up together?

I love fresh flowers, mirrors and lamps. They make me happy. I love light, airy rooms without too much ‘stuff’.
I agree with what pp said about living in it a while before making any major decisions. We’ve been in our house now for just under 3 years and have finally decided to go for the bifold doors from our living room to the garden.
In each room I’ve tended to find one thing I love (sofa/chair/curtains/cushion) and then build the rest of the room around it. I’m pretty happy with our house, apart from the kids front room (We don’t want to replace the sofas till they’re past spilling stuff stage) but overall it’s been a work in progress and we’re nearly there!

For me, fresh flowers, log burner, artwork on walls, big squishy sofas with blankets to snuggle up in, fairy lights and lamps for that cozy light.

I have been in my house almost 2 years, done a full renovation, including knocking through a 3ft thick structural wall to turn a small kitchen into a big kitchen diner and just have one small bathroom left to go.
I am only just getting round to putting pictures up on the walls and it makes such a difference to the space.

@MrsTerryPratchett ....that would be a pretty enormous bath

When I finally move into the mansion I'll definitely have one day, I'd like to have one of those enormous free standing baths very confidently in the middle of a bedroom. The only thing is that I turn into a big pink blancmange after lounging in a hot bath which may undermine the sexiness of the whole thing

Have a home for everything.

Then you will be clutter free and able to enjoy your space.

[quote BabsolutelyAnanas]@MrsTerryPratchett ....that would be a pretty enormous bath

When I finally move into the mansion I'll definitely have one day, I'd like to have one of those enormous free standing baths very confidently in the middle of a bedroom. The only thing is that I turn into a big pink blancmange after lounging in a hot bath which may undermine the sexiness of the whole thing [/quote]
It is

Another vote for a really good sofa. I opted for a big corner sofa / sofa bed. All 4 of us, plus a cat, can fit on it comfortably. We can pull the bed part out, snuggle up with blankets and watch a movie together, or we all sit round the coffee table and play board games.

At the smaller / cheaper end of the scale, our photo wall. Again in the living room. It's just plain black Ikea frames. We have a couple of art prints, then lots of photos, colour ones and black and white. Some happy memories, some more formal shots, and some silly goofy ones. I love looking at them, and it's really helped make the house feel like our home.

@BabsolutelyAnanas

Those of you with hanging pot/drying ceiling racks - how tricky is that to install? I have basic DIY skills, DP is pretty handy but it's been a while since he's done any major DIY projects. Could a pair of idiots put one up together?

Yes. In our London flat we had space only for a small, hanging pot rack and it was easy enough to install.

Years later we have a massive standing pot rack in the kitchen and we use the hanging pot rack in the small utility room so I’m crap weather when I can’t line dry I put clothing on hangers then hang on the pot rack to dry. I can’t bear drying racks (often in kitchens where freshly laundered clothes inevitably pick up cooking smells) nor do I enjoy clothing strewn with clothing on radiators, though I do realise this is often inevitable.

Oh & William Morris’s mantra (the original Marie kondo!) : have nothing in your home that you do not believe to be beautiful or know to be useful.