How often do you redecorate your home?

[user1461609321]

Evening everyone

Just wanted to check how often you re-paint walls, buy new items like curtains etc

I feel like my house needs a yearly re-paint otherwise the house looks so run down and scruffy

My walls are magnolia but get so stained in the kitchen or kid's bedroom, I don't know why?

The sealant around the bath is often getting mould spots etc

We tidy up daily, sweep/ mop frequently but my home always seems to have something broken (like a light switch etc, and as we own the property, it costs us personally to fix it)

Whenever I visit other peoples houses or look at social media, everything looks so clean and shiny so I feel like a slob

Recently did kids room last year, painted, put wall stickers etc, new curtains etc, just one year later wall stickers have been pulled off wall, leaving unsightly marks, wall a mess, they have spoilt their bunk bed etc

Finally how do people keep rugs clean, I have tried using scrubbing brush and carpet cleaner but how do you get the carpet dry in this weather whilst avoiding the damp smell?

Please help me!

Oft every 2-3 years

Been in house nearly fourteen years.

Most rooms have been painted, but in exactly same colour as previously (previous sellers gave as details of paint used).

This year, since eldest son has left home, we swooped a couple of bedrooms around, so that did involve new curtains.

However, no major changes.

I once watched an interiors show where the interior designer presenter said, in his experience, people re-decorate every seven years. I'd say that fits with my experience. We lived in our last house for 12 years, everywhere got decorated once and some rooms were decorated twice.

Use good quality paint that can be wiped down and only paint over the scruffiest bits - the whole room won't need doing. Yours kids won't care what you house is like. The house I grew up in needed lots of work doing to it but my parents didn't have much money. It didn't bother me, better to have relaxed parents than ones who worry about the paintwork. People only post the best bits on social media - they won't be sharing the dingy, scruffy places in their homes.

Our thing is we do one big thing every year or two like replacing floor, repaint, buy a new piece of furniture, retile or whatever.

We bought a new build a few years ago so it's still pretty pristine all we've done is fittings/ art etc. it looks so fabulous I love it.

In a couple more years Ill repaint then redo floors.

In my experience you have to replace white goods every 10 yrs or so.

I don't want to spend masses on my home or live in a building site or have trades in all the time so I am trying to be low maintenance.

White washable paint is my superhero. It always looks beautifully clean and you don’t need to top up often 5-10 years maybe. Magnolia and other yellow based always looks grotty in my opinion.

As for mould in bathrooms - a dehumidifier and a really good extractor fan will sort that out. Just stick it

Well this place was decorated just before we moved in… six years ago. It looks fine, could do with a bit of a sprucing up I guess but it’s looks fine and tbh it’s not a priority at all.
I hoover rugs same as the carpet 🤷🏼‍♀️

With paint? About once every 15 years!

Other things get sorted as general maintenance (bath silicon) or as needed if broken etc.

Walls get cleaned rather than painted.

OP it might be the magnolia. I think it can feel really drab and dirty as a colour. You can get paint colours by farrow and ball or little greene etc mixed by Johnstones paint so doesn't have to cost the earth.

We're in the process of redecorating now. It'll take 2 years to cycle through the house in terms of timing, logistics and affordability.

Then there will be a big old gap before we do it again.

The next time - in 15 years or so, will be before retirement and once we retire we won't be able to afford to get it done again I suspect.

I'd say each room gets done on average every 5-8 years. Curtains 8-15 years. Flooring has been replaced once since I moved in in 1991. My home doesn't look scruffy or shabby.

Every 1-2 years we re-paint, but do it throughout the year so it's less of a chore. Furniture is replaced as needed i.e. saggy sofa, battered chest of drawers. Curtains change 1-2 times a year, our blinds and shutters have been going strong for 8 years. The kitchen was done when we moved in 8 years ago and we're re-doing it next month.

Why on earth would you decorate every year ?

I aim to do one room every year - 18months. We have quite a few rooms, so in the almost 20 years we've lived here every room has been done once, and some twice.

How old are your dc ? How have they pulled the decoration off the wall and spoiled the bunk beds ?

Um, dining room and front room curtains were made about 20-25 years ago.
Dining room was decorated the, and has been refreshed once since then - but we kept the curtains!
Living room last done about 2016, I think. Repainted, new carpet, new sofa. Still looks fresh (we think).
All of upstairs and the hall has been repainted - all the same shade of white - with new curtains, blinds rugs etc in the last year (OK, all except the bathroom).
Kitchen had a complete makeover in 2003, and was repainted (units and walls) along with new curtains and a new cooker, in 2018.

We were a bit busy for a few years looking after elderly PILs, and had neither the time nor inclination to do it. We are now playing catch-up. One room in particular looks extremely dated!

I also do one room a year - although I live on my own and don’t have kids. That’s just painting though - carpets soft furnishings and furniture get replaced when they break or look worn out.

We repainted a few walls when we moved in 2 years ago but I doubt anything else will need doing for years. We have white walls in most areas, one dark blue room and one pale grey room. Do you have magnolia through your whole house? I’d say that’s part of why it may feel scruffy - it’s not really an “anything” colour. We rented for years and they were always always always magnolia. It ends up looking dull and dirty quickly.

In terms of keeping walls clean, we clean off any stains on the walls from kids hands etc but have really not found it necessary to repaint regularly.

It’s not redecorating, it’s maintenance and it’s a never ending chore (old house with damp issues)

Curtains change 1-2 times a year,

Is that normal? curtains are so expensive!

is it kinda of like a fast fashion thing, cheap curtains in the first place?

@tyoy

Curtains change 1-2 times a year,

Is that normal? curtains are so expensive!

I thought that was a bit excessive also. We purchased the curtains and blinds from previous owners, and still have have most of them!

Same!

Your main problem is that you're using magnolia. That'll date it to 1985 and make it look drab and tired before you even start.

In our house 6 years. We still have two small rooms to sort (I chalk painted the floors initially to save money)

The rest of the house has been painted twice. Didn't change curtains as they cost £££££££

I change rugs cushion covers and table clothes about once a year.

I've been in my house 5.5 years and in that time I've decorated my daughters room and the living/dining room.

I need to do my room, the downstairs loo, the kitchen and bathroom this year. It's time as much as anything, I'd need to take a week off work and not do anything else!

I think I'll pay someone to do the hallways and stairs 😕

Lived here 12 years and have done some rooms once. Haven't done our bedroom yet so it was last done in the 1960s or 70s. It's in quite good nick considering, but the orange and brown swirly wallpaper is migraine inducing.

We moved in when DD was 3, we only redecorated hallway and her room 10 years later as it would have been pointless earlier.

DD's room is her problem, if she gets marks on her furnitures, well, she knows they were bought to last for several years, not just one.

We bought or got made-to-measure furnitures designed to last, in a way you get what you pay, we bought expensive kitchen units but 5 years later they still look like new. If you buy from Wickes, you get MDF which needs replacing a lot earlier.

I never look online or in magazines and compare. These photos are staged, even if it's a real house they only do it after a cleaning company comes and then lots of good lightening and photoshop helps to create an image. I know it as a friend got her kitchen discounted after she agreed for the company to arrange for a photo shoot to promote their work.