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!

Been in our house 18 years and we’ve done each room once, kids rooms and the stairs and lobby twice.

As for the mould in the bathroom, if you search “mould silicone bathroom” on YouTube you’ll find a few videos that show you a simple technique to remove it, I’ve done it in our bathroom and the results were amazing

Washable paint for kitchen and DCs bedroom?

You need to use top quality scrubbable paint and magic erasers. Our walls get scuffed as we have a 3 year old but it wipes straight off.
I presume we’d have to repaint if he went wild with a sharpie mind!

I hear you all about the magnolia possibly making the place look dated a dirty, I had lived in a new build flat previously which felt really 'really temporary' and student like rather than homely so went with magnolia walls and white ceilings, doors and skirting boards this time throughout

I am thinking of painting kids room light blue and possibly same for kitchen, but not sure this would avoid the stains at all

Perhaps I just need cleanable paint which can be better maintained

Lived here 14 years and decorated once and not changed stair carpet at all...wood and tiles throughout house

Harsh spot lights and magnolia walls can look really dated and grubby. Softer paint colours and warmer lower lighting is far more atmospheric and forgiving.

Been in our house 5 years this year. We decorated throughout when we moved in, and plan to decorate again this year as its looking a little tired. Although I have repainted the kitchen twice since living here due to grease marks. We've also painted the bathroom ceiling annually due to mould spots - it's not very well ventilated.

I've never lived anywhere long enough to redecorate

I've moved about 35 times

Constantly decorating and my house still looks shabby everyone else's looks like a show home to me

Me too

Good advice from a pp - to only decorate your dc’s room when they are older - 10/11 maybe.
My dc was a little swine and spent many a happy hour peeling the wallpaper from through the bars of his cot!! ( no wonder he was a ‘good’ quiet baby, singing away to himself😬)
When he moved rooms aged 10, he was allowed to choose his own colour scheme, on condition he looked after the room.
He chose a retina-burning lime green and navy combo with white paint work!! It was certainly startling - but it grew on me and he looked after it, probably cos it was his own choice.

Been in 10+ years and still on round 1.
2/3s has been done including some major kitchen/ bathroom/ reconfiguring a bedroom projects.

The lounge is 10 years old now and other than a bit of scuffing on the door frame and normal wear on high volume parts of the carpet, still looks fairly fresh despite having moved in with a baby and having another and growing up. All the rooms are light or bright colours, no plain, neutral rooms.

The hall carpet is an orginal feature from 30+ years ago! Still sound but a bit dull and dated, but other jobs need doing first.
This is house 2 and we got around house 1 and are low on steam now.

Definitely get scrubbable paint! No DC, been in my home 15 years
Decorated once, new carpet and new blinds
Kitchen flooring is just about ready for changing
I used dulux trade vinyl Matt I think and it's lasting well

You need a paint finish you can wash (with soap and water, maybe magic eraser sponge) - no matte finish paint while kids are young.

Not sure why your kids are pulling wall stickers off or wrecking their bunks though. How old are they? How is this happening?

You can get them to be more careful about putting waste into the bin too.

If your rugs and floors are looking shabby, make the family remove shoes in the house. Make sure all eating happens only in the kitchen or dining area,. Make sure the kids wash their hands when they come in from school so you don't get a day's worth of grime, paint, and markers all over the walls.

I decorated once in 16 years. I hired a steam cleaner one time for rugs, and the stairs and landing carpet.

Do you wear shoes in the house? If so, clean the floors, get a rug doctor for the rug and any carpets. Then ban shoes past the front door.

Also, everyone washes their hands when they come in from outside.

Also, consider a more durable and wipeable paint. It's more expensive to buy, but is longer-lasting. Don't be fooled into thinking a darker paint is better. I've now got 3 dark blue rooms and they're a bugger to keep perfect 😂

Not sure how old your kids are, but keep stickers away from where their bed goes. Maybe above some drawers, around a wardrobe etc, but they're obviously too tempted to pick if they're close to hand.

To answer your original question, I paint every 3/4 years, but spot clean walls when needed.

Carpets, mattresses and rugs get cleaned professionally every year. I'm strict with no shoes inside for anyone.

I redo the silicone in the bathrooms and kitchen every few years, but scrub it in the meantime.

P.s. My dad wears shoes inside his house 🤢 (I don't wear my shoes when visiting him). His floor is hoovered and mopped everyday and cleaned with a rug doctor every 4 months or so. It's still disgusting when I look at the bottom of my socks after I leave!!!

I think the colour and type of paint are your issues. If you want to stick to something neutral go slightly lighter and do walls and ceilings all in one colour - it looks better and saves time when decorator. Go for a fully sizeable paint even if it costs multiple times more than some bog standard paint it is money well spent as generally goes on easier and won't require repainting for a much longer period.

The children do need to be trained to not put fingers on painted surfaces, pick at stickers etc. Once you have the right paint surface magic sponges are an absolute life saver but no good with bog standard Matt paint - they just rub off the paint.

• saves time when decorating and go for fully wipeable paint (auto correct fail)

I'm with you OP. My house always looks shabby. My upstairs is hideous except the babys room and we're in here 7 years and we're always needing it painted especially the kitchen. We're getting painters in next month and it'll be the 4th time in 7 years. I don't like decorating, I want my house to look like my sisters who has an eye for all that kind of stuff (thankfully she lets me copy some bits) but I'm too lazy to put in the effort she does so it's at the bare minimum to not have it looking like a shit hole.

Magnolia is a difficult colour. It has a pink tinge to it which does result in a dingey tone in many lights. You need very careful colour toning with accessories and very warm lighting to make it look good. You’d be better off going with a soft ivory but the key is to test the colour on different walls so you see how it reads in different lights.

Other than that, clean marks regularly and sorry to say but your kids need to be taught not to perk off stickers and wallpaper. I also agree with others about general cleanliness in the house. No shoes, no dirty hands, no food outside of the kitchen. Do you smoke? Do you use lots of candles? If you’re using candles then switch to reed diffusers or a water mist diffuser.

Painting rooms maybe every 5 years or so. We need to do it at the moment but with a 2 year old and 4 year old is it a waste of time....

Curtains... inherited the living room curtains with the house. Brilliant really heavy curtains in a neutral colour so only replaced last year as they didn't go with the new colour scheme. Too pale.

Love to know how to get a rug clean the dr beckhams doesn't seem to work. Tesco do an upholstery cleaner for £1 that works well with our sofa. It needs a good clean but too cold at this time of year.

Any good ideas to get scrapes out of floors?

We've a small house and then to adapt with the kids and as they grow so that dictates the decorating schedule.

You have very odd views. Twice in 20 years. All our walls are white, so a quick freshen up and a gloss, easy.

Just repainting our kitchen for the first time since the extension was built in 2008! It was looking pretty knackered but it's a big kitchen diner and I just CBA before now . Not really any stains per se though as the kitchen part is tiled so just wipes off?

Also going to do the living room this year which was done about 9 years ago, the bloody expensive curtains I had made last time are still in pristine condition though so we are just going to get wallpaper/new sofas that still look ok with those.