Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To buy a house that I can't afford to change the decor of?

78 replies

Itisallabitvague · 17/05/2025 15:49

Think footballers wives....very marble and shiny. Great area, gorgeous outside spaces, amazing garden. We can't afford to buy it and change the decor for about 4 years.

I am being unreasonable - just buy it and change it when you can afford it.

I am not being unreasonable - interior is so important, keep looking.

OP posts:
Original poster
Itisallabitvague · 17/05/2025 15:53

Just to add. We can afford the house but not the extra work so will need to put up with the decor. Should we go for it? Great area, great schools and a gorgeous garden. I totally understand that we are in a privileged position that we've worked hard to be in.

OP posts:
Sirzy · 17/05/2025 15:55

Only you can make that call really. Personally I wouldn’t want to buy on such a tight budget it left nothing for at least basic personalisation!

x2boys · 17/05/2025 15:55

Could you live with the Decor for now ?
It sounds an otherwise great house and im very envious 😂

4forksache · 17/05/2025 15:56

If you can live with it then long term it will be worth it- but only you can decide if you can wait! No one else’s opinion matters in the slightest.

TempestTost · 17/05/2025 15:57

I've never bought a house I could afford to redecorate.

Evolutionarygoals · 17/05/2025 15:59

4forksache · 17/05/2025 15:56

If you can live with it then long term it will be worth it- but only you can decide if you can wait! No one else’s opinion matters in the slightest.

This!
I'd add that once it's filled with all your stuff, then it will probably feel much more like you. If you're happy to do a bit of painting yourself, then a quick coat of paint in your preferred colours could go a long way to changing the look, and won't cost the earth

MigGril · 17/05/2025 15:59

I would and we did, 6 years later all we have done is decorate the bedrooms and change flooring. But we expect to stay here a long time, so I'm happy to putup with the slightly out of date kitchen (as it's perfectly functional). I love our garden and the house. Not that many people have show home houses.

ArtTheClown · 17/05/2025 15:59

If everything is in good, functional condition, and just not to your taste, then yes definitely go for it. You'll become a bit blind to it anyway, then when you finally do change it, you'll be like wow this looks amazing now.

Avocadosandlimes · 17/05/2025 16:00

When you say redecorate, how extensive do you mean?

Are we talking wanting to repaint, or wanting to rip out shiny tiling/replace kitchen and bathroom/floors?

If it’s in good condition but not to your taste I would go for it. Especially if you can neutralise it a bit by painting most things white for now (or something along those lines)

Enrichetta · 17/05/2025 16:01

Are you saying you won’t be able to afford to replace bathrooms and/or kitchen for 4 years…… or you are so skint that you won’t even be able to buy a few gallons of paint to take the edge off the worst design issues ?

if the former, yes of course you should probably buy it.
if the latter, consider how secure you are financially (jobs?) and budget carefully before spending every last penny…

Shetlands · 17/05/2025 16:02

Go for the house!

What exactly do you mean by decor? The kitchen units would be expensive to replace but walls can be painted easily and quite cheaply.

oncemoreuntothebeachdearfriends · 17/05/2025 16:03

In a similar situation years ago, I lived with a lime green fireplace in the lounge.
I stopped noticing it after a few months!

Catlord · 17/05/2025 16:03

That sounds ok to wait and do it gradually if you can afford the house and it's in good repair.

What's the deal with the redecorating budget, is the house at the top end and it needs a lot to make it to your taste or are you stretching your budget hard as it's a good area etc?

You might develop a taste for excess! What's your taste like and could you tone any of it down in the meantime?

BangersAndGnash · 17/05/2025 16:07

I think it depends.

Is a chunk of the asking price to pay for marble floors throughout, expensive but hideous kitchen and bathrooms?

So that you would effectively be paying twice, once for their refurb and again for yours?

OR would the house cost the same even without WAG decor / can be sorted with new kitchen doors and worktop, and a new bathroom in due course ?

What is the scale of the disastrous decor?

FuckityFux · 17/05/2025 16:16

If the house itself is perfect and in the right area, you’d be bloody insane NOT to buy it!!

We’ve lived in this house for over 10yrs and still haven’t got around to decorating our bedroom. It’s a horrible dark burgundy on one wall with cream on the other 3 walls. Pretty hideous but I only sleep in there so not that fussed most of the time. I’m sure we’ll get around to doing it one day. 🤷🏻‍♀️

RumAndDietCoke · 17/05/2025 16:20

Do it! With our first house we could only afford the urgent work (a £4k full rewire). Other than that, the decorating, which even included sorting out the plastering from the rewire where the electrician had done the chasing out didn’t start for more than three years.

mrsjackbauer87 · 17/05/2025 16:20

Depends how shiny and marbely, I've discounted a few houses because the entire ground floor has been tiled with large marble-like tiles. One room I could cope with but not the entire ground floor.

mumofoneAlonebutokay · 17/05/2025 16:21

Buy it, 4 years will fly by but you might not get a house like it again x

user2848502016 · 17/05/2025 16:25

Of course buy it and do it as you can afford to. That’s what people did in the olden days - I remember the house my parents bought in the 90s, great house in a great area but terrible decor, think brown carpets and 70s wallpaper throughout. They just painted each bedroom plain white then redecorated properly over a few years.

Original poster
Itisallabitvague · 17/05/2025 16:27

Can I just say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to reply. It is so helpful just to get another perspective. I will reply to individual advice to his evening. Thanks again.

OP posts:
FancyCatSlave · 17/05/2025 16:29

If houses in that location are hard to come by, buy it.

I’m going to be trying to move within my current very desirable area due to divorce, I will literally be buying anything in budget regardless of how hideous. Then eventually I’ll make it my own. Location is everything.

Original poster
Itisallabitvague · 17/05/2025 16:30

BangersAndGnash · 17/05/2025 16:07

I think it depends.

Is a chunk of the asking price to pay for marble floors throughout, expensive but hideous kitchen and bathrooms?

So that you would effectively be paying twice, once for their refurb and again for yours?

OR would the house cost the same even without WAG decor / can be sorted with new kitchen doors and worktop, and a new bathroom in due course ?

What is the scale of the disastrous decor?

Great question! It really isn't disastrous just so not my taste. Think fake excessive rectangular built in fire place along the length of the living room. Marble floored hallway and kitchen. That kind of thing.

OP posts:
Original poster
Itisallabitvague · 17/05/2025 16:46

x2boys · 17/05/2025 15:55

Could you live with the Decor for now ?
It sounds an otherwise great house and im very envious 😂

Thank you for your response. We definitely could live with it. Funny how you need the validation from others to realise it.

OP posts:
MumbleJumble123 · 17/05/2025 17:06

I would if it was really just the decor I couldn’t afford, especially if my plan was to stay there long term. As long as it was in good condition and functional then I’d happily wait a few years and save up to change things to my taste

If the house is a stretch more generally and only just affordable then I probably wouldn’t. Unless your financial circumstances are due to change then saving to redo it will never be a priority and I’d feel very stressed knowing that there was no flex in my budget because my mortgage was so big.

orangedream · 17/05/2025 17:06

Maybe the floor tiles could be honed, made less shiny? I dislike glossy floors myself but it does sound like a good buy.