If your house is "nice" inside how did you get it that way

[Designless]

Do you know lots of good workmen, did you get lucky calling them in, are you really good at stuff yourself?

I've only ever lived with chaotic stuff that's in various states of disrepair. If I get a new kitchen the hall needs plastering and the bathroom is falling apart and it's an endless cycle. I've never lived somewhere that's just all nice and fresh.

Teach me your ways!!!

Spending a lot of money.

Its a mixture.

We know we aren't very "handy", so when we bought our house a key criteria was one that didn't need loads doing, we wouldn't have taken on something needing renovation. We likely wouldn't buy a really old/period property for this reason, there will be more things needing repairs and maintenance.

That said, i am willing to get stuck in on absolute basics (dh less so), i'll paint (properly, i'll tape all the edges etc), polyfilla holes & cracks and sand them back. We'll do jobs like hanging pictures and mirrors & I'm a thorough cleaner, so i'll do a proper job shifting limescale. Little things like replacing a shower head or a yellowed shower seal can freshen stuff up without costing a lot. Ive touched up grout in floor tiles & DH has replaced silicon round the bath once

Beyond that - we buy things or get tradespeople in. So we've just replaced carpets, & flooring. Dh has bought really nice light fittings. Try and buy good quality stuff - it lasts. My kitchen is 10 years old but looks really good, i've got spare paint matching the units and will touch it up this summer.

We designed and built ours. I did without a lot of things until I could save up to get exactly what I wanted. We had lightbulbs in our front hall and landing for years and years until I found chandeliers I loved. I still haven’t replaced the kitchen table and chairs we brought with us from the house my husband grew up in. I love old furniture etc so don’t mind waiting until I find something I love.

One room at a time to start….we moved into our 1870s semi 10 years ago ….took 4 years to get it all done….we now decorate 2 rooms a year…..we planning on downsizing this year….otherwise we would update kitchen this year….we get in tradespeople for plastering, electrics and gas…..my SIL is a joiner so does any wood stuff for us and fitted our kitchen …..my DP does all painting and decorating….Ive done some soft furnishings….curtains, Roman blinds, dining chair cushions …..DP and me have both upcycled some mid century furniture ….my DP plumbed in the bathroom ( he YouTubed it)….we sanded and waxed lounge and bedroom…..we paid to have LVT fitted ( not a DIY job as you need to know what you’re doing) ….every month DP touches up woodwork if needed. In the garden we paid for block paving on front drive ….but DP landscaped back garden himself….we never start another room until we finished the one we are working on….we’ve had 3 houses and had the same approach in them all

Mine isn't but...

A) have plenty of money and pay professional tradespeople

B) don't do jobs DIY that you are not competent at (we have skirting, tiling and grouting etc all badly done by dh...)

C) don't have small children or indeed tweens or teenagers

D) don't have pets especially big, hairy or furry ones

E) don't host others or allow sleepovers or accommodate relatives for long periods of time.

These are my excuses!

Friend introduced us to a really great handyman. Very lucky!

When we bought our house, firstly it didn’t need any building work, and the kitchen and bathrooms were decent enough and fairly new.

We knew we wanted to fully redecorate and change the carpets, and that we’d need a lot of new furniture, so we borrowed the absolute max that we could, which was about £50k more than we needed. This meant we could buy the furniture and accessories we needed/wanted, and get nice new carpets upstairs, build a garden room and landscape the garden.

We also worked our fingers to the bone, doing all the decorating etc ourselves. This took 4/5 months of pretty much solid work with 4 kids and jobs, but it is now pretty much exactly as we want it and we can sit back and enjoy it.

I’m very particular about my home environment so knew from the outset it had to be that way. If we couldn’t have afforded to do it like that we would have bought a cheaper house. I would go nuts living in a project long term so knew that wasn’t for me!

Oh… also we are fairly handy, so did minor work ourselves, hanging blinds, changing light fittings, resiliconing, boarding out the loft, tiling, changing door handles etc

I’m fortunate to have a husband in the trade who has his own business, there is pretty much nothing he can’t build, make or mend.

DH is good at DIY, but he knows his limitations and isn't too proud to call in tradesmen when necessary or essential (Corgi registered gas fitters, etc).

If the funds aren't available, I think the best way forward is to concentrate on just one area of the house - obtain quotations, and if they're more than you can afford at the time save, don't borrow.

I’m not sure I fully understand what you mean by ‘nice’? Not obviously in disrepair? Well-decorated? Completely finished?

I think my house is beautiful, but it’s also quite battered. The living room is painted a deep bluish grey, but we had a leak from upstairs a few years ago that turned part of one wall a sort of sea green, and we liked it so much we kept it. At a push you could call it boho.

We found a fabulous handyman one year he didn’t charge the earth and could do everything. We kept him and there’s not one room in our house that he hasn’t done he’s like family to us now

Spending most of our money and time on maintenance and improvements. It's lovely but not everyone wants to prioritise like this.

We were SO lucky with our current home. The previous owners had bought the house, completely gutted and renovated it, then sold it (to us) all within two years. Everything was brand new, right down to the electrical wiring.

The decor isn’t entirely to our taste but it seems wasteful to change everything until it has been worn in a bit. We’ve (I) painted the living room feature wall and redecorated our bedrooms to make them feel more like us, but downstairs can wait as it’s still looking lovely.

Good handyman who comes fairly regularly (we keep a live list and add things as they crop up as it's cheaper to do lots of bits at once). Excellent decorator who came highly recommended.

We focus on the most visible spaces first.

Declutter like crazy. Keep things reasonably clean and tidy. Don't leave half finished stuff out.

Same

Lucky you

I got a recommendation for a builder guy who had an amazing group of subs. They all took pride in their work and were very skilled. Always turned up on time, always tidied up. Four years on and their work has stood the test of time. I just wish I was better at keeping it clean and tidy!

DH is very handy, but so am I, and DD is amazing as a designer and decorator.
We are all quite “gung-ho”, so when we needed to do some things that you’d normally call a specialist in for, we YouTube’d it and did it ourselves (woodworm and dpc treatments).

We rarely get trades in - when we have in the past, unfortunately they’ve always disappointed. We help out friends, too! Always nice to lend skills to friends who can’t get reasonable quotes (E.g single Mum friends who seem to be taken advantage of Etc.)

Looking forward to the next project now the evenings are getting lighter!

Money!!! It’s all really expensive to have anything done. And DIY mostly looks bad.

I’m currently looking at my staircase and wanting to rip out the banisters, balustrade and hand rail and put a fresh set on. It’s thick with old paint and gammy from years of use & never a thing of beauty to begin with. Re carpeting the stairs should be done too if we get that done. But it’s get the stair case sorted or have a nice family holiday this year - I know which the DC would prefer.

Having a very handy partner who has done from small to big renovations but who is also a perfectionist so his workmanship is fantastic. He's saved us so much money over the years.

I literally mean he can fit kitchens, lay floors, hang doors, tile and most recently has been replacing the rubber and handles on every window by removing then refitting! The biggest project he part did as well as project managed was a top to bottom renovation of a 350 year old house so a basic refurb to him would be probably what most people would consider a lot. This isn't even his day job 🤣

I don't have children and I married a joiner.

DH is amazing at DIY, also a friend is a builder with his own company who has refitted bathrooms for us. He said he would employ DH. It has saved us thousands. He has just built an under stairs shoe cupboard now he has retired and has the time.

My husband is very good at most things but will call on tradesmen for stuff like plastering and brickwork. We had a couple of sash windows repaired and that took a specialist, amazing how they work.

I've really gotten to know myself and my tastes recently by using AI to teach myself fragrance and as a result my laundry toiletries air freshener and even our body fragrances all blend and stand out as each individual item but don't mix or overpower and it's given such a home vibe... From there I realised my theme matched my visual tastes too and I was able to learn how to stage the home interior pallete so it feels coherent. It's made such a difference rather than hastily following trends or trying new things that fail

I am buying a house soon and know I don’t have time and resources to do a lot of work on it. So will be buying a newer house. I would find it stressful to live in a house that was in disrepair.