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!!!

How much did it cost

I try to fix things as soon as possible. I've learnt to put up shelves and use a drill. I call in a plumber or electrician if I need to. I do my own decorating. But it is an endless job keeping on top of things!

I got really good at DIY and didn't start a new job until the previous one was done. I am a believer in careful measurement and lots of research before tackling a project.

Dh and I are pretty good at diy. In our first house we did a lot of work ourselves, repainting, plastering, fitting kitchens and bathrooms etc. Now we are older , busier and have more cash we can afford a house that is in an excellent state of repair but just needs decorating and we are slowly working our way through it room by room.

Things that make it feel nice are colour schemes, pictures on the wall decorative accessories like a vase of flowers, candles, photo frames, ornaments, throws, scent diffusers etc. As well as being tidy and organised.

I'm relieved to see several posters have said money.
We did a complete renovation of an old house. It was a combination of a huge spend and we found, through friends, a fantastic project manager who brought and sourced workers and was incredible at dealing with complaints from neighbours, late suppliers and handling snags.
We also used Pinterest to get inspiration. And honestly my husband was a tough negotiator and kept very detailed notes, receipts etc.
It was stressful and expensive. We didn't find any golden shortcuts, I'm afraid.

When I bought my house I kept aside enough money to redecorate, fit engineered wood flooring and internal doors, put in a new kitchen and get the bathroom retiled. I found one really good carpenter who did a lot of this. There’s always something new that needs doing, though!

We enjoy DIY.
We fix issues when they occur.
We decorate a room every January.

My husband is very good at DIY - he can pretty much turn his hand at anything. Most of our house is done really nicely except for the teen boys bedrooms which WERE done nicely but are now dark pits of hell...😉

We’ve spent quite a lot of money converting our garage/new kitchen and redoing our garden over the last year but honestly I’d say the thing that’s made our house feel much nicer is having a carpenter create proper storage solutions for us throughout the house. We were very much in our Kallax era but now everywhere has something built in we don’t have much on show anymore and it feels so much calmer. So, out of all the tradespeople we’ve had, if I had to choose one it would be the carpenter.

A very handy DH.

Spending money.
keeping on top of the little jobs.
keeps my it clean.

We bought a brand new house so everything is new 🤣…had it all decorated and done within 4 months…so yeah…money also

I'm a designer so I have quite a trained brain when it comes to aesthetics and functionality. And it really matters to me so I don't mind spending time and money on my flat.

My flat isn't perfect, it's an old flat, some stuff need doing, but most of it, I can do.

We bought our house and my dh gutted it and every room was upgraded and decorated. We’ve continued to build upwards and outwards as budget would allow. I’m incredibly lucky that dh is fantastic at all diy and what he doesn’t know how to do he will YouTube and learn, think re purposing a wooden floor and learning how to lay, sand and varnish said floor. What I have noticed is that he won’t sit down until the job is done so that involves him coming home from work and cracking on with whatever task needs doing, no waiting until he’s got “time off” just constantly chipping away at the job in hand. I’m useless at diy so I just tidy up and offer drinks lol.

Houses need regular maintenance. It will never be a matter of getting it all done and then that's it. But it sounds like maybe you need to get on top of some of the big things. Walk around the house, make a list, order them by priority and cost, and plan when it will get done. If your list is long then that's the nature if it. My DH does decorating, but else we have to pay for.

I think it's easy to underestimate just how much work and maintenance a house takes. Even one in reasonable condition. I think people with nice houses either it's a bit of an actual hobby; they are always looking out for the right light fitting etc and regrouting the bathroom at the weekend. Or you chuck money at it. But even then you still have to manage the people - and the decisions. Although you can hire an interiors person. You can get consultations that while they are expensive aren't out of this world e.g. www.goodbonesshop.com/services

I agree. My house in my opinion is beautiful. I’m very house proud and my environment is incredibly important to me. I think I have a good eye and the house has come together just as I envisaged but my teenagers rooms are just, well let’s say they don’t share my standards.

I close the door and hope for the best

I agree, money is where it all starts - I'd love a new kitchen as the floor lino is ripped, cupboard doors breaking/falling off and the general layout is impractical but we just don't have the funds so we make do.

Also small children dont help! Our carpets and sofa are very stained from various spillages

Get decent tools and watch plenty of tutorial videos on YouTube.

Take your time and measure several times.

Do one room at a time.

Don't touch water, gas or electrics (apart from plug wiring)

We live in a new build and both like interior decorating, have invested time and money in understanding colours and scents and decor so we can have a cohesive theme through the house. We are awful at DIY so spend money having our brilliant handyman do things for us as and when!

Duplicate post

I’ve started replacing the old IKEA furniture we have with some better quality stuff. It’s too overwhelming if you try to do it all at once.

I agree with PPs that you need money and good tradespeople. We've been very lucky with our tradespeople, who have done a fantastic job with our first house and current home. Bought a doer-upper on second rung of the ladder and had set aside funds for complete renovation including a rear end extension. We've recommended our tradespeople to family and friends but they all said that they were too expensive yet we've not had any problems and they all (2 BILs and 1 close friend) have had issues with their tradespeople most recently they sacked their builder last week because they hadn't been back on site to complete work since Christmas! Good tradespeople are worth their weight in gold!

We’re lucky as my dad can do almost anything (he fitted our kitchen, boarded the attic, replaced windows) and between him and DH most things can be fixed.
This has saved us a fortune and we wouldn’t have been able to get some jobs and improvements done if we’d needed to hire people.
it also means my dad knows other people who can do the jobs he can’t and he’s pulled in mates rates favours for us so we’ve saved money on other jobs too.

Also, in our old house we’d buy whichever version of the thing we needed was cheaper but now we choose the one that will work best then look into how to get it for a price we can afford - and this could be anything from a clock, plant pot and bedding to big pieces of furniture like a bed or dining table.
It means the rooms in our house look intentional and put together - and it’s resulted in us really thinking about what we need and making sure that’s included so we have plenty of storage in the places that need it.

Lastly, I think little touches can make a big impression. A tidy room, nice scent and a well looked after house plant = automatic calming feeling a lot of the time.

New build house so we had a blank canvas so even though it took years no room looked awful, lots of money, and my current obsession is carpenter in-built furniture/storage/fixtures like in American homes (traditional looking, not the modern media walls etc we are seeing now).