Argh...help me fall in love with my house!

[Apaleviewofnothing]

We moved 2 years ago. Only house I could (just about) afford in area of DCs schools. Sturdy 1969 build not decorated (or even cleaned I think) since 1985ish. Sun in front, dark cold north facing back.
House is small for me and 4DC but have managed to squeeze us in. Made it watertight, insulated and replaced bathroom eventually. Now flat broke but HAVE to do something to help me...my house makes me depressed.

North facing dark kitchen.....what could I do to improve?
North facing dark and dingy and smelly dining room...horrid wallpaper...very hard to remove.

Only me and small DC.

Thankyou!!!!

If the bare concrete floor would be too chilly and it probably would you can get remnant / offcut bits of carpet surprisingly cheaply. Even if it’s not the best quality it would be new, bright and clean. It’s often cheaper than a large rug. I have had some large (240 x 200 type size) bits of bound carpet as rugs before as well for £50 - £60 ish on eBay.
Having experimented over the years with various stripped / painted floorboards due to lack of cash, no floorcovering is always cold.

Thank you.

The 60's design plan is that the sitting room is large and almost open plan into the dining room (sliding glazed doors between). We do use the room to eat in but it also functions as a piano room (and child toy storage area).

I am going to try to attach some non-identifying pics of the space (escapee from DV so try to keep anonymous online as possible).

If I get nervous though you will understand if I don't post them.

I wouldn’t use a pure white paint in a north-facing kitchen. Dulux almond white or timeless are warmer shades but still feel bright and clean.

Hopefully these will upload.
The blue swirley carpet has gone...big rug on top of restoreable (but not yet restored) parquet floor. The furniture is also not here we have a big terracotta sofa with loose cushions and some Billy bookcases.
In the dining room there is a much larger table and boxes from the move and an upright piano.
I don't know how the agents managed to make the rooms at the back look sunny and bright......but I'd like to replicate it!!

And the kitchen.
I have painted to doors white and repainted the ceiling. Eventually the light needs to be changed. I have started to strip the wallpaper but it's taking ages.....even with steam....there again I only have minutes here and there to spare.

Some inspiration and projects here www.younghouselove.com/photo-gallery-2/our-first-house/

I love a bit of 60s interior - ours is early 60s semi detached and I’ve really enjoyed bringing it into itself over the past couple of years.

Floor - a bit tricky with no budget. Underlay and offcuts would help with feel underfoot for less money.

I would go for warmer neutrals on paint. In our city we have a paint recycling facility that sells recovered paint for amazingly cheap - they can also mix shades. Might be worth checking on your council website to see if they have similar.

I found it helpful to have a balance between dreamy inspiration on Pinterest, and a list of jobs, with the ability to not notice things you can’t do anything about right now. We loved with a fairly terrible bathroom for two years (wood panelling behind the shower!) but I had lots of fun planning out what would happen. And in the meantime, we painted and filled etc etc

We did some decoupage over some osb fibre board that it didn’t make sense to remove but couldn’t be wallpapered. You basically cut stuff out than stick on with watered pva. Time consuming, looks great (but don’t put anywhere you’re not prepared to have there permanently). This is our hall

Also, draught excluding - this is an inexpensive way you can really improve the look of the house.

Good lighting can really change the feel of a room. Even changing a light bulb over for a different strength or colour warmth can make a huge difference.

Ours is similar - mid 60s with a north facing back and needed a lot of TLC. But we love it now it’s becoming personalised.

We’ve stripped all the wallpaper, installed a woodburner, bookcases, beautiful lighting, new wood floor and warm coloured rugs and throws. Favourite prints on the walls. The kitchen and bathroom still need love but we are slowly putting our stamp across it.

Try and inject light and colour and lots of yourself.

I fabloned my kitchen because I hated it n it's loads better and so much brighter only need to sort the floor out

Has potential! What is nice is that you have plenty of space. I would get rid of their old curtains, if you have decent glazing, and go for blinds. I like roman blinds that lift up right above the window space, maximising the light. Could also use cheap roller or venetian blinds (white!) I actually would go for white everywhere, makes it bright and gives a blank canvas, against which you can inject splashes of warm colour - red, yellow, orange, pink. A dark colour can work really well in a dark dining room (deep red as suggested above, or maybe a moss green or deep warm grey) but if it's a room you're using everyday I'd stick to a lighter colour. Go for really bright lights, flood the room with light. Use the three levels of lighting - overhead, task, accent - to layer up the light levels. Nice ambient lights in the dining room especially will help it feel cosy and warm. Even in the kitchen I'd have a small warm lamp on the side to give a warm glow even in day time. And then add as many reflective surfaces as you can manage. Obviously high-gloss kitchen units would do this but on a budget you can paint the units white or add glass or mirrored items of all kinds (dishes, vases, mirrors, lamps, small furniture).

This is my kitchen

PS why is the room smelly? Is it because of the old decor or because it is just dank and dark? I would really want to get fresh paint into it and new window dressing partly for this reason.

@mummyoftvef that is such a clever idea with the fablon! Looks great and presumably not too expensive.

No not at all can order bigger rolls ofline

We have the same direction here too, but our kitchen is very bright even though its nw facing. I think this is due to a very large window.
From looking at your photos, I would paint the walls a light colour, and if you can, paint the dark wood on the stairs. Even inside your front door will help loads. Prep the wood before hand to give the paint a chance to stay on (sand the woodwork and between coats if you can). I would get large cheap mirrors and pictures on the walls, and create a family and friends picture wall in the dining room. Something that makes you happy by looking at it. It will prob help the kids as well, esp if they are aware of the dv.
You could also revamp your dining chairs and paint them all different colours or matching if thats what you would prefer.
Plants are also a good thing to have in the house. For colour, cyclamen are lovely and interesting, as are ficus, spider plants. Ive just bought a string of hearts plant which is gorgeous and delicate. Keep an eye out for reduced plants. A bit of tlc works wonders.
Fairy lights look lovely and bring a certain warmth and sparkle to a room. Ditto candles and tealights.
I would do one room at a time and before you know it, it will be home. I hope you might be able to post some after pics when you're done

Thankyou you have so many brilliant ideas and have injected the optimism I need.

The dining room is smelly partly due to the carpet and curtains and the leaks from the roof that are now fixed (that's where all the money went!).

I had lost my way and so tired of doing it all and working and looking after the DC....onwards and upwards.

thank you

i think your house looks lovely and one day you will have it how you want it. Go into local carpet shops and see what remnants they have - you can get the edges whipped to make a rug then do what people used to do before fitted carpets - paint the floor round the edges. Getting rid of the highly patterned carpets will make the house look so much fresher and modern. Good luck.

If it is the carpets and curtains that are making the room smelly, I really would follow the advice above about getting them out and replacing.

If you can get that £50 - £60 pounds saved over the next few weeks, knowing that you can have lovely fresh new carpet soon, you might start to feel better even before you can actually afford to do it.

And then, once that bit of offcut is in, oh, the luxury of new carpet underfoot, even if it isn't top quality stuff! If you make sure you choose a lightish neutral colour, that alone will make a good start in lightening the feel of the room overall.

Our back room is also north facing, but we have patio doors so maybe a little lighter than yours? Just to say that I have painted it in Wilkos Organic Green recently, and it looks gorgeous. An alternative to white just for you to consider. Though a poster upthread mentioned Dulux Timeless, which a friend has recently used, and is a lovely warm (but bright) cream.

And in the meantime, I would highly recommend bunches of daffs as a previous poster mentioned.

(It's really important that you make your new safe refuge into a lovely nest that truly feels like home, so I wish you all the best in this next phase.)

PS just to say the obvious, but I'm assuming you don't have easy access to an Ikea as it hasn't come up yet - they are brilliant for large cheap rugs if the carpet offcut proves out of your budget for now.

Also good for cheap curtains.

And countless other little bits and bobs that can make a house a home.

Another PS, sorry! Just to say that the most surprising of things can restart your enthusiasm. After living in this house 14 years, I started glossing the woodwork. Initially just the skirting boards in one room, as we were changing the flooring (ancient dusty carpets up and replaced with vinyl flooring as dog diagnosed with dust mite allergy...)

Anyway, I was quickly hooked, and have become a woman possessed, painting any bit of woodwork I can find - stairs banisters, doors, you name it. It has really lifted the whole house, and you can just do bits when you have a moment. Wrap your brush in cling film and it'll last quite a while.

I use Wilkos Quick Dry Everwhite Gloss, and it does what it says on the tin - it is dry to the touch really quickly, so good with kids around. I find it really easy to use, no drips etc. It's not a super shiny finish, but bright and white. Recommended!

:)