Tiny rented house, no money .. how do I make it look good?

[Itsmeaga1n]

Just that really ... my rented house is tiny. I've no money but would like to make it look nice, specifically the through lounge dining room.

The floor is bare floorboards, rough, broken, dirty. I have a rug down on half the room but it's getting old and threadbare due to my naughty cats. I can't afford carpet or more rugs, or sanding and vanishing ... which would be impossible with my cats anyway. Anyone got any clever ideas?

I'm not allowed to paint it, but have various pictures on most walls. My fave colour is turquoise, my sofa is dark blue, I have a second hand chaise in pale sage green, turquoise curtains. My coffee table is unvarnished pale wood and ruined by my children putting cups and plates on it without coasters. Bookshelves, dining table and sideboard are pine.

What can I do to make it a nicer place to be?

You might want to set aside money for a rug and accept it will cost a little more. If you’re lucky something will turn up for pennies in a charity shop while you’re saving, but IME (have also been looking...) the neutral ones are popular so less likely to be discarded. I live in Sweden though, so I’m immediately amending that statement and saying that rag rugs (Swedish “trasmatta/trasmattor) would def. be considered option here, as they fit in with a frugal/cottagey style of decor. I find them a bit hard to hoover myself, but ikeas grey no slip thingies are really good.

I also think you’re home looks pretty nice! I have similar problems with a small space, messy family and lack of feeling of “home”. For me it feels better when it is tidy so I don’t have all that clutter of papers etc lying around that’s only a few steps away from being hoarder syndrome. 🙄 But this might not be your issue, in which case I’m jealous. 😉 Sounds like you’ve identified the floor as the issue really. 😕 Have you tried moving the furniture around?

Finding nice wall masterpiece may be difficult specially in the charity shops. It's more about luck then money.
But as your room reminds me sort of eclectic style/vibe, then I would focus on finding a lot of different picture frames( size, design, material may vary ) paint them one or two similar colour and create eclectic gallery wall. You can frame family photos, your kids drawings, art prints...).
And you can always add some potted plants as it always brighten up the room.

Can you buy a bit of sandpaper to sort out your coffee table? Then it really needs some sort of sealing or covering or it will get wrecked again.

I have a wooden floor and a good scrub with minimal water does help clean it up. Longer term you could look at hiring a sander. Or ask around if anyone has one you could borrow. Our floors are oiled, much easier to get a good finish than varnish.

http://www.amberdusick.com/woodmouselovess_crafts/2010/07/how-to-make-beeswax-wood-polish-woodmouse-recipe.html
You can try this as a sealant.
This is basically just an oil and beeswax mixed together and it supposed to work as a sealant and wood polish all in one. Budget friendly.
Sand paper by itself is very cheap, so you can basically revamp your table by yourself and for relatively no money.
Not sure if this is helpful, just trying suggest some ideas.🤔

Thanks I'll try sandpaper and then sealing the coffee table!

Yes it does get messy, my dining table is always full of papers, clothes, post etc. I've no storage really so struggle to tidy up.

How big does your rug need to be? I'm about to get rid of a lovely neutral coloured carpet. Ace quality all wool but could do with some 1001 on it to clean it up. You'd have to get it from the SE but in a shared van load it might not cost too much?

It's prob about 5ft by 8ft ish?

Would your landlord agree to painting if you promised to keep it the same colours, just to freshen it up. Worth asking, I think, esp if thry know you are a good, responsible tenant.

In Sweden it used to be traditional to have untreated wood floors that were just scrubbed with soap. I can’t find any links in English atm but it makes for beautiful floors. :) you have to get proper old fashioned soap made from like linseed oil though I think.

Plants make every room look better!

Have you been on Shpock? I have got a good few things for free and some stuff really cheap all you do is make an offer and either collect or the seller may deliver to you.

Frisky that sounds perfect, I'm in South Wales so not sure how far away you are, but I don't drive Not sure how else i could get it here either. Thank you very much though ❤

I'm not familiar with Shpock, I'll take a look at it.

I love house plants, but big ones are expensive and my cats have a habit of chewing them

Yes I think I will scrub the wood floor. I need to find a way of filling the broken bits too though.

Any suggestions for clearing my dining table ... it's always covered in papers I need to deal with, stuff to file, games, loose change etc etc. I have no space for storage ... only thing i can think of is putting boxes on top of the bookcase if anyone can suggest any?

If you can get boxes from a local greengrocer or supermarket, pepper boxes are a good size and often have lids or stack. You could get a cheap roll of wrapping paper to cover them.

You can also build stuff with a bit of care from cut up bigger boxes and tape. You need to think it through a bit and work out which bits are strongest and sometimes double layer, but if you’re short of cash, it’s very nearly free. If you can get some free wood offcuts to reinforce that’s also good. Or b&q often sell ends from the cutting machine from 50p- a couple of quid.

We've only supermarkets around here and no boxes that I've seen.

My local tips have re-use shops that I have had loads of great homeware and furniture bargains from so that might be worth checking out.
Also I bought some sandpaper and a cheap tin of paint from b&m and upcycled some of my furniture, it brightened the whole place up and was actually really satisfying.

Go on freecycle and post what you need in the ' wanted ' section. I am always amazed at the things some people ask for. Infact why not ' ask ' on here? Maybe someone local will respond.

Osmo oil (available on Amazon) for the table, nothing gets through that! As for the floor, I’m assuming it isn’t already varnished and sealed? I have a small area of what were grotty floor boards in my kitchen but as we will be re doing the whole kitchen next year I didn’t want to spend too much effort or money on it. I basically just cleaned it with a mop and bucket (one of those vileda ones) and an absolute ton of thick bleach, really scrubbing it hard. It basically ‘blonded’ the wood very quickly and easily. Looks great. You could use Osmo oil on the floor too to stop dirt and staining.

Freecycle!! It's a website we're people give stuff away for free!! I've got loads off there.

Go to your local carpet shop with the measurement of the room, they may have some off cut pieces of nice new carpet you can buy on the cheap. My local often has bits for £10!! Watch YouTube on how to lay it yourself.

Get some furniture paint, paint your table. Wilkos sell stuff cheap. You don't need to sand it first, just tough it up with wire wool, paint an undercoat and then the colour you want on top. Failing that stick a pretty table cloth over it. Dunelm have nice waterproof ones that the kids would find hard to destroy and are reasonable priced.

Good luck xx

Supermarkets you usually have to ask for boxes but they’ll set some aside for you.

I have vases of foliage. Sounds random, but looks green like a house plant, lasts longer than flowers, and free if you pick from your garden or the hedgerows.

Have a look on Facebook marketplace, cheaper than eBay usually and you can search local to you. I just had a quick look in the South Wales area and saw a few rugs/off cuts of carpet for around £20-£25. I think a rug will make the room feel much cosier/homely.

Thanks I've looked but none near me.

When I was in a similar situation a few years ago I got loads of pretty cardboard boxes from ikea - everything went in them and looked much neater. I also found tabletop cardboard drawers useful for paperwork as no matter how much you stack on top of them you can easily access what's in them. I second Gumtree and Facebook marketplace. I've found free stuff on there before.

Shoe boxes cover in wallpaper samples or nice wrapping paper are quite good for storage. You can get them free if you ask at a shoe shop