Does anyone ever feel shit about their house?

[perfectlyimperfect1]

When you see all these perfect, grey throughout, Mrs Hinch type homes on Instagram and various sites?
My home is just a 3 bed link detached, only living room, kitchen and conservatory downstairs with a main bathroom, small en suite and 3 bedrooms upstairs. I keep it as tidy as I can with a 2 year old but after moving above our budget we don’t have the spare cash to do much in terms of renovation. (I’ll add some photos)
When I see all these immaculate homes online it just makes me feel like my house is a dump!

Yes I feel the same OP. We bought our house precisely because it needed cosmetic work doing and we could put our own stamp on it, but with 3DC under 6 including a 7 month old we don’t have the time or the energy to do it! Plus there’s no point replacing things like the carpets until DC3 is potty trained.

@beanaseireann oh yeah thank you for the heads up! I know what you mean the brown sofa etc came from our previous house as it went with the wall colours etc and when we moved here they had taken the curtains so I needed some pronto and just bought some to match the sofa! I’m a bit over that colour too now but it is in fairness a comfy sofa and we see no point getting new until DS grows out of spilling stuff all over! I have in fact got a new rug though lol it’s this one x

You could always buy a throw in Dunelm
Or Next and put it over the sofa.

Grey decor is awful. So cold

Your house is lovely but given the trend for grey (which I’m personally not keen on) I see where you are coming from. It doesn’t need to cost a fortune to change things though, it’s time and imagination.

Gumtree and Facebook are amazing for bargains. I got a TV unit for £5 which was helpfully mostly stripped ready for painting. A table for £15 that has come up really well stripped, the top left wood and bottom bit painted. We’ve had 3 good quality sofas which were a bit more that I usually spend on bits, £150 for one big one and a pair for £125. Big curtains for £15, free Belfast sink. Oak worktop for £30, free bookcases, offcut of carpet that makes good rug for £5 and our bedroom carpet is 2 offcuts of carpet for £30 and painted floorboards.

A bit of time practising painting is well spent. You can make your own chalk paint.- my table legs were white emulsion with added chalk powder, coloured with Coffee to make it off white then Polyvine was varnish over the top, a bottle goes a long way.Mirrors can make a difference and you can pick them up fir £10, £20 if you keep an eye out. There’s loads you can do if you want to have a go at changing it a bit.

DOn't fret OP. Brown is all over this AW fashion spreads, so it will come back into fashion in about 18 months for interiors. Real life matters a whole lot more than Instagram.

Hi OP, it looks cosy! I'm no natural at home decor - it's taking me ages to absorb the basics and apply it to my own surroundings!

I find wall colour makes a big difference. The Dulux Visualizer app lets you take photos and colour in your own rooms. Of course you then need to get round to painting them cough cough.

I buy all of my furniture from eBay. I set up alerts for things in a local radius. Sometimes I search nationally if I'm after something in particular - Shiply is an option for courier quotes but I've never had reason to us it yet.

I find Asda George, Sainsburys Home and H&M great for homewares. Wilko and Matalan too. All have good returns policies of you get it wrong first time as I frequently do. La Respite do gorgeous things but often beyond my budget. Always wait for 30-40% off - they constantly have offers. Their rugs are nice - my current one had 50% off.

House Talk forum on Facebook is brilliant as a sounding board even if you're on a shoestring. Posting a photo helps with the responses!

Leafy houseplants and small succulents are all the rage at the moment. I'm planning to buy a couple of big plants from Ikea this week and pop them in belly baskets (eBay) on the floor with a saucer inside to catch water.

I'm not very practised at brown decor but as a pp says it's supposed to be coming back into fashion very soon so there should be some good inspiration in the shops! I like different textures such as knitted cable throws in beige and taupe, woven cushion covers etc. H&M often very good for cushion covers - check they're washable as that's always a bonus.

*La Respite = La Redoute

Apologies for that list! Contrary to how it sounds I actually dislike shopping as a leisure activity and hate making decisions about all this stuff.

However I'd finally got fed up living in a cream box - every single room - and these are the kind of tips I've picked up so far that have made a significant difference to my surroundings.

I'm on a pretty tight budget but I'm trying to direct funds towards the house when I'm in need of a treat instead of food, alcohol and clothes!

Yes... I love my home, it is my safe place and I love being there, however I have 4 kids in a small 3 bed terrace. A lot of toys, a lot of stuff... all my friends have kids too, some have 3, 6, 2 so all in same boat but their houses seem to be so much more organise. Like in my living room I have stuff everywhere, it's not a mess by any means, but we have kids books, kids toys ect where as my friends don't seem to have any clutter!!!! I can't seem to achieve the no clutter look.

I forgot to mention storage! That's what's made the biggest difference in my rooms. I'm gradually replacing items of furniture and rethinking the layouts of rooms.

I've found sideboards with a mixture of drawers and cupboards an absolute blessing. I've gone for the midcentury style with legs as it somehow makes the room look more spacious - and the piece of furniture less imposing - when you can see the floor underneath. They hold a lot of stuff although I'm trying not to overfill mine. I have one in the living room on an unused wall and one in my bedroom. I've also added a bureau in an alcove. These were all from eBay, less than £100 each.

It means I can tidy up in a hurry if expecting visitors
I've put some plants and ornaments on top and pictures above them. Make sure your pictures aren't too high on the wall, it's a common mistake.

Could you fit a coffee table in your living room? I bought a lovely chest style one like the Laura Ashley Garrat table but unfortunately it was a bit too big for my room. I was gutted as it held so much! I thought one might look nice with your fireplace and beams with the furniture arranged around it. You can find second hand Garrat ones on eBay every week or simply do a search on eBay for coffee table auctions in your area. Mine wasn't Garrat but it had a hinged top and spacious drawers.

Those homes on Instagram are not real, their house doesn’t look that way all the time, things are moved about etc for the photo only.

I don’t like homes like Mrs hinch....couldn’t have less character and interest if it tried...to me that style just looks like a grey winters morning (not because of the colour grey, I have grey in my home) but to me it just looks all sorry for itself.

You know, it's just decor OP. And that all grey look is pretty sterile imo.

We were the same in terms of decor when D.C. were small - there was no point in replacing perfectly functional sofas and other furniture until they was older!

There's nothing long with checking out other looks on Instagram and Pinterest, but instead of feeling envy, start thinking about what looks and colours you really like for when you are ready to decorate or replace furniture? (But step away from the all grey ) I spent a lot of time planning what I was going to do once DC were and I love our house now. I wish we had a different layout and a bigger kitchen but at the end of the day it doesn't matter that we don't!

I feel the same as you sometimes OP. I love my house, but it is very out of date I expect. I have lots of brown furniture (which I like but I know people sneer at it now). My kitchen is very very very dated. I look at all the perfect house pictures people share of their bi-fold doors and modern kitchens and whatnot and feel a bit inadequate.

But you know, I found out the other day that one of my friends and her husband (both in their 50s) are now having to live in one room in a house share due to a string of awful events. I suddenly realised how fortunate I am.

PS I think your house is fine!

Your house is lovely op. Is that a big conservatory I see leading off the kitchen?

If you are unhappy with it can you afford to paint and buy some new accessories?

Yes the Instagram pictures you shared are lovely too. But they are staged photographs.

One thing I learnt from house hunting and looking round lots of houses is that behind closed doors, most people houses are just very ordinary not show home standard.

Yes but only because it’s full of DHs crap. If weeverget a divorce it will be over his ungodly amount of stuff.

We have a 3 bedroom terrace (all we could afford in the area we wanted.) Before that we had a 4 br / 3ba detached in a slightly less desirable location.
Been here for a few years and the amount of work that needs doing is ridiculous. We had a new boiler put in and upgraded the electrics. Decorated and painted everywhere.
I want a new kitchen / bathroom /ensuite and hardwood flooring as well as redecoration throughout.Oh and a loft conversion. Still deciding on what order to do it in. DH wants to move due to lack of a garden although the yard is a decent size.

Your home is lovely op. I'm not a fan of all that grey home malarkey, I'd much rather see colours and a home that's lived in rather than the show home look that's so prevalent at the moment.