B&Q unloved rooms revamp - review thread for MNers getting stuck in! NOW CLOSED

[TheOtherHelenMumsnet]

This thread is for the 20 MNers who have been chosen by B&Q to revamp an unloved room in their home.

Those selected have been sent a B&Q giftcard to buy the things they need to give their unloved room a makeover. They've undertaken to complete the makeover by 3rd June, and will be keeping us up-to-date on how their revamps are going on this thread as well as posting photos.

Please do follow their stories and add your own comments if you want to show some support!

Below are the questions we'd like testers to answer but please feel free to add your own comments too. Please give us a bit of info about the room you're revamping and what you plan to do with it in your response.

• Why is your unloved room unloved? What do you want to change about it? What has stopped you until now?
  
• Where did you get your inspiration for doing up the room from? What sort of style are you going for etc?
  
• Have you had much help along the way with the revamp? If so, who from? And what sort of help - practical or ideas-based?!
  
• How did you find your shopping experience at B&Q? Were the staff helpful? Did you find anything in store you maybe didn't expect to beforehand?
  
• Did you use any of the help and advice that B&Q offer? This includes their videos on YouTube, leaflets and classes in store etc. If so, how useful was that help and advice?
  
• If B&Q could do anything more to help you next time you visit, what would it be?
  
• Have you had any feedback on what you've done with the room from family/friends? Has the transformation had a big impact on you and/or your family?
  

If you're not an official tester but would like to be in with a chance of winning a £200 B&Q giftcard, please post on this thread to tell us about your own room revamp successes (or failures!) - we'd love to hear from all MNers who have a room makeover story to share!

Thanks very much
MNHQ

[gazzalw]

HappyHippyChick you reminded me of my manners - oops... . Yes, a big thank you for picking us, B&Q and Mumsnet. Although we had our ups and downs with the lining paper/eco-paint blistergate, we seem to have happily resolved the problem. It actually gave us a bit of a buzz doing all that DIY! It's certainly re-awakened the decorating bug in this house and we shall be trying to smarten up the rest of upstairs to match DS's room. Needless to say, DD's will be next!

I think DS is quietly very happy with how his room has turned out. It just seems a lot cosier whilst being at the same time more spacious (if that's not a contradiction in terms). It also seems more of a 'den' - I think because it was decorated as a guest room previously it had never been 'stamped' with his mark. It's still quite 'tame' but he's 12 and not yet a fully-fledged Kevin/Perry - no doubt the pictures will be replaced by 'pin ups' at some stage but he's not there yet....

[ouryve]

I love that blue, gazzalw. The hard work was definitely worth it!

I'm most grateful for the kick up the backside having the deadline gave us. The boys' room shows up the rest of the house, so I'll definitely have to get cracking again, with the stairs, next week!

[IceNoSlice]

Question for those using the Fieldnotes app. Mine says 'Awaiting feedback'. What do you think happens next? Will we ever hear back?

[nevergoogle]

before

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after

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after

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b&q lampbase with my first ever homemade lampshade.

[gazzalw]

• If B&Q could do anything more to help you next time you visit, what would it be?
  

I have a few constructive ideas here:

a) Accept gift cards online please! I'm not sure if your rivals do but it's extremely helpful and to be expected in the 21st Century! Not everyone who has a home has a car or has a B&Q very locally so it would be enormously helpful!

b) The reserve online for collection option didn't exactly work for us:DS and I made a special effort to collect three items in-store (which were not there to be collected on the relevant date). We didn't ever receive a phone-call to say they were ready for collection either. Not sure what happened there?

c) Please review the compatibility of your Walldoctor papers with eco-paints - I'm pretty sure there's something in the former which repels the latter (on the basis of our experience). You might not have had any complaints because no-one has ever used the Walldoctor products with eco-paints, rather than because there's no inherent problem.

d) It would be useful to know that there was someone on a Help Desk at the end of the phone to help with DIY catastrophes/emergencies such as we had with 'Blistergate'. Phoned the general number and was give a more appropriate number to phone. However they only operated twixt 9.00 am - 5.00 pm. I phoned before 9.00 am and left a message (which I was instructed I could do) with my phone number - no-one ever phoned back. We were basically left to solve our DIY disaster ourselves which we did, eventually. BUT I would expected a renowned DIY company to offer more and know more about their products (the person that Helen@MNHQ dealt with denied that they sold the eco-paint we'd used despite us having ordered it off their website (with my debit card not the gift card).

[thecatcamebacktheverynextday]

I've just been putting together my list of 'what I spent and how much' and have discovered by looking at my receipts that when I bought my new hammer drill I was overcharged by £20! Really not impressed. Luckily I havn't used it yet so I'll be taking it back - but what is really annoying is that I got it from the large store I did my decorating course in which is an hour's drive. My local store doesn't stock this model and I'm not paying for delivery. Boo.

[Londonseye]

Thecat, they charged us twice for one pot of paint. I am a receipt checker now though after lots of other mistakes. Makes me wonder how much I have lost over the years!!!

[gazzalw]

If feedback includes very jealous younger sibling, then yes we have! She loves it as much as her DB! SIL is the only other person who's seen it since the revamp and she's been impressed. She needs to redecorate her house but has so much clutter that it's virtually impossible...

I think that's the main issue once one's established in a house. It's actually the whole thing about "clearing the decks" to decorate effectively. It's just such a pain unless one has a very large house with lots of empty space in which to transfer the clutter from a room - most of us don't have that luxury!

[ouryve]

They have a page about the naturepaint on the B&Q website! www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/templates/content_lookup.jsp?content=/content/marketing/naturepaint/index.jsp The link to view all paints goes to a page with no products on. It seems strange that they have it there, if tye've never sold that stuff.

[thecatcamebacktheverynextday]

I'm usually a receipt checker too Londonseye when it's my own money . My excuse with this one is that I spemt £200 of the voycher in one go so didn't go through everything on the receipt. Sometimes I wonder how much I've lost over the years too!

Agree with you about clutter gazzalw, I'm still stepping over boxes! But I have the added issue of living in a small house and being a hoarder

[thecatcamebacktheverynextday]

Wow. spent and voucher. I can't spell today

[gazzalw]

Thanks for proving my point, Ouryve! As a PR exercise, I think whoever at B&Q investigated my 'blistergate' issue, massively shot themselves/the company in the foot! Whatever happened to "the customer is always right?". In the end I forwarded the online receipt to Helen to prove that we did buy it at B&Q! Also, I actually saw boxes of it in the branch I visited.....

Yes, we live in a smallish house too and apart from DW, are great clutter merchants . In fact, DW nearly dropped a tin of undercoat when she was doing DS's wardrobe and investigated the top shelf which is full of my art materials....such was the chaotic mess (as she saw it!)....

Half of the clutter from DS's room is still sitting on the narrow landing waiting to go up to the loft. So the clutter is just moving.....

[ouryve]

You have a landing? Luxury! No landings or hallways in this house. We have a 3' square entrance lobby, back and front and a 3' square "landing" between the stairs and the two bedroom doors. The loft hatch is almost 10' above that. I never ever climb up to that loft. I find it hairy enough climbing up an extra foot so I can reach the circuit breaker to reset it all when it's been tripped by yet another power cut!

[gazzalw]

If it's any consolation, Ouryve, our "landing" is about three foot wide by about 10 foot long..... :-).

I made our loft into a 'den' - the children have been climbing up the loft ladder since they were about two :-). DW won't go up though which is how we like it because it can be a chaotic mess without her being able to complain too much :-)

[nevergoogle]

Aah, enjoying wine in my lovely new living room. Have been looking forward to this weekend all week. No decorating, just enjoying the room.

Cheers

[HappyHippyChick]

Ok so here is the finished room...

[HappyHippyChick]

- Have you had any feedback on what you've done with the room from family/friends? Has the transformation had a big impact on you and/or your family?

Everyone who has seen the room has loved it, it is so different from how it was before, and just painting the built in cupboards drastically changed the look of the room.

The transformation has had a really big impact on our family, as I mentioned upthread, my two youngest ds's spend a lot of time playing there now as they can get to their toys and have space to play in, this means that they aren't watching any telly as they aren't in the room with the TV so don't think about it.

[SweetestThing]

The only problem is that doing this project has made me want to do other decorating, so I now have the contents of the futility room scattered throughout the kitchen and conservatory and white paint in my hair.

[gazzalw]

Yes, DW still has flecks of paint in her hair and as we had a very busy weekend this last one, the landing remains covered in dismantled desk bits etc.......