How often do you redecorate becaus eyou want to (not need to)?

[ShotsFired]

That, really.

I last did my house about 10 years ago. I am childfree and at most there has been 2 adults and a cat, so it's not really been damaged either - a few scuff marks but that's about it. I also picked plain paint colours which I (still) love so that's a non-issue too.

I need to replace some carpet as there was a leak (it will be lounge, hall, stairs and upstairs landing as it's all the same). But aside from the hassle of having to move so much furniture and the cost, by god is carpet shopping boring!

So how frequently do you decorate for desire rather than need?

I don’t think I’ve ever decorated because I fancied a change. Always because it needed it eg new house, or tatty hallway after a few years etc.

Never. Only when it needs it or when moving in to a new place. Sometimes I might "upgrade" eg getting rid of £10 ikea side table I never liked and bought as a stopgap and replacing with nice wood side table. But that's not fancying a change, it's something I was always intending to do.

Ongoing. I’ve just done the downstairs cloakroom, now I’m painting some doors. I do bits and pieces when the children nap as I’m a SAHP so it’s taking forever!

@Jammycustard as the now-official representative for the "ongoing" brigade

(Assuming you have a perfectly decent house already and it's not a wreck you are doing up over time...)

How on earth do you have the time, energy or money?!
Or imagination, for that matter? Don't you end up reverting back to previous colours and stuff like that?

I'm intrigued!

Whenever I get bored of a room. I'm in the process of renovating and I've done everywhere but the hallway. However I'm now looking to change the upstairs bathroom which was done last October. And I'm also thinking about new furniture for the bedroom. And living room which were bought last March.

I’m bored of our living room, but to be fair we didn’t decorate it the previous owners did. It’s painted magnolia like the rest of the house! I’m going to paint one wall dove blue and buy matching accessories. There’s nothing wrong with the existing paintwork but it’s such a gloomy room.

Never. I have better things to do.

I tend buy ‘good’ furniture and soft furnishings with the intention of them lasting, so I don’t swap them out in a whim.

Painting and decorating is usually done by professionals and so isn’t done because I fancy a change (at £1000 a room, on average).

*on a whim

I have only twice painted for change rather than need and both times it's been because my original colour choice was wrong. Once it's right I tend to stick with it. Three houses have been redecorated throughout :)

Never.
My parents never did either.

Capricorn - really? You're planning on changing a bathroom that was decorated less than six months ago? Just painting or more?

My mum does. To the point where she will spend money on house tutt and have no money left at the end of the month for essentials.

The house had been done by developers most things I do ate painting. This week I’m painting my downstairs internal doors light pink. I’m also painting the downstairs cloak room dark blue and doing a collage of botanical prints on one wall... I quite like murals too. That sort of thing. I just paint things the colour I like.

Never. It gets done when it starts looking tatty, but we've been in this house and only just done all the rooms once. The sitting room and dining room will get repainted this year.
I can't imagine having the time and energy to do more than that!

@CiderwithBuda yes. It's currently white and a pastely orange colour. I want it grey and more neutral. So new towels, mats, wallpaper, paint and depending on how all that looks I might change the furniture from white to grey too.

Capricorn- why? It seems so wasteful to me. Both of money and resources. Esp if you are changing the furniture too.

I find it really hard to justify the cost of redecorating unless we need to. We have been in this house for almonst 7 years and it was completely renovated and decorated just before we moved in. Although unbeknownst to me DH and the builder agreed to magnolia everywhere. Which I hate. But two rooms are still magnolia!

Financially we could afford to redecorate more often but I just can't justify it. I'd love to do the living room but it's actually perfectly fine. That might change as the windows need replacing which will be a huge job as it's a big bay window.

We only tend to decorate when we change the use of the room, have a disaster like water coming through the ceiling or in the case of the kitchen we replaced the cooker hood and realised that the new one was smaller and we'd painted around the old one.
However we are currently decorating our dining room. It was the first room we did when we moved in 20 years ago and first time around it also replaced windows and opened up the fireplace. It was my DH who decided to make a start this time which made me think that he'd been replaced by an alien!

Never. The house is painted in various shades of F&B whites and just gets patched up if it becomes marked. Occasionally have to have a room repainted because of soot marking from the wood burners but otherwise we leave well alone.
One of our daughters wanted a loud, flock wallpaper when they were about 14 which we allowed on one wall and I guess we’ll have to get rid of that at some point but it feels like a nice bit of her remaining.

Ive been in current house 15 years and have redecorated main bedroom, lounge and dining room 5 times each and everywhere else 3 times.

Ive also decorated another house abroad in this time.

Im moving so will be doing lots of decorating soon. I do it all myself. I really wouldnt pay for a decorator as i can do what they can do (except drops of wallpaper on stairs walls) and save the money.

Im really detail led, so when doing new paintwork on loft stairs 5 years ago i sanded and eggshelled 4 or 5 times until perfect, really thin coats on bare wood. Took a long time but still looks fab 5 years later.

It doesnt take long to touch up paintwork or walls so i can never understand why people paint once years before and then just leave it to look shabby year after year. Surely touching up the paintwork every 6-12 months is better and i dont mean a complete redo just touching up marks etc.

Every 6-12months!? Doesn't it look patchy if you don't do a complete coat.

I actually had no idea people did this...

Never here as well.

The longest we have lived in the same house for is nine years, total renovation with every room replastered. All decorated once and then the bits with wear and tear - near the three entrance doors mainly - that wall only, painted most years.

I too choose colours/furnishings/everything else with a long term view. We are moving shortly to a wholly magnolia painted place which doesn’t do a lot for me. I will redecorate everywhere once and expect it to last until we move (plan on being there for seven years of secondary school).

As little as I can. Been here 8 years every room been done once except kids rooms which have been done twice.

I'm planning on a dishwasher soon so will probably paint kitchen then.
Had to rip old bathroom floor up about 6 months ago so thought might as well decorate bathroom.
Then Xmas arrived and my bathroom still looks shit.
Might be my little project this weekend.

CiderwithBuda Although unbeknownst to me DH and the builder agreed to magnolia everywhere. Which I hate. But two rooms are still magnolia!

My whole house was magnolia when I moved in. I decorated rooms as I went, replacing every speck of it. Even if it was just white. The room I am in now is white and has been since then. It looks fine (spare room) so I'll leave it . Might paint the white bathroom a bright colour though, 15 years on...

@CapricornWithAUnicornHorn I want it grey and more neutral. So new towels, mats, wallpaper, paint and depending on how all that looks I might change the furniture from white to grey too.

I have been thinking about taking out the bath to make a walk-in shower for 10 years now. I'll get round to it someday!

(If any of you are on the DIY Tips on a Budget FB page (which I was linked to from here!) then pretty much all you will see is grey. People have done whole houses in grey and sometimes apart from a coloured cushion or picture, you'd swear the pictures were in B&W!

It's a hugely trend-led page though, everyone rushes from one thing to the next - grey is the in thing right now.)