Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Things you used to want in your home that aren't your style now!

100 replies

Echobelly · 14/12/2023 18:06

I was just thinking earlier about some of the stuff have liked to have had in my first home (when I was 24), that aren't so much my thing now:

  • a pinball machine
  • a folding screen/room divider - I don't know why I liked the idea of a folding screen so much, I just did
  • a gothic wrought-iron chaise-lounge upholstered in purple crushed velvet and zebra print. I saw it at an ironmongery and really wanted it at the time, OK?! 😂

Don't get me wrong, I still have no taste interiors wise but I have moved on from those things.

OP posts:
hermioneee · 14/12/2023 18:36

An inflatable chair

Barleymilk · 14/12/2023 19:11

Sponge/rag painting my sitting room walls in 1998.

Sequinne · 14/12/2023 19:15

Pink tiles for the kitchen
A gallery wall full of pics & prints
white floorboards

Nothing wrong with any of these btw, just glad I never did them!

SteamingTangerine · 14/12/2023 19:27

In the 90s I used to long for a collection of Aynsley Cottage Garden china and an onyx ashtray and lighter set. I was in my early 20s FGS!

In the 80s my mom was leaving my dad and getting her own place, and I remember (aged about 14) I really wanted her to get some wicker, floral upholstered furniture (like old people might have in their conservatory) and a Ford Escort XR2 in bright blue on the drive.

willyconker · 14/12/2023 19:39

A bookcase?

Seaside3 · 14/12/2023 22:13

Matching crockery. Now it's coordinating.

BigSkies2022 · 14/12/2023 22:39

Mosaic tiles in the shower. In a hard water area. Yes, I was a total fashion victim. Now my tiles are big, with matching grout, and I can keep everything beautifully clean.

Fifiesta · 15/12/2023 12:24

In the late 70’s/early 80’s I liked smoke glass.
Seeing it again now, wait long enough and styles return.
Shhhh! Still like it now, not wall to wall, but a smaller amount of it can still look stylish…

Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 15/12/2023 12:29

Would have loved a glass block wall - but not now.
we did have bean bags, but now would need help getting out of them!

SecondClassmyass · 15/12/2023 12:52

Beige and ‘clean’ interiors like from the white company catalogue. Now I prefer my house more eclectic and colourful.

RantyAnty · 15/12/2023 12:57

Round bed
70s Mediterranean furniture

JengaCupboard · 15/12/2023 13:00

I have a glass block wall in my 60's house (it was extended in 1979 and I think they used it to block up a doorway?) and I love it.. although I do like to embrace the mid-century generally.

In the 90's I wanted all matching orange-pine furniture in my room. Also when I had my first place alone I REALLY wanted a cow-hide rug... I also painted the whole flat purple/bright pink/mint green... on reflection it looked a bit like soft-play... (early 2000's)

Jacfrost · 15/12/2023 13:02

Stripped floorboards
White walls
Subway tiled kitchen/ bathroom

TheGhostILoveTheMost · 15/12/2023 13:03

In my first property I really yearned for a loft bed, imagining all the free space I would create. I never did get one.
The thought of one now fills me with dread. Bed cover change day is already a massive pita.

Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 15/12/2023 13:17

@JengaCupboard i still love the look, just can’t reach to clean them!

MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 15/12/2023 13:23

Sequinne · 14/12/2023 19:15

Pink tiles for the kitchen
A gallery wall full of pics & prints
white floorboards

Nothing wrong with any of these btw, just glad I never did them!

Yeah, you dodged a bullet there. We moved into a house with very pale grey, painted floorboards and they were a PITA. They always look dirty.

GrumpyGinger · 15/12/2023 13:27

I've got a picture/photo wall in my livingroom. Y'know, lots of frames and art, family photos type thing. Loved it for many years and enjoyed updating the photos as new memories were made... but now I find it cluttered and messy. Redecorating in 2024 and I'm going for something more minimal.

DRS1970 · 15/12/2023 13:30

An L-shaped leather sofa, and a massive terrarium.

quirkychick · 15/12/2023 13:36

I wanted a glass block wall too. We blocked up a doorway when we knocked 2 rooms together (late 90s). Same era, we had a rag roll painted bedroom complete with mural, hated it and repainted it pretty soon after.

We had a gallery wall in the hall and keep meaning to put it back up after it was redecorated.

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 15/12/2023 13:50

Floor cushions ( actually were quite useful if I had an overnight guest in a one bedroom house).
A glass ‘grill’ which sat in the worksurface like a hob. I yearned for one of these for years, DH bought me one when we moved. It was terrible, broiled not grilled, almost imposssible to clean. I left it behind without a second thought.

An integrated Bosch under counter fridge : terrible layout, couldn’t really use the bottom ‘drawer’ 🥶at all because it wouldn’t open up fully. We thought it would nicer in a kitchen diner but it just drove me mad. Got rid of it and used the re hung door for a cupboard, got a BIG fridge at which I smiled every time I saw it.

MissyB1 · 15/12/2023 13:54

When we bought this house one of the reasons was the open plan kitchen /diner with an island.

Im so over it! Next house will be smaller kitchen and a lounge/diner.

evilharpy · 15/12/2023 13:57

There was a page in the bed linen section of the Kays catalogue around the late 90s that I was obsessed with. Bright Mediterranean blue duvet cover with a sort of rag rolled effect, white stained floor boards, a little bistro set beside the bed and a big window. I was obsessed with that page and thought having a room like that would make me feel like I was on holiday every day. I made my mum order me the bed linen but it never looked quite right with my varnished pine floor, knotty pine furniture, and view of the perpetually grey Irish sky outside.

I also really wanted a Wurlitzer jukebox and a ballroom to put it in so I could have lots of parties. I'd still quite like a jukebox but Spotify does the job.

Original poster
Echobelly · 15/12/2023 14:40

@Alphabet1spaghetti2 - I still love glass block walls , but wouldn't really go in our Edwardian terrace! My brother lives in late 1920s apartment block that has them though.

OP posts:
Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 15/12/2023 15:03

@Echobelly fab! Yes I suspect our Victorian terrace doesn’t lend itself to glass block. I shall continue to admire from afar!

SteamingTangerine · 15/12/2023 15:04

@Fifiesta omg yes, I watched a French film when I was a little girl and there was brown smoked glass on the inside of the house, like room dividers? I was OBSESSED and decided I would have that in my house when I grew up. I would actually still quite like it but don't think it would go well with my large, boisterous, slobbery dog!