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NOW CLOSED Talk to B&Q about the most unloved room in your home - £150 giftcard to be won

159 replies

AngelieMumsnet · 04/07/2013 09:31

As you may have seen already, we're working with B&Q, who so far have helped 20 MNers revamp the unloved rooms in their homes - check out the video of their fab revamps here. MNers have also been posting their before and after pics of rooms they've revamped here so do check out both of those threads for Mumsnetter room makeovers!

What B&Q would like now is to hear from as many MNers as possible...

Which is the most unloved room in your home and why? Is it a bathroom that's more shabby than chic? A garden that's more of a jungle? A living room that's past its best or a spare room that's just a dumping ground?

Everyone who shares their unloved room stories here will be entered into a prize draw to win a £150 B&Q giftcard.

Please note that any comments you post here may appear on the B&Q pages on Mumsnet and potentially elsewhere.

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw
MNHQ

OP posts:
CrackleMauve · 07/07/2013 23:02

Too much to choose from in our house. Bought a fixer upper but not got the means to fix it up at the moment. The bathroom depresses me the most I think. Constant leaks, our bath is more sealant than bath these days. Lifting Lino, awkward shape, dismal tiles. I dream of a lovely, clean white bathroom that gleams.

earlymidlifecrisis · 08/07/2013 08:04

Our toilet/bathroom is our most unloved room. We have a separate bathroom and toilet, next door to each other. I'd dearly love to be able to knock them into one, and update the old suite. The toilet is beginning to leak, the shower is an old fashioned type that is over the bath, and the wallpaper is that awful anaglypta! I am all for retro but this is just unloved. It's far down our list of priorities, and until we remortgage, we can't even begin to tackle any of our projects.

prakattack · 08/07/2013 11:55

It's our "new" extension, how bad is that?! We extended the kitchen/ dining room 4 years ago just before DS1 was born (kitchen wasn't in when we came back from hospital!!). The space is great but with DS1 and then DS2 coming along we've never found time to finish it... so there are no skirting boards (and it's freezing!), no tiles on the kitchen walls (they're stacked in the garage ready...), one wall that's only been undercoated etc etc.
We also both really struggle with visualising decor and what colours will work so actually, the bits we have done - the kitchen units, worktops, the flooring and the walls we have painted - we're not even sure it actually works and the whole thing feels really cold and unwelcoming. Since it's the biggest room we have and the place we spend all our time, it's quite depressing really!

pud1 · 08/07/2013 11:58

my dreary bedroom. it is so unloved. boring cream walls. wardrobes busting at the seams and draws that are falling apart. the carpet is vile. infact the only thing going for it is my bed that is quite comfy.

RunningKatie · 08/07/2013 14:16

The most unloved room has to be the downstairs loo for me, but DH claims he loves how retro it is Shock It's a vision in avocado, the cistern lid wobbles worryingly whenever i clean in there. I broke the blind a few weeks ago. Sad
The floor is thin, with nasty vinyl tiles that have moved and never look clean.
I've decided to ask for vouchers for Christmas to buy tiles, paint etc. so we can spruce it up and bring it into the 21st century.

YoungBritishPissArtist · 08/07/2013 18:09

My whole flat My bathroom. The floor is carpeted, I rent and my LL won't change it Sad

It's stained from two leaks from the drain, and a particularly heavy period it's a Victorian conversion and paint's peeling off the walls and I generally feel downcast whenever I go in there. And I have to go in at least once a day, obviously.

Leanna1984 · 08/07/2013 20:00

It's most definitely out bathroom,its so out of date with peach suite and matching tiles and probably the oldest shower out there,its very much in need of some attention but the bills come first and there's not much change.from that :-(

StepAwayFromTheEcclesCakes · 08/07/2013 21:12

its my patio, my pots have peeling paint, my clematis is being eaten alive by snails, my troughs have old plants in that are not flowering, my hanging baskets are dead and my table and chairs are peeling too Sad

HelgaHufflepuff · 08/07/2013 21:21

Our most unloved room would have to be our bedroom. We've lived here approximately 13 years, and have managed to decorate every room apart from our bedroom. Having children and a lack of funds has put paid to any decorating plans for now
As a result, it's standing all forlorn and shabby looking in comparison to the rest of the rooms.
The carpet has definitely seen better days, and the wallpaper has faded.
It could definitely do with some TLC!

naisaaa · 09/07/2013 05:05

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MyMillsBaby · 09/07/2013 07:22

DEFINITELY our living room. It's very long and thin and there's so much dead space. We're very good at keeping our bedrooms looking sharp and tidy and Dexter's nursery is by far my favourite room in the house. When you come downstairs to hoards of toys and random mess it can be very depressing. I just don't think our lounge / dining room has much of an identity. I'm always tredding on logo, tripping over the rug, re-stocking the bookcase where my rascal has pulled everything off. He has the unique ability to make a room look burgled in 30 seconds.

fuzzpig · 09/07/2013 08:14

Most of our house is pretty unloved tbh!

However worst is probably DCs' bedroom. Our landlords had the living room/hallways painted last year which was great but not the bedrooms, they said we can do whatever we want if we pay but we haven't had time or money or energy for it.

The walls are that horrible trade paint stuff so has lots of marks all over as you can't clean it without it coming off. There are wall stickers, a friend gave me some nice ones but we also have glow in the dark stars which look rubbish in the day time. Lots of old posters that are really the worse for wear, but they stay because it's better than the wall! The carpet is really dingy and DD's bed is covered in stickers and DD insists she hates it anyway. DH moved the mattress to the floor next to DS' bed Hmm and the bed is now a dumping ground, as is the rest of the room!

BigFairy · 09/07/2013 11:27

Our third bedroom, which we use a study and general dumping ground, is our most unloved room. The whole house needed decorating when we bought it and we didn't get to do this room before having DS. Now we don't have the time or money. It has old faded floral wallpaper with all the mess from having the electricity rewired and no carpet or proper flooring...Would love to sort it out one day, especially as it will have to become a bedroom when we have another baby!

snowgal · 09/07/2013 11:51

It's definitely our living room! We haven't had chance to repaint the walls since we moved in nearly 6 months ago, they are a pale brown colour which really isn't my thing at all. Along with the black watch tartan curtains which we brought from the last house (mainly because they fit), mismatched furniture (black ikea sofas - hate black but they were cheap on Gumtree, an antique wingbacked chair in a rose colour and bright blue beanbag) and one solitary bookcase stuffed with anything and everything - our living room is a disgrace!

The main problem is I can't see a logical way to repaint and work on the room which could incorporate some of these colours and not cost us a fortune. We also desperately need a rug as the house has laminate flooring so the room doesn't feel cosy like I would like, and we have nothing on the walls as yet so it doesn't feel like "ours" and still looks like we've only just moved in!

I'm expecting baby number two in 3 months so the pressure has been on to sort the house as much as possible, we have redecorated our sons room and organised as much of the house as possible, but the living room has been largely ignored except various colour tester pot blobs on the wall!!

I would love to love my living room rather than be embarrassed by it!

chrismse · 09/07/2013 18:57

Bathroom here, it is so small and I would love a really good shower and the walls tiled but it will have to stay on wish list for now.

barmaid · 09/07/2013 20:17

Our bathroom, has mouldy tiles that cannot be cleaned!!

eteo · 09/07/2013 23:37

we moved into our new house for 5 years now. kids had put dirty hands all over the wall and puke on the wall ....
we finially went to b&q and get paint. they are having membership deals. i get extra 15% off! I had paint our toilet. the paint had freshen the room and now it look so welcoming!

malachite · 10/07/2013 09:57

Our bedroom is definitely the most unloved room. We've put all our effort and money into making the kids bedrooms nice first.
We have one window with a hideous curtain foisted on us by the inlaws and the other window doesn't even have a curtain over it yet. The neighbours can see straight in so I have to ensure I'm wearing pjs at night, which is not fun in this weather. The walls are plain white but dirty looking. We have a mattress on the floor as the bed frame broke during the move. My clothes are mostly in bags and boxes as I don't have a wardrobe yet. It has the potential to be a fantastic room and I know exactly what I want to do with it....when I get the time and money!

BlackeyedSusan · 10/07/2013 10:22

the hall and landing. the decorator i stripped the wallpaper off the the height that can be reasonable reached from the stairs without a ladder, then buggered off on maternity leave (dd is nearly 7) leaving a diagonal line of woodchip and lime green paint underneath. there is no room to move and the worlds largest collection of library books and post and junk modelling boxes for school are arranged up the stairs.

i do have a lovely set of coat pegs from b and q... just they are doing no good in a carrier bag on the floor. Blush

RamsgateMummy · 10/07/2013 12:05

Definitely our bathroom. You sure couldn't relax and unwind in the bath which is a tin bath built shabbily in and loses the heat in seconds! The shower is a council issue disability wet room with stained orange tiles and hideous puke coloured Lino......hmm not sure what drew us to this house :s

kathrynmbwheeler · 10/07/2013 14:24

For us it's our garden. It is not huge, but loops around the side of our house so is effectively a U shape. We just dont know where to start with it, the sun rises at the bottom of the U, but the back of the house is on one side of the U so shades one arm of the U, and the other is completely exposed and non-fenced, so we dont know where to begin with it. Our family want different things from the garden - I want somewhere peaceful and pretty to sit and be calm when I finally get 5 minutes to myself, my husband wants a 'man-shed' where he can keep manly tools and brew beer (infuriating as I say again, our garden isn't that big) and my son who is nearly 2 wants to run around like crazy thing and climb and jump and play with water etc. Blimey, just where do we start?!!?!!!!!

hanbee · 10/07/2013 21:35

Our bathroom is truly horrendous. Dark and poky even though it's a good size room. the suite must have been there for at least 20 years, it's covered in paint from the last owners that won't scrub off and has tons of mouldy grout.
When people stay over I'm embarrassed of it!

sc00ter · 11/07/2013 14:25

My sons room - He has a small room and so we bought a bunkbed for him with a desk.
Which was fine about 2/3 years ago, but all of a sudden he seems so tall.
So he really needs a new bed.
I want him to the one that lifts up as he can store stuff inside the bed base and he will not then hit his head on the ceiling.
But my son, who does not like to change much - says everything is fine!!!
So we can not decorate either while is bed is in the way.

gleegeek · 11/07/2013 17:10

Well to be honest it's the whole house! But if I had to choose the one place which gets me down the most and looks the worst, then it would have to be the stairs and landing. We live in a Victorian semi which had all of its original features stripped out by the previous owner. We inherited a delightful 70s vibe of shiny vinyl wallpaper, browny/green carpet and glass light shades with swirly patterns. There are also two internal windows from a bedroom onto the landing which currently have patterned glass in them, one of which is held together with gaffer tape due to a loft hatch related incidentBlush

So far we have stripped the walls. We need to sand and fill them (do a bit of skimming etc). I have had quotes to put new glass in the windows. Then we need to decide on wallpaper/paint colours and JUST GET ON WITH IT! Due to a lack of funds we have been ignoring it all, hoping it would go away.....

JakeBullet · 11/07/2013 17:32

After the day I have just had of furniture moving, hoovering and de cluttering I am nominating my living room. Am exhausted and there is still more to do.