Bunnings home improvement and gardening store - share your best home improvement tips - win £200 voucher NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

This thread is for the 10 MNers who went along to the Grand Opening Weekend of the new Bunnings Warehouse in Milton Keynes on 8/9 July. Thanks so much for going along, we hope you enjoyed it!

Non attendees:
To be in with a chance of winning £200 leisure voucher, please share your best home improvement tip on this thread - everyone who does so will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win the voucher!

Attendees:
Below are a few feedback questions for you to answer - if you have any more comments, please feel free to add them to your response. Do share your feedback - tag @bunnings_uk

Why did you want to visit Bunnings in Milton Keynes?
What did you enjoy about it?
Did it inspire you? If yes, in what ways?
What did you spend your £20 on? Please share a photo of your purchase(s)
Do you think you’d return to the new Bunnings store when you were after home improvement or gardening products?
How would you describe the store to someone who had never been?

All the attendees who share feedback will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will win a £100 leisure voucher voucher.

Thanks, and good luck with the prize draws!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

non-tester: my top tip for home improvement would be to recognise that even small changes can give the house a big facelift - eg just repainting or wallpapering one wall to make it a bit of a feature, or adding some new cushions or soft furnishings. Finally revamping furniture by moving it around different rooms can add a bit of excitement! We swapped the kids bed round (with their permission) and as they are all different styles, the kids were so excited - it felt like their whole room had a makeover!

A fresh lick of paint and a feature wall

Non attendee - my home improvement tip would be to smarten up a room and refresh it with accessories rather than a full re-decoration. Inject some colour into a room with curtains, cushions, pictures, rugs etc. Or go a little further and just re-paper one wall to make a feature - quick lick of paint to the rest of it and it will keep you going.

Check what equipment you have at home before going to the DIY store to buy paint - otherwise you will end up buying a new roller, tray, brush, white spirit, dust cloth, etc, when you quite probably have most already.

Or is it just me that can't resist the lure of new decorating equipment?

Always make sure you have done all the prep before you start

Non attendee - I keep big items neutral. So sofas, furniture and walls and then I can alter throws, rugs, cushions, curtains and pictures more often to change the look of the room while keeping the cost to a minimum.

Best home improvement tip: get on with it! It's so easy to learn to live with stuff and then when you do eventually change things you wonder why you hadn't done so far earlier... so maintain momentum!

Best Home Improvement Tip:

Easily and efficiently emulsion a room.
One wall per day.
Use small brushes first to paint around edges, light switches etc.
Then use a small roller (poundland) to quickly whizz over the rest.
Enough time to re-coat that wall the same day.
Room finished within a week!

home improvement tips is if you cant afford to decorate a whole room just change the accessories

Give your kitchen appliances a modern twist using electrical tape. You can add stripes, spots or zigzags and it will look like a brand new modern designer appliance.

My home improvement tip is to have a feature wall in your lounge changing the wallpaper on it can really it jazz up for a small cost.

My home improvement tip - whatever home improvement task you are doing e.g decorating or gardening, keep everything tidy and in order and look after your tools and equipment. It makes doing these tasks more pleasurable and saves you money in the long run.

my home improvement tip is to hire a professional.

Tip-do things properly even if it's harder/takes longer. If painting, fill all gaps, sand all bumps on walls and woodwork. It looks so much better than just paining over stuff as it is. Same with anything like tiling, a rushed/shoddy job looks awful no matter how nice the tiles are.

use a tester pot when decorating as the light in the room may make the colour look different

My tip is to always buy second hand. You can get some brilliant products at a fraction of the cost. Xx

Non attendee

My home improvement tip is to have a drill that has a light/ torch attached - makes doing work in difficult places easier!

I quite enjoyed it and found it very useful

Non attendee. My tip would be - to do the best job you can, or can afford to have done - cheap or patch ups often don't last, so can be a false economy.

Non attendee
Break it up into small tasks and little ofteneasier to keep the monetum that way

Non-attendee. My home improvement tips are, buy the best paint you can afford, cheap paint is just not worth it. I've recently moved into a new place, and used cheap white emulsion paint to cover over the bright Orange vinyl silk from the previous owner, and the result is patchy, and I am going to have to do it all again with a more expensive quality paint! It really pays to spend as much as you can afford. Also when using a paint roller and tray, line the tray first with cling-film, you can then simply throw away the film when finished, and you've got a clean tray underneath. :)

Do not use a wall paper steam stripper on old plastered walls. It damages the plaster as well as taking the paper off and you end up having to re-plaster as well as re-wallpaper.

Little things matter too.

I have gone to Poundland to get proper brands but big packs of various size batteries - great to keep in for emergencies and so much cheaper than buying ad hoc. I also chose colours from Farrow & Ball but had them mixed up by a local hardware shop. Charity shops are great for furniture - even if it needs a bit of work...