Double Trouble - Nothing by halves

Double_Trouble

Been having a review of jobs that need doing around the house as it is looking decidedly shabby and not in a chic way

WARNING LONG POST PLEASE FEEL FREE TO IGNORE - ramblings about decorating jobs

There is one job that needs doing on the chimney stack which is urgent which we have asked a builder friend to look at as it is 3 storeys up there is definitely no way that we would be tackling that :eek: so that is factored in as needing to be done asap

Other outside jobs can wait until next year when hopefully we will have more money and better weather

Inside we have decided that downstairs is more urgent than upstairs as it is looking worse than upstairs and it is the area that visitors see

The largest room in the house the lounge is underused mainly because the kids tend to take it over and also the lighting in there is so dim - we could just paint it which would get rid of the scribble on the walls:mad: but it still wouldn't be used much we have accepted that we are not going to be able to do the massive reordering of the house that we would like to do unless we have a win on the premium bonds or lottery and if we do we would not be bothered that we had wasted a bit of money now doing what we plan to do. So we have decided to go for the medium option and get an electrician in to install another set of wall lights which will make the room more balanced and lighter and some more sockets so we can have lamps - really annoys me there are loads of sockets but all down one end of the room and we will then redecorate we will take the extra wall light from the small lounge as it matches the ones in the big lounge so that will save money not having to replace all the wall lights in there :money: This will mean replacing the single wall light in the small lounge but as I want eventually a more modern look in this room that would be good as the lighting in that room is awful too - bit of a theme here we inherited really bad lighting when we moved in and have replaced some of the fittings but never changed the lighting system which is useless. The big lounge would then be well lit and re decorated, the suite we had recovered and is fine, the curtains are fine too, the carpet needs replacing but the bad bit is covered by a piece of furniture so can be shampooed and replaced at a later date and that will be one room done.

The dining room needs painting the carpet can't be replaced in there as it would just be damaged again by the stair lift so will have to stay as is, the table is fine, the chairs have been repaired (they are edwardian oak ones) they could do with recovering but that will be a specialist job so I will convince myself they are shabby chic instead of just shabby :rotfl: so in the scheme of things not too bad or expensive a room to do.

The stairs I would like to paint white they are dark wood at the moment so quite a job and with the stair lift in place a bit tricky so that is time consuming and difficult to do - hard to ban people from the stairs whilst its being done so will probably just be a case of painting the wall which needs doing badly.

The kitchen ideally needs new worktops, new windows, new sink as it is cracked and new flooring so will probably only get painted as we don't have that sort of money and again a big job the cupboards are fine or would be with new knobs and the appliances are great so not a complete new kitchen just an overhaul.

The small lounge which is the one we use the most desperately needs a new suite that just has to be budgeted for soon, it could also do with new windows and blinds, the new lighting mentioned above, painting and a bit of plaster work done to take out an alcove and make it flush as it really annoys me in fact the only things that are OK in this room are the fireplace and the flooring :eek:

So I think the plan for now is
1. to redecorate and fix lighting in the big lounge but not replace the carpet
2. paint dining room
3. paint wall on stairs
4. replace lighting in small lounge as we will be a wall light short anyway

and then save like mad to replace suite, windows and blinds in small lounge which is urgent but just can't be found from existing budget so will have to be creative here

Then next year look at the outside jobs and saving to do the jobs in the kitchen

Sounds like a plan now just have to carry it out but I know OH and I will feel a lot happier once these are done as we are conscious that we have neglected our house recently but debt repayment has been more important

For those who bothered reading all this tosh - get a life :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

DTxx

MatyMoo

I obviously need a life then!

Just wondered if you could get a new(ish) suite from ebay, preloved or even free cycle. Or are there any auctions close by? When my Mum died 2 years after moving to a small flat which needed new furniture (the stuff from her old house was just too big) most of it went to an auction as none of us had space for it.

GreyhoundAngel

I can totally empathise with all of that DT :cool:

We've inherited decor / furniture & furnishings which whilst usable - are not either in the best condition (kitchen / bathroom), are very worn or outdated (carpets & walls) or are not really usable for us (furniture), especially with our own stuff having now come out of storage. :cool:

Don't get me wrong, I love dad's / our home - but with everything else that's needed sorting, I've sorely neglected many things. The immersion has been gone for a while, (luckily we've got an electric shower) so washing up is done with boiled kettles, as I can't yet afford to get it fixed

We also have a mess of electrics : sockets either in totally wrong places or not enough of them in the rooms, and like you - light fittings that don't work with the rooms. As for the kitchen .... it's quite a large room, but badly laid out (unchanged since parents originally bought the house) with very little storage and even less usable worktop space. :cool:

It WILL look beautiful again and the garden - but it will take some time, and creativity as I will need to do it as cheaply (freely !!!) as possible, there is no room in the budget to set aside for it atm.

Wish you luck with your "home challenge" :A
Angel xxx

Keeping_Motivated

Double_Trouble wrote: »

For those who bothered reading all this tosh - get a life :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

DTxx

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: I'm not telling you if I did or not now

Hopeful1

Double_Trouble wrote: »

For those who bothered reading all this tosh - get a life :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

DTxx

I'm so insulted lol

Double_Trouble

Well you will never get that time back so on your own heads be it :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

DTxx

taxi73

I need a life too as I read it...I know how you feel as my house is the same.There is so much to do that I don't know where to start...but like you we have to do it a bit at a time as money allows whilst still trying to have a life and pay the bills...sigh

Karmacat

And another one, kind of ... this house is a lot easier to manage than the one I moved from last year, but I'm still overflowing it, boxes of pictures and ornaments still sitting there under the stairs .... ug. Possibly I shouldn't have read this post this early in the day!

Good plan tho, DT, and I think its a good idea to lay the bits out piece by piece, so they fit into the overall scheme.

gilligansyle

I need a life!!

I know how you feel about it, sometimes its difficult to prioritise when the budget is limited. For furniture etc, it does depend on your area whether you can get anything worth having on freecycle or the like. And of course, you have to be able to transport whatever you get.

For the kitchen, you can generally do up a kitchen quite cheaply just by changing doors and handles, especially if the cupboards are standard sized.

Its amazing the difference a lick of paint can make though.

Double_Trouble

Had a lovely time with OH on Monday in our "us Time" went to the local tourist town that we haven't been to for ages weather going was glorious and driving through the mountains with the sun and the frost was superb coming back it was cloudy!

Everywhere was quiet mainly locals around had a bit of a mooch and was very surprised at the very expensive tat for sale which people are obviously buying I think being on MSE for so long makes you think everyone shops the way we do but obviously not - need to find a line of expensive tat to sell to gullible people

Funny tum yesterday and today and my little girl is off school with sickness and the runs as is her teacher so housebound and beginning to panic about Christmas relatives coming next week and need to have purchased and wrapped all presents and so far have zilch although I am bidding on some games on ebay (30 mins to go) for my littlies which would be ace if I get them . So really need to get to the shops with my vouchers points cards etc. to blitz the present list which at the moment is just a list of names no presents :eek: so thinking Friday needs to be C day shop till I drop and get at least the presents that need to go away still waiting for Mr. T's toy catalogue but once that comes should be simple as long as stuff is not out of stock and I can get it delivered to my local store so fairly easy. Getting some ideas for my eldest daughter and have asked eldest son to make a list and bring it with him when he comes home next weekend as not seeing him regularly I am short of ideas for him. I will be so much happier when this is done.

Moneywise things are looking good have taken a booking for the villa which will cover expenses this month and the cost of the new advert so that's good other than that quiet on the money front at least being housebound means I am not spending unless I see some more bargains on ebay of course

DTxx

My Mum is buying me clothes for Christmas and I did see a cardigan during Monday's mooch which was a bit different and not mega expensive but the bit that made it different was in the wrong place for my outstanding assets when I tried it on and I knew that Souk would not have allowed me to buy it so back on the rack it went