Help me decorate/organise my flat

chanelle2

hi, i live in a 2 bedroom flat and so far the living room and bedroom is organised. we like to live with few things in the room, so in the living room we have a sofa, bookshelf and the computer and in the bedroom just a bed and a side table. no extra storage cupboards (cupboard is built in in bedroom).

now the other bedroom is larger than our bedroom and is not in use for sitting in at all. ideally i'd like to make it into another room to sit in when we have guests (big family who come over so the living room isn't enough) but i'm struggling with it. the room is painted sky blue but there is a big tre outside which isn't directly in front but it takes away sunlight (as opposed to the living room and bedroom and kitchen which are very bright when it's a sunny day). i'd like to light it up a bit but don't want to waste more money on electricity so not sure if i can do anything about that with lighting. perhaps i could repaint the room.

anyway, we have been using the room to just place everything we're not using daily in there since we've moved in (been about 2 months) so the room is a mess. i have a lot of folders, which i dont want to place in the living room. i also have art stuff (a small eisel, paints, canvases) and bags (handbags, sidebags) as well as other random stuff that won't fit into my built in cupboard in the bedroom.

i was thinking of getting a cupboard thought not large in size (perhaps the size of a bookshelf which is tall) with a lock built in so people don't help themselves to look inside but so far i can't find anything. i want to keep that room with less things on display as i had this problem of kids coming over and taking everything off the bookshelf in the living room (what they could reach) and opening the computer desk drawers etc. so i decided i;d take them to the blue room when they come over with their parents who didn't tell them off much.

so, i'm ideally looking for some sort of storage cupboard which isn't massive that it will make the room look smaller. i'd also be using this as a sitting room, and sometimes a bedroom for when guests stay over but sofa beds are really expensive.

i need some creative ideas to make it cosy yet minimal things lying around in the room. i don't mind putting decor on the walls.

sorry for the long post but i hope to get some help from the creative people on this forum.

Fire_Fox

Who does the tree belong to and how close is it? You may be able to persuade the owner to pollard it on safety or structural rather than light grounds. Do you mean waste money on a new light fitting/ electrician or waste money on the electricity bill? Even traditional light bulbs use a tiny amount of energy, the modern low energy lamps even less. It's heat (immersion, shower, space heaters, tumble dryer) that make electricity bills astronomical. A rich cream or pale lemon on the walls will make the room seem lighter and more cosy than cold blue.

I suggest you spend half a day in IKEA, check out how creatively they use storage and what shallow floor to ceiling units with mirrored sliding doors or gloss white push-to-open doors looks like in reality, regardless of whether you actually buy anything! Many of IKEA's products are very sturdy, and most ranges can be found on eBay cheaper. I have the Beddinge sofa bed and it really is very comfortable as a bed and for sitting. You can also buy a large storage box for underneath.

IKEA hackers is also an excellent site for spurring creative thinking - you might build your own wall bed for example. :money:

chanelle2

thank you for your reply.

i live in a housing association flat (top floor but it's 2nd floor) so i don't think it can be removed. it's not that close but because the top part is large it overshadows the room.

i meant electricity bill as i'm on a prepay meter i try to save where u can. i guess it won't be too bad to add lighting if i resort to that if i don't get it painted again.

thank you for your suggestion. i'll go to ikea to think of ideas. anything to keep the room tidier.

Fire_Fox

chanelle2 wrote: »

thank you for your reply.

i live in a housing association flat (top floor but it's 2nd floor) so i don't think it can be removed. it's not that close but because the top part is large it overshadows the room.

i meant electricity bill as i'm on a prepay meter i try to save where u can. i guess it won't be too bad to add lighting if i resort to that if i don't get it painted again.

thank you for your suggestion. i'll go to ikea to think of ideas. anything to keep the room tidier.

I didn't suggest removing the tree I suggested pollarding. So who does the tree belong to, is it on housing association land? The larger the tree, the larger it's root span so the more likely it can be to affect the foundations of your home.

I promise you if you want to save on your electricity hit the hot water, heating and tumble dryer. I live in an electric only flat and my bills are significantly smaller (probably averages a third) than anyone else I know in a similar position. I don't really think about lighting and the electric underblanket on my bed is on 24/7 through the winter as both these cost pennies. But I turn the shower off whilst I soap up/ shampoo, use leave-in conditioner, laundry at 30-40 degrees, never tumble dry, in winter sit in my toasty bed with my toasty cat watching TV or reading rather than have the heating on high. :money:

Can you get the keymeter changed eventually given that you are a long term tenant? It's a while since I've been on the electricity message board, but I am sure this has come up before so it's worth checking.

chanelle2

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I didn't suggest removing the tree I suggested pollarding. So who does the tree belong to, is it on housing association land? The larger the tree, the larger it's root span so the more likely it can be to affect the foundations of your home.

I promise you if you want to save on your electricity hit the hot water, heating and tumble dryer. I live in an electric only flat and my bills are significantly smaller (probably averages a third) than anyone else I know in a similar position. I don't really think about lighting and the electric underblanket on my bed is on 24/7 through the winter as both these cost pennies. But I turn the shower off whilst I soap up/ shampoo, use leave-in conditioner, laundry at 30-40 degrees, never tumble dry, in winter sit in my toasty bed with my toasty cat watching TV or reading rather than have the heating on high. :money:

Can you get the keymeter changed eventually given that you are a long term tenant? It's a while since I've been on the electricity message board, but I am sure this has come up before so it's worth checking.

I'll see about the tree.

I don't use a tumble dryer and heating, we'll start the challenge in winter (no need for heating right now). Yes I suppose we can get it changed but at the moment it's quite cheap for us anyway, so we're analysing our usage for now.

I suppose I'll take a trip to Ikea and have a look at those storage cabinets and after browsing that Ikea hackers website, it's inspiring.