Would you decorate a rental or just put up with it?

celyn90

no I wouldn't - mainly because even if it was a spectacular professional job with permission from the landlord, I reckon you'd be kissing goodbye to your deposit at the end of the rental period to "make good" what you have changed.

pinkshoes

In general, do men really care that much about house decor, or is it just a female thing??

My OH couldn't care less about our vile 1970s blue bathroom with cork tile floor, but I can't stand it, and would like nothing more than to rip it out and put in a nice bathroom suite.

I'd decorate, as even if it's just for a year, personally I find it really depressing living with drab and ghastly decor.

paddy's_mum

I've done exactly what you propose. Following a disastrous house fire, we were lucky to get the tenancy of a sound but mucky terraced cottage as almost no landlord was willing to rent to a couple with a very old dog as well as a 4 month old puppy. The place was grubby, grotty and just generally yuck.

Inside the space of a weekend, I realised that no amount of scrubbing was going to make a difference to the sheer shabbiness of the house. The landlord was delighted to give permission for us to strip, woodchip and magnolia almost the entire house. We paid for the materials ourselves since it didn't cost much and ensured the landlord had nothing to baulk at. It took us two weeks to do. (So poor was the house that when we stripped some 70's vinyl wallpaper from a bedroom wall, the curtain track fell off - only the wallpaper had been holding it up!)

Was it worth it? Undoubtedly. Why spend a year of your life loathing some aspect of it that is so very easy to change? Why add to your feelings of displacement or dismay when for the cost of a large tin of emulsion, you can brighten up as many rooms as need doing?

I also found it therapeutic since it made me feel that despite all the bad luck, and the destruction of almost everything I owned, as well as ramifications which were completely beyond my control, I was doing something tangible to help myself.

When the letting agent returned our entire deposit, the accompanying letter said that in 27 years, he had never before seen a property returned in better fettle than when it was first let out. I took that as a genuine compliment.

If people will give you B & Q vouchers instead of a bottle of wine or flowers for housewarming gifts, your efforts will be even more mse! Good luck.

soolin

I have never lived in rented accomodation but I don't think I would be prepared to live in a place where the decor made me unhappy, not for a full year. Just because it is rented doesn't mean it isn't your home.

However having said that as a landlord I would epxect to be fully consulted and assurances given that the work would be to a certain standard, and with the right to inspect it.

poppysarah

paddy's_mum wrote: »

woodchip and magnolia almost the entire house. We paid for the materials ourselves since it didn't cost much

Where did you buy your wallpaper and paint?

£3 a roll is the cheapest I think we found paper - would love to know if you found cheaper.

Ninjawombat

Well, I decided to repaint the bathroom of my last rented property (I got permission from the LL) and although it looked nice afterwards, I now wish I didn't do it. A dispute with the letting agent about my deposit has made me regret doing anything to make the flat look better.

aliasojo

pinkshoes wrote: »

In general, do men really care that much about house decor, or is it just a female thing??

I'd decorate, as even if it's just for a year, personally I find it really depressing living with drab and ghastly decor.

I suspect it is more a female thing. I think I too would find it depressing to be living 24/7 in a drab environment, whereas my OH wouldn't care. :undecided

paddy's_mum wrote: »

Was it worth it? Undoubtedly. Why spend a year of your life loathing some aspect of it that is so very easy to change? Why add to your feelings of displacement or dismay when for the cost of a large tin of emulsion, you can brighten up as many rooms as need doing?

If people will give you B & Q vouchers instead of a bottle of wine or flowers for housewarming gifts, your efforts will be even more mse! Good luck.

I think you make a good point about perhaps adding to feelings of displacement. As some will know, we didn't choose this move, it was pretty much forced upon us due to work issues and I'm leaving a home I've been in for over 20 years that now has a lovely kitchen, bathroom and oak everywhere to go to a rental that is less than lovely shall we say.

OH intends to work as much as he is able to, over the next few months especially, in order to get our debt paid off and start saving hard so we can buy again in the new area asap. So he'll likely be at work more than he is home and couldn't care less what the walls look like. He's also ex Army which means he's used to putting his head down in many different and not so great places so drab wallpaper is a breeze for him.

I on the other hand will be at home with the kids.....looking at the drab red/pink wallpaper.

It's me that does the decorating anyway so I think when we pick the keys up I'll ask about the possibility of painting. I can put up with most of the other rooms, it's just this one that is particularly depressing so I think we need to compromise. It's also at the back of the house which means it doesn't get a lot of natural light either which adds to it being very dull.

Thanks for your thoughts everyone.

Ps......I don't mind if you all pm me for my new address so you know where to send the B&Q vouchers. :rotfl:

Callie22

pinkshoes wrote: »

In general, do men really care that much about house decor, or is it just a female thing??

My OH couldn't care less about our vile 1970s blue bathroom with cork tile floor, but I can't stand it, and would like nothing more than to rip it out and put in a nice bathroom suite.

I'd decorate, as even if it's just for a year, personally I find it really depressing living with drab and ghastly decor.

I think it definitely must be one of those things that illustrates the difference between the sexes. OH couldn't care less about where we live, I'm the one cleaning, sprucing things up and doing all the little jobs that make somewhere tidier and more comfortable to live - my attitude is it might not be our house, but it has to be our HOME and nobody's impressed by us making our life less pleasant by not doing stuff on principle.

Tbh, having had my fingers burnt in previous rentals, I don't know if I'd 'decorate' as such (I wouldn't put in a new bathroom or kitchen!!), but I don't have a problem with doing little jobs (new bath plugs and chains lol, I don't think I've ever moved into a rental that has a plug on a chain!) or doing stuff like buying curtains. OH would literally tack a sheet over the windows but you can get really nice curtains for a song on ebay and they're the kind of thing that you can always sell on if they don't fit the next place.

When we have our first inspection in this house, I am tempted to ask for permission to do a bit of painting. The whole house is white apart from one room which is a nasty shade of nightmare blue, I can't stand it and I'm desperate to paint it white.

J_i_m

A rented property may be your "home" but it certainly isn't your property. Therefore you shouldn't assume that you can decorate.

The easiest option if you don't like the d!cor is to simply not move in. I viewed a place that on paper would have been good for me... but it was basically pink everywhere... didn't like it, so I didn't move there.

If you are rather limited on places to go... then you should always check with the agent/landlord first and always obtain their permission in writing with as many assurances as you can muster.

Personally... little jobs aside, I wouldn't touch anything, as it's my money down the drain and not my property.

westv

It might me a male/female thing. I just don't see the point of spending time and effort do do something that you won't see (assuming it's short term) in a few more months. I know that some people love decorating but many don't so why choose to decorate somewhere where you don't intend to live for any particular length of time?