Great Spruce Up Your Home Hunt

eels_2

Stencilling is a bit retro these days but verrrrry cheap. I could never get to grips with stencil brushes so I use bits of foam (cut into wedge shapes) Dip onto paint surface & blot on kitchen towel before applying. Use tester pots or get the primaary colours & mix your own.

To make textured stencils, first apply a thin layer of filler onver the stencil, allow to dry, put stencil back in place & then apply paint. This really does give it a special look.

njm_2

1) I have a living room with dado rail. How can I get rid of it without having to replaster bits of the wall?

2) How can I spruce up some very dated kitchen units?

3) What can I do about an old bathroom suite without having to shell out for a new one?

Thanks xx[/QUOTE]

1. - I recently removed dado rail in our lounge which was disguising the join from when the wall was replastered after damp proof treatment - so there may be other considerations when redecorating. To disguise a bumpy wall use an embossed paper as this will hide many imperfections. Otherwise fit a wallpaper border at dado height and consider painting a darker colour below and a lighter colour above.
2. - Painting is definately the cheapest option, but do use an appropriate primer, and new handles make a huge difference. Screwfix.com sell pre-primed doors in standard sizes which can then be painted to suite your colour scheme.
3. - If it is white then replace the loo seat and other fittings - consider painting the tiles as well. If you have a coloured suite then save up for a new one - in white!

Have fun.

Kippsy

I am in the middle of doing up a house, bought about 18months ago. Anybody know how to get good deals on built in wardrobes, carpets or tiles in the south London, Wimbledon, Kingston area let me know

Cheers!!!

P.S. would definitely go for changing or painting kitchen doors when re-vamping with limited cash!

SnowyOwl_2

njm wrote:

1)
1. - I recently removed dado rail in our lounge which was disguising the join from when the wall was replastered after damp proof treatment - so there may be other considerations when redecorating. To disguise a bumpy wall use an embossed paper as this will hide many imperfections.

In my last house one wall was a disaster area...completely bumpy and cracked. I did as is suggested above, ie disguised it with embossed paper. It looked fab until I put the walllights on, walllights which were uplighters...they cast quite a shadow downwards and highlighted every lump and bump...it looked dreadful. In daytime when the light was off you'd never have noticed, it was just the shadow from the uplighters in the evening, so I'd suggest be careful and consider the effect lighting will have.

ejh1977

It may just be a narrowboat/barge/houseboat thing, but my mother has often covered ugly worksurfaces by tiling the whole surface the same as the splashback. Actually looks rather effective. Also, you can tile over existing tiles if you can't be bothered to remove the originals. Tile paint is available but I've not tried it and would be dubious about the effect, with grouting etc.

msraec

ejh1977 wrote:

It may just be a narrowboat/barge/houseboat thing, but my mother has often covered ugly worksurfaces by tiling the whole surface the same as the splashback. Actually looks rather effective. Also, you can tile over existing tiles if you can't be bothered to remove the originals. Tile paint is available but I've not tried it and would be dubious about the effect, with grouting etc.

tile paint works pretty well in my experience - i do like the idea of tiling the worktops - how does she get the rolltop edge tiled or do you leave that bit as is?

Moose_2

Hi,
We don't really want to move as our house is in a really great location so as we need more space, we are currently in the process of adding a sunroom (will end up being a playroom!) and hopefully add another bedroom and en-suite over our garage.
The £30.000 + quotes we have recieved have made us rethink our plan of getting the work done with a builder and having it completed in 12 weeks.
Hubby has decided to do alot of the work himself with the help and advice of a very good friend who has access to major tools and has a trade account with just about every buliding supplier and an extremely helpful Building Inspector. We have estimated that it should cost between £11-£15.OOO, saving us wads of cash for the other home improvements. Spending this money will eventually add around £50.000 in value to our home (so the estate agent says as we'll go from 3-4 bedrooms and have 2 and a half bathrooms). The only thing is due to hubby working, it will take alot longer to finish but it's a small consolation for saving all that money.
If anyone has some tips for us they will be greatfully received.

H

oueyouey

My house needs a damp proofing, i have a quote for £1500 and am currently using as many money saving tips to save the money up. Does anyone know if i can get it done any cheaper?

Salty71

For anyone thinking about stripping doors back to the wood I would recommend searching out a good dipping and stripping company - don't snigger, you know what I mean!!

We found that there were so many layers of paint on our doors that it would have taken 2 or 3 pots of paint stripper per door. There is a company in Crewe (Strippex, I think they are called) who stripped our doors for about £6 each. They even collected the doors and returned them a few days later. I reckon for the price, you can't beat it - it would have taken forever to get all the paint off in the old-fashioned way.

lynneinjapan

Definitely agree with Salty71. I got all my interior doors dip-stripped for a few pounds each. (The previous owner seemed to have had a fetish for pale pink gloss - shame I couldn't send the banisters for stripping too!) When I got them back I had to rub them down with vinegar to neutralise the caustic dip that they'd used, and give them a good sanding, but it was still a LOT less work than doing the whole lot by hand.

I also got a good solid 1930s oak (I think) sideboard from a charity shop for £20, spent another £25 or £30 getting that professionally stripped and then just painted it with satin varnish, and the wood has come up looking beautiful. My house is one of those ubiquitous 1930s semis so it looks really good sitting in the front bay window, and there's a nice wooden fireplace in the room too. I stripped the fireplace by hand, as I didn't feel confident about removing and replacing it, and it was hard work but it did come out nicely. (The computer doesn't coordinate terribly well though...)