Great Spruce Up Your Home Hunt

Sofa_Sogood

Just look at what you have. I wanted another leather suite for Christmas, didn't need it. Just bought a couple of throws (to cover up a scratch or two) and cushions and looks like erm, not new but very acceptable

Same in the bedroom. Los of cheapish throws and pillows and hey, I'm Linda Barker

forevershopping

Hi, when I wanted to make my kitchen look better I covered the old council doors with tongue and grove and beaded the edges,stained them with brywax, put new handles on, then I tiled my units with cheap white tiles, looks fantastic and realy easy to do, sealed all round the edges with bath sealant, then got a small tin of tile paint and painted the odd tile

George_Bray

I minimised the cost of my DIY 'luxury' bathroom. One element was a Kaldewei enamel bath which cost a remarkable £60 or thereabouts, around five years ago. They're not much more expensive now, if you look around. It is very high quality, you'd never guess it was so cheap, and I am delighted. Being enamel, it looks far classier in my opinion than a £150-£250++ plastic bath, for a start.

The only thing was that the thickness of the metal was less than if you paid a fortune, so I simply made sure it rested on a substantial DIY plinth of wood (totally hidden), which gives it all the rigidity it needs. It doesn't bend, flex or move at all.

I also refused to shell out for an expensive thermostatic valve for my shower. Bathroom and plumbing outlets strike me as places who like printing money. I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the wicked prices they charge for most things. Who needs a thermostatic valve? A total waste of money, in my opinion, when you take your water feed (gas heated power shower) direct from the water tanks. If a tap is turned on elsewhere in the house, it won't make a jot of difference to the shower temperature; not in the short term, at least. I used much cheaper taps/valves that nevertheless look good.

Regards
George

George_Bray

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.

I think it's a pity that tiled work surfaces have gone rather out of fashion, for the time being at least. I too like the surface and wall (splashback) to be all tiles; the same texture and colour.

Kitchen suppliers like selling granite worktops for £3000+. One place warned me against tiles saying they were a death trap for salmonella and other germs. I'm not deterred. You can buy epoxy resin grout which should be impervious to these threats. And ceramic tiles should be at least as resistant to bacteria as granite, and a lot more resistant than wood.

Regards
George

suki1964

lynneinjapan wrote:

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 think you must have bought of the same couple we did Pink and white glossed panel doors everywhere, so like you we paid £6 a door to be dipped and they are beautiful.

One thing that we done to make the hall brighter was to take out two of the panels in the kitchen door and replace them with glass. Had to replace the beading with new wood but managed to stain them to near on the same colour as the door and now you wouldnt know it was a diy job Now a tiny dark hall gets light in it from the patio doors in the kitchen - saves on the lecky bill

egglie

Fired Earth is having a paint sale, its a genuine clearance sale because of a new range being introduced with new tin designs. Its top quality paint with big discounts - up to 70% off. Some colours are discontinued so be careful if you want to use the same colour again in the future, but some colours will be exactly the same just in different tins! All paint will be reduced by at least 50% two weeks before each store gets its new range and everything 70% off two days before. (different dates for each store).

msraec

Hope its ok to post this - i came across an article of tips for sprucing up your home on MSN - these are the ones i liked the best (and had never thought of!)

1) Dated bathroom
Paint outmoded tiles white with tile paint (i know this works well as ive done it myself and you can buy a grout pen to whiten up the grout too if cilit bang doesnt do the trick!).
If you have an avocado or similarly coloured bath think about getting it re-coated or re-enamelled to white. The process can be done in-situ and the bath is ready for use within 24 hours costing from around £75.

2) Smarten up furniture
Cover dated or worn sofas and chairs with large throws in a neutral colour so that they aren't the main focus of the room, use scatter cushions to brighten things up

3) Badly stained carpets
Invest in a neutral coloured rug or runner to cover up stains

4) Small rooms
A long narrow mirror hung at chest height HORIZONTALLY across the length of a wall in a small bathroom or box bedroom will help to make it feel bigger and lighter. Painting the room cream or white and using blinds instead of curtains will also help to create a sense of space.

thanks MSN - some i guess are obvious things we just dont necessarily think of but others esp changing the colour of a bathroom suite so cheaply i didnt even know you could do!

NOW...can someone help me with the tiling the worktops solutions - hadnt even thought of it till a money saver mentioned it and i love the idea - i hate the colour of mine and its a temporary kitchen till we can afford a new one - im sure i can tile the worktop to match the cheap white tile splash back with cheap white tiles BUT what do you do about the rolltop edges? PLEASE any suggestions apreciated!

SometimesSensible

littlebigfeat wrote:

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

We bought our bathroom suite for £30 from the local tip. Included 2 toilets, 2 x cisterns, sink with pedestal, and bath. It was white and in perfect condition once cleaned.

We did however shell out on a new kitchen. If you can wait around, DIY stores have some very good deals at certain times of the year. We bought the Arran kitchen from Focus at half price this time last year. The sale is back on again now. They aren't end of line sales, just price cuts. If you've just moved house, get yourself a home movers discount card too - 10% off everything, including sale items, for 6 months.

Captain SometimesSensible

Galtizz

msraec wrote:

NOW...can someone help me with the tiling the worktops solutions - hadnt even thought of it till a money saver mentioned it and i love the idea - i hate the colour of mine and its a temporary kitchen till we can afford a new one - im sure i can tile the worktop to match the cheap white tile splash back with cheap white tiles BUT what do you do about the rolltop edges? PLEASE any suggestions apreciated!

You could probably forget they are roll top and make them square using an external corner strip that you can pick up for about £5 from DIY stores and plenty of tile cement to fill the gap.

BUT...you can get 2.4m worktops in B & Q's value range for £30. They aren't on their website but I know they do them because I bought 2 last year. They only come in a very limited number of colours (2 or 3 only) but they are fine for a tempory measure.

seese

for Nasnowt

Why not remove all plaster down to the brickwork and paint the whole surface with clear protector not sure of its name but it is also suitable for outdoor use completely waterproof and gives a slight shine,great for the reflection you want and very fashionable.Lots of pubs and trendy shops do it.