How much decorating did you do once you moved in?

cattie

I've only ever bought one property that was decorated in exactly the way I liked & also had good quality carpets that I liked.

Every other property that I've bought has needed masses of work doing to it, refurbishing work such as new kitchen, bathroom, rewiring, boiler & ch etc.

A lot of people say you should live in a place for 6 months before making decisions about doing the place up or having work carried out.

Well I've never done this before myself, but within a few days of moving into my current property about 18 months ago, I became seriously ill & spent about 3 months in hospital & then a good 6 months recovering at home.

During my recovery at home I changed my mind on numerous occasions regarding exactly what I wanted doing to my place. Plus I had also discovered some things that needed doing/replacing that were not apparent at first or hadn't shown up on the survey.

It's only about 2 weeks ago now that my home had it's final job done & I can start to relax & enjoy it, but I'm grateful that I hadn't been able to rush into getting the necessary work done straight away as I'd originally intended prior to moving in.

Taking time to think about what I really wanted & what was the most suitable layout etc. for me has given me a home that works perfectly for me.

I've probably spent around £25k or so getting this place up to scratch & I spent around £30k on my previous property, so it definitely is not cheap.

I think you're very wise to consider freecycle or pre owned furniture etc. I know before I moved I got rid of loads of emulsion paint via freecycle, some cans never ever used, only you have to pay the council to take it away in many areas (magnolia, so you wouldn't have wanted it! And it's not a colour I'm keen on).

Freecycle/Freegle is my favourite place to get rid of good unwanted items that for some reason or another are not able to be taken by a charity shop, rather than see them end up in a landfill.

And of course, charity shops that sell furniture etc. often have some pretty decent stuff for very low prices.

Lobby12

We're just buying our first house after renting for years and it is in need of updating - pink and avocado bathroom suites with carpeted floor :eek:. However it is perfectly liveable as it is clean and well maintained.

We've used ebay to get some second hand furniture and found that friends and family have items stashed in their lofts which they are happy to give / lend to us to keep costs down. We will most likely just buy some paint and refresh walls for now as we're unsure how we want the house to be decorated so are deciding to live with it as is for the moment and put the money into savings so when we do decide what decor we want we have the cash to do it. We've also got some different light fittings as we're quite tall and the previous owner is not so some of the current ones are head/eye level for us - this is one thing we can't live with!

I aim to do things once and do it right rather than having to repeat things as we haven't done them right first time - cheaper in the long run.

sterl1ng

TBH most of the place (except bedroom) is in good shape and lick of paint even not neccessary, just more a case of me giving personal touch to place. I think furniture I'll do bit by bit so I can make overpayments on 2yr mortgage as I want to ideally then get a 75% LTV mortgage after the 2yrs. I'll be borrowing 80% to start with and planning to overpay by £500 a month giving me £300 left to put aside for rainy day and little touch ups.

polarization

I was lucky when I move in my place as the vendor fitted a new bathroom just a few months before they sell the place. They have a neutral color throughtout the place and they are new. It is also the colour I want. The only thing I did was to change to floor: tiles in bathroom and wooden floor throughtout the house. It saves me a lot!! :-)

DKLS

Last place I bought, it was ready to move into without work and was to "our tastes".

Despite that I started decorating within a week and decorated all rooms within three months.

notanewuser

We bought this house 8 years ago. Did nothing at all until 4 years ago when I painted our bedroom and we replaced 2 bathrooms. Then an extension went up and another bathroom went in. Then DD's room got painted almost 2 years ago. We've just done the downstairs loo over, and ate starting to look at the huge living room, kitchen/diner, utility and hallway, 2 spare bedrooms and landing now.

Yorkie1

I moved into a magnolia house 4 years ago and, like you, the concept of deciding my own colours was something which took time to get used to.

I lived with the magnolia for probably 18-24 months until I knew what I wanted to do. I still haven't got round to doing one room!

Just tell yourself that you'll do it in your own way, in your own time - and that's fine. It's nobody else's decision except for yours.

Pixie5740

Lobby12 wrote: »

We're just buying our first house after renting for years and it is in need of updating - pink and avocado bathroom suites with carpeted floor :eek:. However it is perfectly liveable as it is clean and well maintained.

We've used ebay to get some second hand furniture and found that friends and family have items stashed in their lofts which they are happy to give / lend to us to keep costs down. We will most likely just buy some paint and refresh walls for now as we're unsure how we want the house to be decorated so are deciding to live with it as is for the moment and put the money into savings so when we do decide what decor we want we have the cash to do it. We've also got some different light fittings as we're quite tall and the previous owner is not so some of the current ones are head/eye level for us - this is one thing we can't live with!

I aim to do things once and do it right rather than having to repeat things as we haven't done them right first time - cheaper in the long run.

The first place I bought had a pink bathroom suite and the walls were painted pink, it was like being in a giant rubber glove. Thankfully the floor was tiled and didn't have carpet aka pee sponge.

bathwiggle

I've spent just under £1000 doing up a 4 bed, 3 floor house in the 9 months since i bought it. It all needed doing, it was tired, tatty, and woodchip which i can not abide. That said i haven't done the bathroom or kitchen, and the kitchen is on the to do list but it is functional.

I'll end up doing it again, but for now it's been undoing the bodges, removing woodchip and painting, repairing the rotten wall, lights and curtains.

agrinnall

I bought my house 10 years ago and will be moving out in 2 weeks time. The only room that has been completely decorated is the bathroom, and although most other rooms could have done with a refresh it wasn't bad enough to worry me while living here, and apparently it hasn't put my buyers off.