Decorating soon for a low maintenance future

fuddle

From experience it tends to be the woodwork that doesn't get much natural light that yellows first.

I too am thinking along the lines of longevity as I'm redoing the house. The woodwork here was already stained a pine colour and I'm taking it to dark oak. My very cheap knotty pine new cupboard door suddenly looks like a classic piece plus going darker is forgiving when adding new bits of wood to already stained pieces.

I am seriously thinking about painting behind my stove in black. It's not that it gets dirty but as I'm cleaning the hearth the paintwork gets nicked everytime. It's either that or brick slips which is another expense. I have the black from the children's room.

Which leads me onto longevity in there. They gave me a brief of black, white and gold with leopard print and I have assembled a room that will see them through their teenage years. That was my brief and worked out well.

We're going to work with the bathroom that is there, primarily greys, a little white but going back to the opening post I'll be changing the woodstain to something that comes from a garden paint tin in the shade of grey. I too detest gloss, eggshell, satin and all that ilk and I detest repainting without getting it along the flooring or walls. Frogtape is my decorators friend (it's expensive but beats masting tape in every sense) but i always get a trail of gloss somewhere, normally a drip where the skirting sits higher than it wonky floor. Oh the joys!

I am tiling my kitchen because it's a very small Victorian kitchen. It's going to be crowded with units so the tiles are the showpiece in sage and grouted in white. These are something that I know I will need to regrout in time but it's one compromise too far in a house that is full of compromises. Sometimes it's ok to enjoy a little bit of something that makes you feel good in your home. Please don't forget that (as I have in my quest to 'do it once and never again!')

And finally, with the paint, I get a paint that can be washed down and do avoid matt. It's not just because I have children, infact my last washdown was because of a coffee splash. My walls are skimmed so can cope with the slight sheen attracting light to imperfections but actually silk paint isn't as shiny as when I was a kid.

Sooetie

I would also go with Satin wood paint. The white doesn't yellow and marks can be easily wiped. Haven't ried other colours but would think they are the same.

If you are having oak wood doors and architraves maybe you could do the skirting boards the same and then depending on the windows - are they double glazed units ? - think about the windowsills.

Luckily you have some time to work it out

Good Luck in your new home

prosaver

SmlSave wrote: »

No tiles in the bathroom so no grout to clean! We've gone for panels on the walls and I'm thinking about them in the kitchen too
https://www.dbsbathrooms.co.uk/platinum-white-sparkle-5mm-bathroom-wall-cladding#.WPJtPDnTUv4

did you stick them on the tiles in the bathroom or remove the tiles?
thinking of just sticking them on,

krlyr

I also went for satin on the woodwork, as a couple of others have said. 5 years later, it's still all white.

Buy good quality so it lasts. Consider washable paints, especially if there's anything that might make your house higher maintenance (kids, dogs, muddy hobbies)

Venetian blinds - hard work to clean! I didn't want nets, but the windows are about 2m wide so it's a lot of blind slats to clean. I'm glad I went for the faux wood effect though as worse case, they can be taken down and hosed off in the garden with no worries about water affecting the wood/metal.

Furniture..consider how easy it will be to move to clean behind it. I have 2 Ikea Expedit units going all the way across the wall in front of the window, with the TV on and other stuff in the cubes. But makes it very difficult to get to said window to clean it (and those pesky blinds)

Consider the extra maintenance of light colours. Love my white gloss kitchen, hate the constant cleaning of the cupboard doors as they show up every speck. So glad I went for the mid grey tiles on the floor - pretty forgiving with muddy dog pawprints!

Carpet - more luxurious, higher maintenance. I wouldn't bother myself with my dogs, it's all tiled/laminate downstairs for easy cleaning. I have a rug but that's bad enough (and really needs going over with a carpet cleaner - I spot-clean by hand but it's getting a bit beyond that)

prosaver

i replaced all the wood in my front room, skirting boards, then beeswaxed,
door frames replaced and varnished and strip the doors bare and varnished.
the skirting board stayed nicer,(bees wax) as the varnish goes dark after 5 years.
much cheaper and last longer.

Witless

SmlSave wrote: »

No tiles in the bathroom so no grout to clean! We've gone for panels on the walls and I'm thinking about them in the kitchen too
https://www.dbsbathrooms.co.uk/platinum-white-sparkle-5mm-bathroom-wall-cladding#.WPJtPDnTUv4

As I mentioned previously in the inflation post I think part of prepping is 'future proofing' so I'm redoing* bathroom, kitchen etc with the joint aims of durability and convenience (both use & maintenance) - realistically I don't expect 3 decades plus of use so convenience is equally important.

I've ordered similar cladding but slightly thicker - 10mm - for the bathroom (slightly less 'pattern', slightly more 'white')

The kitchen quote (not decided yet**, but a 'probable' rather than a 'maybe') includes upstands and glass cooker splashback - all tiles will be removed (currently half tiled) and papered with heavy embossed which will be painted as required - no slower than properly cleaning / refurbishing grout.

The bathroom & toilet floors need redoing so that will be commercial grade vinyl ***- something like this https://www.factory-direct-flooring.co.uk/acousflor-commercial-vinyl-flooring-698 but not that colour (the supplier doesn't have a website so I can't link). The kitchen floor is OK but I might do that too.

The skirtings / architraves are new(ish) - within the last 20 years but I'm very tempted by something like this http://www.kentsdirect.com/product-category/inside/skirting-boards/?gclid=CKKT56fRqNMCFY8Q0wodmy4KhQ

* various reasons to do it now - I can afford it (within reason - t'car will (hopefully) do another while) but equally importantly I mightn't be so capable (financially or health wise) in 10 - 15 years time by when it'd be a 'must do' rather than aspirational (and if I don't I'll spend the money on something anyway - this'll last a lot longer than a couple of holidays or cruises!)

** the kitchen upgrade is a definite, the only question is the supplier - the quote is from a local firm with a good reputation and reasonable warranty: I could possibly do similar for less, but the quote is for 'everything' - custom made to maximise potential (almost doubles storage space & 4.8m of worktops), removal of existing, disposal & fitting of new which, when I count my 'time' (even at my normal earning rate), probably justifies the extra few £hundreds**** - and copperbottoms the warranty - their design, their manufacture & their installation.

*** eventually I'd like to do most of the house in either this or laminate - a lot less hassle than carpets. This type of vinyl has antislip properties which is also a consideration for the future.

**** there mightn't be any real saving by the time standard units were customised and there would definitely be a slight loss of functionallity.

Witless

prosaver wrote: »

did you stick them on the tiles in the bathroom or remove the tiles?
thinking of just sticking them on,

Not done yet - the fitter said 2/3 weeks a week ago, but AFAIK they're fitted over existing walls or tiles as long as it's a solid base for the adhesive. From what he said ceramic tiles are better to seal to than a painted wall - provided they're sound.

The surface has to be 'clean, dirt, dust & grease free' for both these and the glass kitchen splashback - I'm removing the kitchen tiles but not the bathroom.

Slinky

Thanks all for the suggestions, just taking a break from the wallpapering, keep them coming (I won't be wallpapering in our next house, this is to make this one a bit more modern to sell).