The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

Loanranger

I too have all one neutral colour in every room. It really does help with the odd bit that needs touching up and means I can change everything else, curtains, carpet, sofas, cushions without thnking about the walls and ceilings.
It is a Homebase colour called Moonlight. It is not in any way trendy, it's not grey nor griege nor is there a feature wall which is so 70s in my book and, like wallpaper borders, will date very quickly.
There is a wide cornice in two rooms and I made a mistake with the colour in the sitting room. Too bold, it matches the dominant colour in the furnishings.
Woodwork is a Farrow and Ball copy in eggshell in one of their whites, made up by the local Johnstone Paints stockist which the decorator gets made up.
Carpets are by John Lewis own range, a wool twist in a cream colour, 50 oz, if I remember rightly but then we have no children nor dogs, only a cat.

silvercar

I never had musical instrument lessons. I think my parents must have decided that because I can't sing it would be a waste of time.

Hereditary condition - because DS1 never showed an interest, I never persuaded him to leard. At DS2's secondary school, everyone had to learn an instrument in their first year (yr 7). He screeched his way through the violin for the year and we were all relieved when it ended.
We have second cousins who all won scholarships for music and professionally play, so its in the genes somewhere!

Lydia, I feel for you. We have never decorated more than one room at a time, other than this house where every downstairs wall is the same colour (porcelain white - that was chosen by the decorator). We know we are pretty hopeless at choosing, so leave it to the expert! DS2 has an eye for colour, the rest of us are hopeless.
Can't help you with carpets either, we have wooden floors downstairs, off cream colours in the bedrooms, grey landing and stripes up the stairs.

Sue, I feel for you. I remember one trip where we took DS2's stuff up to uni. Emptied the car out and then filled up with DS1's stuff to come home. I did notice that some places now offer temporary storage units on campus that seems to be a new venture.

I love mushrooms!

All caught up now!

Pyxis

A feature colour on a chimney breast can be very effective, if there is a large painting on the chimney breast that contains that colour, (particularly if it is a highlight colour in the painting) and also contains the colour of the rest of the room.

LydiaJ

Pyxis wrote: »

A feature colour on a chimney breast can be very effective, if there is a large painting on the chimney breast that contains that colour, (particularly if it is a highlight colour in the painting) and also contains the colour of the rest of the room.

Interesting idea - I like the way you think. Our chimney breast has a large mirror on it, and the colour I'm choosing for the paint is similar to the hearthrug and the accent colour in the cushions. Also the curtains, but they were cheap and are already fading. I'm probably replace them with a similar colour in a better quality.

I wouldn't go for a whole feature wall, or a wallpaper border. I don't think I'm a wallpaper person at all, actually. Probably not unrelated to the way I almost invariably choose clothes in solid colours rather than with patterns of more than one colour. DD likes patterns, though. DS just likes green, and doesn't care much about details.

Thanks for all the discussion, people, it's appreciated. Having got some sleep I am feeling less despondent now, but all decorating wisdom still appreciated.

In other news, Helpful Builder from down the road is here today to fit the new shower in the family bathroom. We are going out for most of the day so he can turn the water off and make loud drilling noises all by himself!

michaels

Outside of our house is white, inside every room is...white. Luckily I like it as it is always by far the cheapest. I also actively dislike anything like feature walls, high gloss kitchens....all the way back to avacado bathrooms - try and follow a style and you will soon have a dated house, plus you are saying that you are a follower not someone with their own opinions.

I also dislike carpets, they just don't feel as clean as solid floors, eventually when we win the lottery they will be gone from eveywhere except possibly the stairs and upstairs corridor for noise reasons.

[Deleted User]

Agree about the floors (somewhat hypocritically as our bungalow is currently carpeted throughout). Before we moved, everywhere except stairs and landing was hard floor.
About music - never could get the hang of reading it, although I wanted to and had saxophone lessons. Best I could manage was playing a few tunes by ear on piano or other keyboard. Agree in the therapeutic value - has helped me personally.

LydiaJ

I don't do "following a style". I like what I like. This is apparent from the similarity between what I chose for my bedroom in my parents' house in 1987 and what I chose for my bedroom in my own house in 2011. The 2011 paint colour is slightly paler than the 1987 colour, but otherwise they're the same.

Thus, I like carpet despite the current trend for hard floors. I spend a lot of time in bare feet, and I like underfoot to be both soft and warm, hence... carpet. Not, of course, in the kitchen, bathroom or conservatory, and while the utility room floor has a rug to protect me from the freezing cold ceramic tiles, it's washable. If I was choosing new flooring for the utility room myself I'd probably go for cork, sealed to be "everything-proof".

Our stairs, OTOH, are 60s/70s open treaded wood. They're staying like that. I'm hoping that they will provide a way of making a future dog understand that he/she is a "downstairs dog" without the necessity for a stair gate that would impede the movement of bipeds.

Pyxis

I'm all for having whatever decor you like, whether it'll date or not. After all, it's you that's living there, not anyone else!
Stuff like paint and wallpaper can be changed without too much expense.

Also, it depends how long you anticipate being there for. If it's only three years, it might make more sense to keep things neutral, I suppose.

I'm another person that likes hard floors rather than carpets, seeing how much gunge accumulates underneath the carpet, despite vacuuming, and also when I had my dogs. Hard floors are easier to keep clean, and when you have your carpets cleaned and see the filthy water, again despite vacuuming, :eek:

I guess that if you live in a flat, don't have pets, and leave your shoes in the hall, carpets would be ok!

Stairs, yes, I like to have carpetted, especially since slipping on an unforgiving wooden one!
And a rug in winter can be cosy, but they can be sent away for deep cleaning, if they are too big for the washing machine!

SingleSue

Jazee wrote: »

Morning all. Loving the new thread, thank you and the intro is great. I am originally from inner Herts but now outer Herts.

Glad that mushrooms have been mentioned. I nearly bought some reduced yesterday but decided against as I wouldn't have used them all in time.

Odd socks - if you're looking for an odd sock here, then check the dog kennel.

Decorating - all cream walls here, colour comes from fabrics and flooring. Easy to keep going over where the dogs rub up against the walls.

Have a great day everyone. I shall be nosying around other people's gardens in a local village.

For odd socks we all look in my bedroom, Jaz (our cat - real name Jasper), brings socks to me as treats. He has on occasion, brought me boxer shorts, knickers and once, even a t shirt! Each 'gift' I have to treat with respect otherwise his feelings are hurt and he looks at me with a "But it's a present mummy, don't you like your present" look on his face :rotfl:

PasturesNew

I think one house feature that should never have been dropped was the "picture rail" - a wooden border 1' down from the ceiling - that you could easily hang pictures from .... instead of chancing your luck with all manner of hammers/fittings and random nails and yet never quite getting it right