Help to decorate?

mumpy

I randomly help people online with their (more often emotional) difficulties, and am Mrs Positive.  I'm not quite sure this is where I ask my question.  Apologies if I'm in the wrong box............
I am disabled and my ex, who lives with me, has liver cancer.  We have just moved (mutual exchange) into a nineties built house.  Lovely setting, surrounded by nature/trees etc but the state of the house is very poor, and we hadn't realised quite the extent this poor decoration was in, as the tenant, with whom we swapped, painted over everything, and we mean EVERYTHING, my daughter was horrified by the black/grey paint everywhere, but especially on the front door.  She even painted the silver door knob black.  It's just horrendous.  We have ants everywhere and giant bees, seemingly coming from holes in this nineties built property.  The bathroom is in very poor shape, as is the small black kitchen. There are painted black tiles at every turn, and there is old woodchip wallpaper on every wall. It is a very, very dark house, and gets no sunlight really, at all, to speak of.

I agreed after one viewing (re the painted tiling etc) to sign the new tenancy over to myself, and was happy to do so, little realising the actual state of the place.  We were desperate to move out of central London and closer to our daughter.

My question really is (because the housing association do not take up any repair requests - unless very urgent - until after we have been here for three months, apparently) are there any charity organistions that help with redecoration/refurbishing of housing association properties for people who are less able bodied and with limited or no funds available to get paid help in? We have been here just over one month.

Very appreciative of any answers given as I have no idea really what to do next, but the state of the place and the darkness of it, is beginning to have an adverse effect on our mental health (not helped, I know, by Covid 19 and it stopping us seeing our children and grandchildren).

Thanks so much, and best wishes for a healthy and blessed future for all of us. 

Mumpy
xxx

Savvy_Sue

mumpy said:

My question really is (because the housing association do not take up any repair requests - unless very urgent - until after we have been here for three months, apparently) are there any charity organistions that help with redecoration/refurbishing of housing association properties for people who are less able bodied and with limited or no funds available to get paid help in? We have been here just over one month.

that restriction on repair requests is normal on exchanges: you agree to 'as seen', and it can create difficulties if you don't realise what's been left. Even after three months, they wouldn't normally deal with re-decoration or cosmetic issues, would they? 

Which brings us back to where you could get help. It MAY be worth asking your housing officer if they are aware of any grants you might be eligible for or organisations you could contact. I don't know if there's anything on the Grant Grabbing page of the main site which might help? there's a link to somewhere which might help you identify grants, but it's also worth considering whether either of you was or is in a trade union, or members of a profession - there may be a 'benevolent fund'.

However, your other problem is lockdown. You might struggle to work out how you could safely have any redecoration carried out right now: we had someone in the other day to fix our back door lock, but it was possible to hand over a suitably sanitised key and retreat to a safe distance. I wouldn't want someone in the house for any length of time. 

So I'd think about what YOU can do, and obviously I don't know what your limitations are. But one answer might be to throw white paint at one wall in each room and see if that helps. Don't worry about preparation, because you don't intend it to last long. Then stick mirrors on the walls opposite the white walls. 

I think actually you've got two problems: getting money towards this, and doing it yourself when you may not be able to do much. For the latter, it may be worth posting on the In My Home board. They might have much better ideas than mine, which I realise might look a bit odd ... 

mumpy

Thank you very much Sue, that's a great reply, very helpful.  I'm realy grateful to you.  Many thanks again   

[Deleted User]

In your original post you say you have 'limited to no funds'; why not do a local search of small tradesmen who would do this for you ? 
In the wake of Covid there will be a lot of them who are begging for work, negotiate a price and it might be mutually beneficial.
Definitely a worthwhile exercise.

GDB2222

I’m sorry that you are finding the decorations depressing, but you really should not be taking any chances at the moment with Coronavirus. It sounds like you and your hubby are 'at risk', even if not in the highest category. It’s a really nasty illness, and it can knock the stuffing out of you, even if you recover uneventfully.

 Looking on the bright side, the weather has been Fantastic, and hopefully you have enjoyed the garden.

AlexMac

Congratulations of finding an exchange in such a good location, closer to family. The comments above are useful, and you might struggle to find anyone willing to come into your home to offer practical help during lockdown, but you could at least begin to search for local charities through sites like
https://www.charitychoice.co.uk/charities/health/disabled?onlinedonations=0
Aimed at people looking to donate, but useful in that it lets you filter by location; so you'll get a list of people or agencies worth emailing (you might have to use Google to get more detail on individual charities once you've narrowed down to local ones).
DLF might be able to signpost to useful contact too;
https://www.dlf.org.uk/factsheets/Useful_Organisations.pdf   or their homepage at https://www.dlf.org.uk/

Most areas or boroughs have a "CVS" ("Council for Voluntary Service"; who will know about local grass-roots help agencies), or "Volunteer Bureau"  or "Volunteer Centre"... so get googling and arm yourself with a list of websites, email or phone contacts. If you're not good at online searches, your local main Library or Town Hall information bureau might help when they re-open.

And the ants will probably go once you've cleaned and removed any traces of food or grease from surfaces, crevices and cupboards; and local DIY stores will have ant powder if someone can collect for you?
Best wishes 

Heedtheadvice

As for the ants.....

They do not like peppermint. Order on line some 100% pure peppermint essential oil. A 50ml bottle will not cost much just a few pounds if you search. Do not get the non pure stuff as not as good value.

Dilute a teaspoonfull into 50ml water and a couple of drops of detergent, add to an empty kitchen cleaner spray and spray where the ants are. Keep off foodstuffs! Do not let the oil get on valuable fabrics/clothes too.

Will help to get rid of the ants (and also help prevent getting mice!) and smells nice too!