Let's Build A Home: The Anorak Home DIY Thread

[let it ride]

Everyone loves a bit of purdyfying! Since this is not quite furniture or interior design, I thought I would start a new thread.

This weekend we are repainting our bedroom in our house. The wallpaper AND carpet (argh carpet!) are BOTH beige. Not so nice. So we are finally repainting it, just magnolia but that will be lovely.

Anyway, the room looks dead weird without any furniture in, all cleaned out! I haven't seen it like this since we moved in two years ago. I'm looking forward to seeing it look a bit different, I am sure it will make it look so much brighter. Beige can be neutral yes, but also really drab.

I shall post a little before and after pic when it is done.

How about you guys, any big projects on the go or that you dream of?

[squirrelboutique]

I peeled the really ugly wallpaper off the walls in my kitchen (well three of the walls) and painted them a nice bright yellow.

That was three years ago, and I still haven't finished the fourth wall. It's the one that I only see on the way out of the kitchen, so I look down or shut my eyes and it's like nothing's the matter.

[gloom button]

That was three years ago, and I still haven't finished the fourth wall.

you're always breaking character.

[let it ride]

Heh! I am reading a book on procrastination at the moment, so I am going to make sure I finish this project, AND unpack properly all the stuff that is now in the guest bedroom. Eep.

ALSO: Oh my gosh, I AM A HOARDER WHO HAS TOO MUCH STUFF.

[mimpkin]

I’ve just started yet another bout of decorating. Today I was finishing some wallpapering downstairs. Its just lining paper so it can be painted white. I’m hoping to do that this weekend, then at some point (which probably means next year!) I’m going to tile the kitchen. Tiling is brilliant fun! With decorating I get really in to it and then get bored . . . or we run out of money . . . or time. Its so annoying!

[jayen_aitch]

It's true she is a MASSIVE hors d'oeuvre.

She's like a squirrel with a massive wardrobe and all the women's magazines printed over the past two years.

Tiling sounds really scary to me. Is it tough?

[mimpkin]

Nah, its easy if you use an electric tile cutter. Its a bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle on the wall, but you have to cut the bits out yourself. Just mind your fingers and make sure you keep those stylish goggles on. Simple!

[jayen_aitch]

Now it sounds even more scary.

I made a coat-rack be attacked to the wall but then it fell off.

The holes got bigger over time, with use. Is there an easy solution to this? I'd used rawl plugs and everything.

[Martijn]

How about you guys, any big projects on the go or that you dream of?

We moved into this place just over two months ago and have been working on it since. Spent lots of time and money on furniture and decoration: if it wasn't for the collapsing housing market, I'd be really sad we are only renting it. We're still not done yet, which is partly because a certain Northern European furniture company is running a Kafka-esque online shop but it looks great. I'm typing this from a room which has this and, even cooler, this on the wall.

[jayen_aitch]

I find said furniture shops on-the-ground stores to be equally kafkaesque, or labyrinthine at least. Hope you get the stuff you need from them. We never managed to get the sofa covers we wanted and settled* for some different ones.

We decided not to go for the easy route with the painting, largely because of damage already done to the wallpaper, and we're stripping the walls first. We're taking two walls each, and using a hot-water and vinegar solution to take the glue off the walls.

(yes, our house smells lovely just now, we are NOT having chips for supper)

I've finally got all the stuff off my two walls, but being as I have the external wall, pretty much all the plastering is for me.

I'm just about to try my hand at this for the first time.

Astrid, by contrast, has the electrical sockets and radiator to worry about on her walls, whereas I only have the window to deal with.

Anyway, plastering, hopefully it's not too tough.

Eep.

(*pun is accidental)

[Carys]

I'm so excited about decorating my first home in about a month's time! I've been obsessing about wallpaper for weeks (or, arguably, my whole life) and have decided on this wallpaper for the living room and this wallpaper for the bedroom.



This wallpaper will just be on the chimney breast, and we're putting floor to ceiling shelves either side.



And here's the bedroom.

I'm thinking of doing the chimney breast on the opposite wall from the bed in a fushchia type colour. It's quite a small room so it will look fairly silly, but I like that.

Ooh I'm so excited!

[squirrelboutique]

I peeled the really ugly wallpaper off the walls in my kitchen (well three of the walls) and painted them a nice bright yellow.

That was three years ago, and I still haven't finished the fourth wall. It's the one that I only see on the way out of the kitchen, so I look down or shut my eyes and it's like nothing's the matter.

In case anyone was in need of an update on this project, it went on for a fourth year and then I just moved to avoid the whole mess.

[Woodbine]

Those are some excellent wallpaper choices, and your new place looks lovely too.

I have wanted the purple version of this wallpaper http://www.cole-and-son.com/collection_ ... tionid=104 for some time, but I don't really have a wall in my flat that it would suit. It's not really living-roomy or bedroomy, needs to be a dining room or something really I think. I like it so much I'm almost tempted to stock up on it for when I move in a year or so. I don't know how much it is either though, I suspect it's probably expensive.

Oh and if I could afford wallpaper from these people http://www.timorousbeasties.com/, I'd get me some of that too.

[Carys]

A lot of that Cole and Son wallpaper is really nice. I expect it's massively expensive though. I know when my best friend was commisioned to produce some handprinted wallpaper, it sold for £200 a roll (at the moment, we have that on our chimney breast!). Bizarrely, one time he went on a date or something and the person had his wallpaper up. Creepy stuff.

I think the kitchen and garden are definitely my favourite parts of the new flat (but they don't need so much decorating:





I'm just so obsessed with the idea of getting things like shelves and wallpaper sorted that I keep forgetting that we need to buy, y'know, a washing machine.

It's silly things that I'm excited about, like hedge trimmers and having a shed and things.

[Carys]

I think I'm going off my flock wallpaper idea for the bedroom and am really liking this instead.



What do you think? It'd go where the headboard is in the picture above.

[bonjour_tristesse]

Ahh love that birdy wallpaper! Better than the flock one.. and that John Lewis wallpaper is beautiful too! Good choices. I wish I had my own flat to decorate!

[Trev]

Gulp. We've just committed to a loft conversion. Odd Box HQ grows. I need more storage for records no one buys, it seems!

That feels grown up.

[Carys]

Aw, exciting news Trev. Glad it's going ahead. Any news on how long it will take?