I know that style is subjective and that everyone has their own tastes when it comes to decorating the interior of their homes, but it has to be said that some folks live in homes that look as though they are stuck in a time warp.
My elderly neighbour, for example, has wood panelling in his living room and carpet that I can only guess is around 30 years old, and whilst he is physically (and financially) able to redecorate his home, he is perfectly happy with the way it looks!
The thing is, I can guarantee you that anyone who moves into his house when he is no longer with us will put “redecorating” at the top of their to-do list! If you have recently moved into such a home and you are making a “plan of action” for redecorating its interior, here are some top tips to help get you started.
Do one room at a time
When I first moved into my own home, I made the mistake of starting a number of redecorating projects in various rooms. Nearly three years on, many of those projects remain unfinished due to a shortage of time!
Please do yourself a favour and don’t turn your entire house into a building site; just start on one room at a time, and resist the urge to give in and start something new because you became bored.
Strip the room you are working on and start from scratch
If the room you are about to redecorate is in need of a lot of work, it would be best to start from a blank canvas. This means removing any carpet or floor tiling, stripping wallpaper down and getting rid of any unwanted decorative “features”, such as polystyrene coving…
When you have stripped the walls back to bare plaster, check the overall condition of the walls. If it would take you forever to fill the thousands of pits and chunks in your walls, it would be best to simply get a plasterer in to revive those old walls. Trust me, the end result is worth it!
Decorating the walls
Once you have let the plaster dry for at least a couple of weeks, you will then be able to paint them in the colour of your choosing. I would recommend painting your walls white if the room in question is very small, as this will give the impression that it is bigger than it actually is, plus it will make the room look airy.
Some folks even opt to have wall murals on feature walls in living rooms and bedrooms, for example, and I have to say that there are some pretty awesome backdrops that you can choose from.
Carpet or flooring?
When you removed your old carpet, did the floorboards look in good condition? If so, you might want to just sand them down and then varnish them, but otherwise go for some carpet (make sure you choose some decent underlay for it).
For some rooms such as bathrooms, toilets, and kitchens, you might want to go for vinyl flooring instead.
