Show us yer house and house-related meddlings

[miss direct]

It's a nice room, once you get your TV in and get a carpet fitted and a sofa it will be lovely - then you can think about where you might want other stuff like maybe a side table or a picture or two on the walls etc. It's a nice square room which is good. Either side of what I assume used to be a chimney breast would be a natural place to put up some shelves for books or ornaments

Yes I do like this room. Gets nice light and I like the French doors. The previous owners had an electric fire and a shelf on that pokey out bit. I've got some paintings from my Dad's and also quite a few back in Turkey. Once I'm in the place I will try to organise getting my stuff shipped over as I've got some lovely wall hangings and decorative things I've collected on my travels.

 

[bimble]

I was just going to wash the curtains for now. They actually are meant to be a yellow colour.

Hmm. I mean, you may your want your daylight lightly tinged with pissy yellow but you may find in due course that you don't really. (The proper yellow curtains look quite nice just the net bit)

 

[quimcunx]

Depends on your budget and how much structural work and what you're doing yourself or paying others to do or if you want to do major work now or just make it a bit nicer until you make big changes. My thoughts are that

the single bulb light will not provide enough light for the room on its own and looks like it might be off-centre, close to the window, where it's needed less.
You'll need twice as many sockets as it has or you think you'll need. Getting an electrician in to put in more sockets throughout now is worth thinking about.
people often put shelving either side of fireplaces
think about whether you need to lift the tiles before putting down more flooring, do you want carpet or laminate/wood/tiles?
with decorating start at the top and work down. light fitting, ceiling walls/doors/windows, skirting, floor. do take the time to prep before painting. I never do and always regret it. eg filling and sanding holes in the woodwork.

 

[miss direct]

Good advice. I got the understanding I shouldn't fiddle with the tiles just in case. But should I be scrubbing them to get rid of the marks? Or does that not matter if a carpet is going on top?

So first thing to do is organise painting. Either buying the stuff or paying someone. A creamy neutral colour. Then get a quote for carpet. Beigey creamy sandy neutral (?)

In the meantime I'll just use the bedroom and kitchen to live in.

 

[mauvais]

Carpet and underlay will make whatever's underneath mostly irrelevant, so don't worry about the tiles at all.

 

[Epona]

Depends on your budget and how much structural work and what you're doing yourself or paying others to do or if you want to do major work now or just make it a bit nicer until you make big changes. My thoughts are that

the single bulb light will not provide enough light for the room on its own and looks like it might be off-centre, close to the window, where it's needed less.
You'll need twice as many sockets as it has or you think you'll need. Getting an electrician in to put in more sockets throughout now is worth thinking about.
people often put shelving either side of fireplaces
think about whether you need to lift the tiles before putting down more flooring, do you want carpet or laminate/wood/tiles?
with decorating start at the top and work down. light fitting, ceiling walls/doors/windows, skirting, floor. do take the time to prep before painting. I never do and always regret it. eg filling and sanding holes in the woodwork.

Our ceiling lights are close to the windows - it is a council thing of a certain era in built up areas as it means you are less visible through the windows with the lights on if the light is closer to the window than you are.

 

[Epona]

Good advice. I got the understanding I shouldn't fiddle with the tiles just in case. But should I be scrubbing them to get rid of the marks? Or does that not matter if a carpet is going on top?

So first thing to do is organise painting. Either buying the stuff or paying someone. A creamy neutral colour. Then get a quote for carpet. Beigey creamy sandy neutral (?)

In the meantime I'll just use the bedroom and kitchen to live in.

No just put underlay and carpet on top

 

[Chilli.s]

Some lino tiles do polish up quite nicely

 

[Epona]

Also that looks like it will be an easy room to paint, it's easy for me to say since I have done painting and decorating professionally and I find it really relaxing! If you want to tackle it yourself and would like some tips, just ask

 

[bimble]

You might, if the fitted carpet quote is unhappily big and if you like this sort of thing, consider floorpaint on the existing tiles and then a big lovely rug that fits the proportions of the room.

 

[miss direct]

Some lino tiles do polish up quite nicely

Well maybe I'll have an experimental clean as I'll be doing a deep clean of the place anyway. It's been empty for a while so needs it.

 

[Epona]

Some lino tiles do polish up quite nicely

That isn't lino

(Tbf and just for clarity, a lot of what people refer to as lino actually isn't lino at all)

 

[Epona]

On a more serious note wrt the floor tiles, they look like mid-late 20th century council vinyl tiles and depending upon when they were made there is a small chance they or the adhesive could contain asbestos, putting carpet or other flooring down on top is the best thing you can do.

Even if they don't, I know from experience that you cannot polish a turd, and leaving them uncovered just means they will start to crack and break up over time so get some carpet or laminate flooring over that asap - do not try to paint them, it would be an utterly pointless exercise IMO.

 

[miss direct]

I didn't even know you could paint floors but I'd rather have a carpet to help with the cold. And because I sit on the floor a lot.

 

[Epona]

I didn't even know you could paint floors but I'd rather have a carpet to help with the cold. And because I sit on the floor a lot.

If it was a concrete floor or wooden floorboards then painting is an option, but I wouldn't paint that sort of floor tiles - just get something of your choosing - carpet, vinyl, laminate - laid over it.

 

[quimcunx]

Our ceiling lights are close to the windows - it is a council thing of a certain era in built up areas as it means you are less visible through the windows with the lights on if the light is closer to the window than you are.

I've only noticed it once before, not in a council house, and we did find it very curious and wonder why. That does make sense I suppose.

 

[miss direct]

Just for reference this is how the previous owners had the room. I think the light fitting is in the centre, it was the camera setting that made it look like it was nearer the window.

 

[quimcunx]

It's a nice room but whatever you do with it next is going to be largely down to personal taste and budget!

 

[Epona]

It's a lovely room, miss direct - nice easy shape and plenty of light - and does the door lead to a garden?

 

[teuchter]

Our ceiling lights are close to the windows - it is a council thing of a certain era in built up areas as it means you are less visible through the windows with the lights on if the light is closer to the window than you are.

I'm not sure I buy this. If the light is close to the window there's a greater proportion of the room where the occupants are lit up from the same side as my viewpoint is when I am looking through my binoculars. If the light were closer to the back of the room then there'd be a greater proportion of the room where the occupants are lit from the other side, with me looking at the dark side of the moon, as it were.

 

[Looby]

I’ve got a light fitting close to the window in my bedroom, it’s a pain in the arse and also really bugs me when I’m laying in bed. If it was my house I’d have it moved.

 

[miss direct]

It's a lovely room, miss direct - nice easy shape and plenty of light - and does the door lead to a garden?

Yes, well a courtyard/patio. I barely have enough space in the current place for my plants so will be lovely to be able to set up an actual garden area.

 

[Epona]

I'm not sure I buy this. If the light is close to the window there's a greater proportion of the room where the occupants are lit up from the same side as my viewpoint is when I am looking through my binoculars. If the light were closer to the back of the room then there'd be a greater proportion of the room where the occupants are lit from the other side, with me looking at the dark side of the moon, as it were.

That is among one of the creepiest things I have ever read on these forums. I know you often go for the oppositional thing just to have a bit of a fun debate, but that is just fucking wrong and IMO you've crossed a line.

 

[strung out]

That is among one of the creepiest things I have ever read on these forums. I know you often go for the oppositional thing just to have a bit of a fun debate, but that is just fucking wrong and IMO you've crossed a line.

How is it creepy?

 

[equationgirl]

There are two poles and they're 151cm long. I have no idea how long the new windows are. I did start doing measuring on the last viewing but gave up. The one thing I should have measured was the windows. I'm about 151cm though and pretty sure the windows aren't any longer than I am.

Measure it just to be sure.

 

[Epona]

How is it creepy?

Talking about watching people through their windows with binoculars isn't creepy now?

Did you actually read what he posted, or just have a kneejerk reaction to me?

 

[strung out]

Talking about watching people through their windows with binoculars isn't creepy now?

Did you actually read what he posted, or just have a kneejerk reaction to me?

I thought it was a mildly amusing joke coupled with a reasonable point about lighting.

 

[Epona]

I thought it was a mildly amusing joke coupled with a reasonable point about lighting.

I don't find that fucking funny, I am sorry if I am not as relaxed about this sort of thing as some of you, I've been fucking stalked and assaulted and it isn't a fucking laughing matter.

It is a horrible fucking moronic thing to say and it isn't "funny".

 

[baldrick]

That's a lovely room.

Agree that the nets have to go. But have a think about what you want instead - Venetian blinds might be nice.

I'd be tempted to go for a neutral carpet - something beigy. And once you've got furniture in/have an idea of the colours of the things you want in the room get the walls painted a really good colour that complements it.

It is easier to paint before you put carpet in but it's not a showstopper and it will prevent you from doing the paint everything white and it'll do for now thing, and five years later you still haven't done it and you have a really boring room that just has stuff in it and no overall theme

 

[Saffy]

miss direct we have a chimney breast and alcoves and one thing which we have done is build low cupboards in each alcove and have shelving above. The telly we put on a bracket so it can be pushed back when not in use and it looks like it's sitting on one of the cupboards. Plus we can hide all the TV boxes in the cupboard underneath.