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I’ve written a few times now about updating our current house, and how we have ended up living here years longer than we first intended to.
I have been getting on with a few bits, trying to make it look better (on a tight budget!) and I recently painted the lounge with my step-dad, which looks so much better.
We’re not quite in a place where it is ready to sell yet, but I’d really like to move as soon as we possibly can and so there are some things that I would really like to do to it to make it look better before hopefully putting it up for sale. Plus, even if it’s still a while before that happens, I want everything to look better than it currently does, and make it nicer for us to live in.
Some are smaller things, and others would require a bit more work (and money!), but all of them would really improve my house whilst we live here, as well as make it more saleable.
Sometimes it can be necessary to borrow a small amount of money to make a few of the improvements that need doing before selling your house, as it can have long-term benefits for you, and making your house look much better before you sell it can increase its value. Polar Credit offer access to small sums of money (from £25), so you can just borrow the amount needed and only pay interest on that amount, rather than having to take a larger loan out when you don’t actually need or want it. They also offer more flexible repayment options than short-term loans. It’s a helpful option when you require some cash, short-term for home improvements.
Our bathroom is in desperate need of a little makeover. When we first moved in it had recently had a new loo and sink, but we had to get a new bath. But then we had problems with the shower leaking and so the side kept getting taken off to sort it all out and reseal it, and so it’s now it’s a big mess with cracks in it, so it really needs replacing and that will help the bathroom to look so much better.
There are some areas of the wall that need Polyfilla and then it all needs repainting white again, and that would brighten it up so much. I’ve recently re-whitened some of the sealant around the tiles and it looks much better now, but I need to do it again to really make the white bright again.
Annoyingly, the floor could also do with replacing before we try to sell it, as some of the floor tiles have started to peel up now so I am going to try and find something that looks nice but doesn’t cost a lot. Luckily the bathroom is small so that should be possible.
Our brand new washing machine leaked badly a few years ago because it hadn’t been fitted properly, which really wrecked the kitchen floor and made it really warped, which left gaps between the boards of laminate and looks a mess. They move about a bit now which is frustrating, and some of it still looks a bit warped, so it could really do with replacing with some lovely new laminate flooring.
We have the same flooring in our dining room so ideally, I would like to replace all of the flooring throughout, but realistically, cost-wise, that probably won’t be possible. Plus it would be a shame because the wood floor in the dining room still looks good.
My garden could (once again) do with a makeover – I would really like to have decking instead of the pretty ugly paving stones we have now. And I want to redo the borders around the lawn and put lots of lovely evergreens and bulbs back in there. I’d also like to fill the pretty pots that we already have with plants and have them all around the patio. The garden has been a bit neglected over the last year or so, so I really want to get out there and work on it.
Adding some decking to the garden would make it a lot nicer for us to enjoy over the warmer months, plus hopefully, add a bit of value when we are ready to sell.
The carpet in the lounge is a really good quality one that we got years ago, but it really needs a good deep clean, so I’d really like to hire a carpet cleaner to clean the cream carpet. I’ve recently bought a lovely big rug, and that, along with the new paint colour, has already really improved the look of the lounge and made it much more cosy.
Now I’d like to add some bright and beautiful wall art to really finish the room off; as the walls look a bit plain at the moment, and possibly a mirror too. I recently bought some gorgeous cushions that are pink and so I would like some art with some shades of pink in them to bring it all together and add some more personality to the room.
The room already feels so much nicer to be in now, so I really want to get it finished soon.
There are a few other things I’d like to do to the house. I’ve wanted to paint the main wall of the landing a really bright colour for ages and I bought some bright teal paint ages ago. I love white walls usually but I’m bored with them and I think it would look much more fun and liven it up.
I’d also like to change the wallpaper in our bedroom, as I just don’t like it anymore, but that isn’t something that’s so important to do before putting the house up for sale, so it’s quite far down the list. I’d love something really bright and fun like one of these mural wallpapers. I love this pink jungle one.
Do you have lots of things in your house that you’d like to change, or are you pretty happy with it?
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Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
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