£2000

My house needs re-decorating and the external sills must be re-painted soon.

Artificial grass can be good in certain circs. A dd's friend laid some good quality stuff in a small and very narrow city garden - grass would never have done well there, not enough sun. She could have paved or gravelled it, but she wanted a kinder surface for two very little ones to play on.

I would have the chimney in the living room opened up and a small log burner installed.
If I had £20,000 I would move the kitchen to where the living room is, and put French doors to the garden and install a small log burner in what is now the kitchen and would then be the living room.

Get a stylish modern gas fire fitted to replace our old black & chrome one. Have lived with the latter for nearly 20 years and still hate the look of it.

I'd lock the front door of my house and go on holiday! Could probably spend the whole summer in Greece, island hopping, as I have many friends there who I could stay with.

The French often have their washing machine in the bathroom. Could you replace the bath with a shower and have space for the washing machine too?

I would have all the grass in the front garden dug up, then pave the garden leaving a couple of small flowerbeds for spring flowers and plant two or three different flowering bushes or trees.

We have a large back garden, so we never use the front garden and it is a pain having to keep it tidy.

Our bungalow is surrounded by decking on stilts, as it is pn a hill. I would love to put a sun roof over a section of it so I could sit out when weather not so good - but I do not think £2,000 would even begin to achieve that!

If I had an 'extra' £2,000 I would take out a contract on the builder I've just sacked and have him whacked

(Disclaimer. Breeze would like to point out to any GNs of a nervous disposition that she is not actually a serial killer, although she has murdered a few cornflakes in her time ).

I want to scream 'Don't have anything done they won't turn up'

I have just been treated to a few weeks of hell by someone who talked the talk but then either didn't turn up at all, or, turned up at lunchtime, stayed until 8 or 9 p.m. making a terrible racket (the neighbours ) The work was shoddy anyway so has needed/will need to be done again.

Looking at the glass half full (breathe Breeze) the decorators were great. And the flooring company were also.

Glass half empty again, now, everything has been done in the wrong order, as we already had them scheduled in. So now messy jobs will have to be done carefully so as not to mess up the decoration/flooring.

And some exterior people are here working this week, who are in the process of having a noisy argument with their boss and are threatening to walk off the job half way through.

Sorry, needed to vent.

Chino, thank you for that.
newnanny, thanks for your advice, and so sorry to hear about your dh. Hope he can have the right treatment and be better again soon.
I am thinking of booking my trip this afternoon. There is a special offer on line for 14 days in Egypt including a 7 night Nile cruise , for less than £1000. The only trouble is it is a last minute deal and at the hottest time of year 35 degrees !!!

i would use the money to have my bedroom redecorated and get new carpet for in there. Mine is defo past it's sell by date but the thought of moving everything puts me off . If i had the cash i would have someone in to do all the necessary work.

Yaya79 I love going up on all fours so much more comfortable, always do.

Sorry to hear cats are on their last legs, flutterby!

New carpets for living room and dining room, big area so quite expensive. It's on the cards though, DH is just painting The walls and going to redo the skirting board. Carpet is literally threadbare in places.

Lean to housing useful downstairs loo, cats and extra freezer on last legs. Hoping it will see us out but maybe some remedial work.....actually defrost...at least it's not leaking....currently. definitely not defrost

I’d buy a Quooker hot tap!

Annaraml if you are currently fit and well enough for holiday I would do it while you can. Things change so quickly with health. My dh has recently been getting really bad headaches so went to GP who sent him in for a CT scan and it turns out he has a brain tumour. confirmed by MRI scan. Go whilst you can and enjoy your holiday.

Just general re-paint of all rooms and stairs/hall. We are considering saving up for a garage conversion to make extra living room but will cost £25k upwards for what we want so not sure if worth it.

Not been on a Nile cruise but have been to the Valley of the Queens and Karnak - well worth a visit

If I had £2000 I would like the drive and patio updated

I would redecorate my bedroom furniture with fitted wardrobes and I would have a huge dressing table with a mirror surrounded by lights I would feel like a film star

I too would love a small greenhouse. On the other hand it is not a necessity and if I suddenly came into £2000 I would go on holiday.
Have any Grans been on a Nile Cruise to see the wonders of Eqypt? My daughter went on holiday there and said it was amazing, but quite hard on the legs, and I have a bad knee. As my health is not too bad at the moment apart from asthma Id like to go before I get too old. I would like your opinion on this, please!!

I'd pay someone to repaint internally and buy new curtains throughout. I'm doing it bit by bit myself but it's a hard slog and time consuming.

With that money I would remove all carpete and have cork or laminated floors but my carpets are only 2 years old and can’t imagine the disruption

Hi DoraMarr. Did you think of drying your washing naturally. I think tumble dryers will become a thing of the past as we need to become more careful with resources because of climate change. How about spending the money on a drying / hanging area that could be concealed when not in use?

We have 1 metre high cement rendered walls round the garden. They look horribly grubby and could be painted but the one at the top near the back if the house I would like tiled in stone look tiles so it would look nicer. The rest could be painted. £2000 should just cover having the tiles dine.