Has something you've changed in your home made a huge difference?

That sounds lovely, foxie.

I like to sleep in a cool bedroom but it can be too cold for dressing, doing my hair and makeup etc but because it's a big room I didn't want to heat it up during the day. Opposite my bathroom there is a small room that really wasn't being used so last year I turned it into my dressing room. I have a dressing table for my cosmetics, hair dryer etc and I keep all my jumpers, shirts etc in there. On a cold morning I put the fan heater on and by the time I've had my shower etc the room is warm and I can dress etc in comfort. I love it, no one else uses it and I can mess around as much as I like doing "women" stuff like painting my toe nails in complete privacy! I wish I'd done it 20 years ago!

Inspired by Cariad's post, a small but very effective change can be to use rechargeable lightbulbs in lamps. You can use them in table, wall or standard lamps - so long as you can reach them easily you can use rechargeable bulbs - and this means you can put lamps wherever you like. On top of a coffee table in the middle of the room, on a mantelpiece, on a shelf in a bookcase etc. There is no need for a nearby socket, and there are no dangling cables to spoil the look.

You can buy purpose-made lamps (try Pooky.com), or just cut the cord off existing ones and replace the bulbs with rechargeable ones (available on Amazon). I have them in wall lights above the beds in spare bedrooms, and in picture lights. they just need screwing to the wall, so it's so much easier than hard-wiring them, as there is no need to chase the plasterwork with all the associated faff.

The charge lasts for anything between 8 and 16 hours of continuous use, so they work better for lights that aren't on for long periods of time, but I buy two bulbs for each light, so there is always a charged one ready to go in when the current one needs to be topped up.

Re small/inexpensive changes = adding some sidelights might be one thing.

I've added various sidelights throughout the house and that means I can have soft lighting in some rooms in the house. Sidelights and a reading light on stand thingie in sitting room. Sidelights in bedroom.

Added bonus of knowing that if something goes wrong with the electric lighting the powerpoints are probably still working okay and one can just use that sidelighting until an electrician comes in.

Other little thing - I ripped down the tatty old-fashioned vertical blinds this house had when I bought it. It was an "I can't stand them any longer moment - coupled with glass of wine in hand" thing and out came the scissors and I chopped them all off at the top and had the "general" workman I was using at the time unscrew the rest of them the next time he came in.

I'm not used to houses having that sort of blinds in anyway before I moved - can't think of a single house I ever went in or saw that had them - and they're only for offices in my opinion. Replaced them with what I am used to - ie modern style sheer curtains inside the "main" curtains. So I've got my privacy and the look I'm familiar with and can easily remove the "sheers" for washing if I need to.

Lots of these seem to me to be big and expensive changes.

One small thing I feel is a great improvement is getting a new kettle when the old one is broken and not repairable...
I remember the joy of that! And teas taste better when the water isn't boiled in a pan!

Thank you Allira and AN41. In my kitchen I have actually got some tiling things that aren't ceramic but are some modern composite plastic material. It looks good and has been there since I applied it about 15 years ago.
But I had a sudden impulse yesterday and am now the proud owner of a pot of yellow paint.
I do however, need to continue to improve the wall surface, hopefully myself, but if necessary it's an idea to get some quotes for plastering. It's only a small area so should be reasonable.

A big UV fly catcher, like they have in commercial kitchens. So effective at removing flies from the house in summer and also a great night light in the kitchen. A bit of a disco feel!

Actually, those panels sound good!

henetha

Not sure this counts, but I've just had a new toilet and it gave me the chance to give it a good clean back there. Now that the new toilet is installed it has left me with a problem though. The new cistern is totally a different shape from the old one, so I have to find a way to make that wall look decent. So, paint, tiles, whatever? Help!
This is so interesting, isn't it... not

I'm no expert Henetha, but it depends on what the existing. resulting surface is like.
You might get away with sanding it and painting that wall with two coats, but if it has left you with two uneven surfaces and/or jaggy edges then calling in a plasterer would be best.

Maybe get quotes online? Unless they live nearby they would no doubt ask you to send a picture to save them time and petrol and save you money.

Yes indeed we had a shower installed in the down stairs small bathroom, because we all needed to be out of the house fairly early in the morning and two of the boys were keen fishers, thy could go straight in there to have their shower after fishing trips.

henetha

Thank you Allira and CariadAgain. I'm grateful for your comments. I certainly like the idea of panels rather than tiles, one problem being that there are already tiles around the adjacent wash basin, patterned ones from years ago. The chance of finding that pattern is non existent, I think.
Larger plain panels would look better.
On the other hand, maybe paint is the easier option, providing of course that I can find a yellow paint to match the existing paintwork.
I did go to a d.i.y shop yesterday and looked at the millions of tiles and paint etc. I left totally unable to decide. But I will get there eventually.

The panels in our new kitchen are alloy, but you can buy ones for bathrooms in pvc I think.

They are easy to clean, much easier than paint.

Yes, CariadAGain, that is probably the best plan I think.
I've done my own decorating for years now and it was me who painted the walls yellow. I'm not so fit now, but it's only a tiny room so I might give it a go. Anyway, no-one but myself ever uses that little room as I do have a proper big bathroom with a toilet.
I can't leave as it is though, it would offend my eyes, so I think paint/colourwashing is the easiest idea. Cheers.

Maybe - if the room is substantially painted anyway - you could choose a colour in the same sort of colour spectrum as that yellow and do something like colourwashing on that one wall and leave the rest as is (provided it doesn't "need" painting per se) and give it time to settle in your mind to see what you think of it. At that point - either leave as is or repaint the whole bathroom. A typical small bathroom doesn't take much time to have a decorator repaint (how can you tell I thought "Blow it" and just had a decorator do all the decorating in my current house?). Can't recall just how long it took to repaint the little bathroom my house has - but would think it was probably coat 1 on day 1 and coat 2 on day 2 sorta timing....

Thank you Allira and CariadAgain. I'm grateful for your comments. I certainly like the idea of panels rather than tiles, one problem being that there are already tiles around the adjacent wash basin, patterned ones from years ago. The chance of finding that pattern is non existent, I think.
Larger plain panels would look better.
On the other hand, maybe paint is the easier option, providing of course that I can find a yellow paint to match the existing paintwork.
I did go to a d.i.y shop yesterday and looked at the millions of tiles and paint etc. I left totally unable to decide. But I will get there eventually.

When we bought this house 4 plus years ago, we thought perfect! won't have to spend any money on it, but inevitably we did. nitpickers us there's always something! Firstly, we replaced the decking which had seen better days with paving stones in slightly different hues. There weren't any doors exiting the kitchen and dining room, I think because previous owners had young children and that suited them so we put some nice internal doors in with glass panels. Away with the greys, we had it repainted in some more vibrant colours. Then we did the en suite shower room, because the shower was a convoluted affair with a curved screen and a raised shower tray, oh and previous owner had repaired some grouting which looked crap didn't have a very good aesthetic. I like my showers to be completely flat on the ground with a straight screen that doesn't have to be opened rather than a door affair. We also redid the utility because they'd obviously put the old kitchen units in there when they refitted the kitchen, they were dark brown, all rather and dingy, now they're white. Now OH is talking about doing the main bathroom, nothing wrong with it really, it's him not me!, the house is like a scab he can't stop picking at

Actually, the very best thing we did was to buy this house, near the middle of a large, friendly village but not far from our local University town. Everything we have done to the house is icing on the cake.

A very minor little thing - but it gets very windy sometimes where I am in the country now. Cue for a recent particularly bad gale did for my tv aerial and it broke and stopped working. When I had it replaced I took account of a suggestion I was given by someone here and told the guy to put the new one inside my loft and have a booster thingie with it. Duly did so - and at least I don't have to worry that future gales might get a traditional "on the roof" type one and there might be the risk of it crashing through the roof.

AskAlice

It's interesting to hear what things you have had done that have enhanced the enjoyment of your properties and lives.

We've also just had our kitchen made over (doors, worktops, sink and integrated recycling bin) which cost quite a lot but nowhere near as much as a new kitchen. With that AND the new plinth heater, I'm regaining my love of cooking at a rapid rate!

One other tiny thing that has made such a difference was getting the back door from kitchen to garden fixed. The catch never worked properly, but a nice man who was replacing a pane of glass for us in the double glazing took one look and fixed it properly in minutes. We've had several door specialists have a look at it in the past, but they just bodged it with bigger screws in different places and it was still not shutting properly. The joy of just pulling it to and not having to yank the handle up fiercely every time is beyond words! Little things, but they mean a lot...

I can resonate with comment re the door. When I bought this house it still had the original wood door on what I call the boiler room. It could be opened and shut - but not by me. I thought "fat lot of good if a woman can't use it" - so I had it replaced with a upvc one - which anyone can easily use.

The front and back doors were upvc anyway - but "old woman style" and not that great condition. So I replaced the front door with a composite one and one can't see someone is standing behind it now (ie me) when coming up to it. Got told the back door couldnt be replaced with composite - am not too sure I believe them in the event! But I had that replaced with another upvc one (in a modern style this time) and the top glass in it is a large window (ie so I've got a window I can open in my kitchen at last).

Sorry to hijack this thread. Just a quick question. We are planning to replace our pine internal doors with oak doors. We have a dilemma regarding the door frames there are 11 of them. Do we ask a joiner to remove and replace with oak frames? I imagine this will be very expensive. Or do we re-stain them oak? Or paint them white?

We have oak skirting and not planning to paint those as they look nice.

My wide kitchen window, which faces West, had vertical blinds and both had to be fully pulled together and tilted to save glare from bright sunlight. Moaned about this for years then saw Granddaughter’s bedroom blinds which drop or fold up without cords (from a famous Swedish brand). Replaced vertical with two of these and problem solved.

The house had a living room with door from hall. Dining room also door from hall. Kitchen adjacent to dining room. Knocked door and wall into dining room down basically making a kitchen /diner. Added door at end of hall to separate kitchen/ diner from hallway. More inclusive but sitting room still separate for peace and quiet.

That"s men for you!

The have the word on reality.

Only their experiences matters and thenit is laid down as a god given truth.

I had the tall glass doors in one on my kitchen cupboards replaced with ‘larder style’ solid doors, with racks inside for condiments, spices etc.

All the old-fashioned glasses that used to be on show but were never used are packed away and I have easy access to ingredients I use frequently when I’m cooking. And more and better storage for tins and baking ingredients.

The new doors are mdf and the plan is to paint the whole unit in contrast to the existing wooden units. I changed the all the cabinet doors handles too. Our 20 year old kitchen is now more functional and looking quite up-to-date - for around £1,500! (And put the old, solid wood doors on Freegle, and someone was very pleased to take them.)

We have refreshed lots of our home since retirement. I usually have to persuade my husband that my ideas are worth the effort. Solar panels, batteries and electric car were the best package we completed and the panels and batteries have paid for themselves in 4 years. Our 8 legged provider has great tariffs to maximize the benefits.

We swapped the sides of the kitchen so we now have bifold doors and can sit at the table and enjoy the garden.

A reorganisation of the dining room, sitting room and conservatory made a major difference. We moved the wall and gained a bigger dining room for family get togethers, put in a new door and raised the floor level and a wider opening in the conservatory to join it to the sitting room. We also put floor length windows and a well insulated roof with roof windows in the conservatory so can see the garden from our sofa.

Changing a dangerous 1960s open tread teak staircase and dark parquet floor for light oak made coming through the front door a real pleasure.

Being brave with floorplans can really change the dynamics of a house but I think we have finished now.

My husband once took a trekking group away for a month and while he was away I moved our bedroom wall to give us a better master bedroom. He would have said it wasn't worth it but was amazed by the difference it made so he was glad I did it and he avoided the hassle and mess.

Thank you all for this interesting thread. As we age our homes become more important so sharing ideas for improvement are very helpful. A good handrail in the shower, the safety of a camera doorbell and giving up the landline have all kept us moving with the times and taking wise precautions for our safety.

A small thing we did which has been very helpful was to replace the up and over garage door with one which rolls up and works by a switch in the garage. Even DH was finding it difficult to lift the original door. However, the best thing has been putting an extension across the back of the house by incorporating the kitchen, an outside paved area and the space where the conservatory was.