Home improvements you find tacky

meeeeh

[Deleted User] wrote: »

That's right. The proportions are important when it comes to interiors. Something else is the functionality of your home and how you want it to work for you. Small children and a minimalist concrete cube don't really go together.

No they don't. Oh and I had a lot of discussion about wall paint. He loves colors I prefer white. In the end I gave in and thankfully I did, because little chocolate fingers are a lot more noticed on pristine white walls. There is a difference between a show home you like to look at and home you like to live in.

LirW

Another thing I cannot stand: These white PVC doors with the oval window in it. Must be the cheapest door in shop X or so, you see them around quite a bit actually.

PARlance

[Deleted User] wrote: »

But what a room! Look at the window!
Ah Persepoly and her dreamy head

Look at the window... the window you wouldn't see while in the bed. The rug annoys me and I don't think I could sleep with a window behind my head, is that not just strange? Maybe it's just me.

It's a lovely room but I would be un-staging it if I moved in. I would have similar taste bar the kitchen photo... no wood panelling on the walls for me. Too many bad memories of horrible rental accommodation with it everywhere.

PARlance

PARlance wrote: »

Look at the window... the window you wouldn't see while in the bed. The rug annoys me and I don't think I could sleep with a window behind my head, is that not just strange? Maybe it's just me.

It's a lovely room but I would be un-staging it if I moved in. I would have similar taste bar the kitchen photo... no wood panelling on the walls for me. Too many bad memories of horrible rental accommodation with it everywhere.

I would change the positioning of the rug I think. It's there to add warmth to the room and it really adds to keeping the bed as the focal point. I'd have no problem with a window behind me. I'd like to see the rest of the room and where the door is.

Look how the cushions in the first image lift the room from an almost sterile feel. I love how simple that is.

The second one used colour and texture for the same impact. It gives a depth which would be missing. I think it's a beautiful room.

cbreeze

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't like these ones

Yep. Explosion in the taste factory.

LaChatteGitane

Deleted User wrote: »

Look how the cushions in the first image lift the room from an almost sterile feel. I love how simple that is.

The second one used colour and texture for the same impact. It gives a depth which would be missing. I think it's a beautiful room.

I could certainly live 'in the second photo'.:cool:
In one of your previous posts the photo with the bedhead towards the window, I just couldn't abide. Beautiful room altogether but the positioning of the bed would make me feel unsafe and vulnerable. It is however a very American thing to do to place the bed in front of the window.

whoopsadoodles

I'll know tomorrow if I'll be buying a hundred year old cottage! Needs to be gutted.

Have the whole thing renovated and decorated in my head but a few things holding me back so we'll see. So bored of my current house.

Wouldn't be one for bling but one of my friend's houses it full of it and it's really gorgeous. Suits her and suits the house. Wouldn't be one for black but I've seen it work for some. Can't think of much I'd absolutely hate in someone else's house but plenty that I wouldn't like in my own.

The cottage would be made cottagey. The current fireplace is one that would have been the height of fashion in 60s/70s!

endacl

whoopsadoodles wrote: »

I'll know tomorrow if I'll be buying a hundred year old cottage! Needs to be gutted.

Have the whole thing renovated and decorated in my head but a few things holding me back so we'll see. So bored of my current house.

Wouldn't be one for bling but one of my friend's houses it full of it and it's really gorgeous. Suits her and suits the house. Wouldn't be one for black but I've seen it work for some. Can't think of much I'd absolutely hate in someone else's house but plenty that I wouldn't like in my own.

The cottage would be made cottagey. The current fireplace is one that would have been the height of fashion in 60s/70s!

Treat that fireplace as a starting point. You can do a lot with tiles and paint.

whoopsadoodles

endacl wrote: »

Treat that fireplace as a starting point. You can do a lot with tiles and paint.

It'll be ripped straight out

LaChatteGitane

LaChatteGitane wrote: »

I could certainly live 'in the second photo'.:cool:
In one of your previous posts the photo with the bedhead towards the window, I just couldn't abide. Beautiful room altogether but the positioning of the bed would make me feel unsafe and vulnerable. It is however a very American thing to do to place the bed in front of the window.

It's interesting how different rooms and positioning of furniture makes us feel. I'd have no problem with a window behind me but I like to face the door when I'm in bed. I think we underestimate the impact the space we occupy has on us. Certain rooms can be evocative.

If I was buying a house I would ask how it makes me feel. I've seen images of Le Corbusier' Ville Le Lac, a home he built for his parents and it looks like an empty kind of place, austere and cold. Yet he is considered to be one of the greatest architects and designers of modern times.

Taste is a funny thing.

The Princess Bride

I absolutely love this thread.

whoopsadoodles wrote: »

I'll know tomorrow if I'll be buying a hundred year old cottage! Needs to be gutted.

Have the whole thing renovated and decorated in my head but a few things holding me back so we'll see. So bored of my current house.

The cottage would be made cottagey. The current fireplace is one that would have been the height of fashion in 60s/70s!

Dermot Bannon is looking for new projects for next year's Room To Improve.
If you apply, you can make us all very very happy, even if you don't like the kitchen or windows or colours he gives you!

LaChatteGitane

Deleted User wrote: »

It's interesting how different rooms and positioning of furniture makes us feel. I'd have no problem with a window behind me but I like to face the door when I'm in bed. I think we underestimate the impact the space we occupy has on us. Certain rooms can be evocative.

If I was buying a house I would ask how it makes me feel. I've seen images of Le Corbusier' Ville Le Lac, a home he built for his parents and it looks like an empty kind of place, austere and cold. Yet he is considered to be one of the greatest architects and designers of modern times.

Taste is a funny thing.

I don't have to face the door when in bed but I also like to see it from my position. That also goes for windows. 180° view with a full wall behind me.
It is probably always a factor when buying a house : how does it make us feel ?

La Villa Le Lac has gone through many interior styles over the century. Even the outside has changed somewhat. I think it has nice parts that I could live with, others not so much. I guess it is also where it's been build that makes it an attractive property (and the name attached to it)
Le Corbusier has designed so many buildings starting in the Art Nouveau period and going over into the Art Déco, being avant-garde most of his life.

I appreciate many styles, even minimalist (being a clutterbug myself), as long as it has been executed well.

Graces7

whoopsadoodles wrote: »

I'll know tomorrow if I'll be buying a hundred year old cottage! Needs to be gutted.

Have the whole thing renovated and decorated in my head but a few things holding me back so we'll see. So bored of my current house.

Wouldn't be one for bling but one of my friend's houses it full of it and it's really gorgeous. Suits her and suits the house. Wouldn't be one for black but I've seen it work for some. Can't think of much I'd absolutely hate in someone else's house but plenty that I wouldn't like in my own.

The cottage would be made cottagey. The current fireplace is one that would have been the height of fashion in 60s/70s!

Grrr! I hate when old cottages have been gutted... When I was seeking a rental I specified "basic, that has not been 'modernised' out of all character.
One agent came up with this cottage; rebuilt in character with a huge fireplace etc. Tiny windows and one door facing south and sleeping is upstairs loft fashion. Using every inch of space. The one area that has been modernised is the open plan kitchen and done carefully with teak surfaces etc. I love it as it is. It has great character.

whoopsadoodles

Graces7 wrote: »

Grrr! I hate when old cottages have been gutted... When I was seeking a rental I specified "basic, that has not been 'modernised' out of all character.
One agent came up with this cottage; rebuilt in character with a huge fireplace etc. Tiny windows and one door facing south and sleeping is upstairs loft fashion. Using every inch of space. The one area that has been modernised is the open plan kitchen and done carefully with teak surfaces etc. I love it as it is. It has great character.

It's falling down and the poor man living in it was basically living in squaller until he moved into a home before he died.

It has to be gutted. There's no choice in the matter if anyone wants to live in it.

whoopsadoodles

The Princess Bride wrote: »

I absolutely love this thread.



Dermot Bannon is looking for new projects for next year's Room To Improve.
If you apply, you can make us all very very happy, even if you don't like the kitchen or windows or colours he gives you!

I've never seen room to improve but I gather he royally destroys perfectly good houses!

Where do I apply

Graces7

whoopsadoodles wrote: »

It's falling down and the poor man living in it was basically living in squaller until he moved into a home before he died.

It has to be gutted. There's no choice in the matter if anyone wants to live in it.

Ah that is different. Sounds though like a money pit.. things re this house make me smile, but it is well livable. Oil fired heating etc Just not.... tarted up. Some of the advertised rentals you would not dare breathe in.

whoopsadoodles

Graces7 wrote: »

Ah that is different. Sounds though like a money pit..

I know how much will need to be spent and have added an extra 20k just in case. I grew up in one of these houses. We used to have to go outside to use the toilet and had no shower, bath, central heating etc when I was small. I won't restore it quite to that level of authenticity. I will however pull down the manky false ceilings and partition wall. I would be restoring the fireplace in the front bedroom, and I'll be making the current bathroom into a utility so that it doesn't lie directly off the kitchen. Yuck.

Nothing comfirmed yet though as there's another beautiful cottage near where I currently live which requires little or no work so....we shall see!

.......

This post has been deleted.

Graces7

whoopsadoodles wrote: »

I know how much will need to be spent and have added an extra 20k just in case. I grew up in one of these houses. We used to have to go outside to use the toilet and had no shower, bath, central heating etc when I was small. I won't restore it quite to that level of authenticity. I will however pull down the manky false ceilings and partition wall. I would be restoring the fireplace in the front bedroom, and I'll be making the current bathroom into a utility so that it doesn't lie directly off the kitchen. Yuck.

Nothing comfirmed yet though as there's another beautiful cottage near where I currently live which requires little or no work so....we shall see!

Sounds lovely and great fun and a challenge. When I first came to Ireland I had a cottage like that. No indoor plumbing and when I had that installed it was run-off water from the bog.. like bathing in brown soup! But the rest was sound.

It would though have started needing more maintenance than I could afford .. Too old to get into that.

Enjoy and the very best of luck with it; exciting times I know and the summer ahead for it all...

flazio

Lighting up the entire front wall of a house like it's some important landmark that needs to be seen in the dark.

KKkitty

Think we should get an online petition going to get whoops on Room to Improve

whoopsadoodles

KKkitty wrote: »

Think we should get an online petition going to get whoops on Room to Improve

I just google imaged it there. He looks like he has a fierce hard on for ikea tbh.

KKkitty

whoopsadoodles wrote: »

I just google imaged it there. He looks like he has a fierce hard on for ikea tbh.

Is Room to Improve sponsored by IKEA

the_pen_turner

people putting stone on some of their house.
if you want it to look like a stone building then continue it around to make it look real.
this craic of just doing the front of the house and leaving the end facing the road in plaster just looks wrong.

same thing with porches and rooms sticking out of the main body of the house. do all of it and it will look good but this veneer of stone on one edge looks tacky

PARlance

whoopsadoodles wrote: »

I've never seen room to improve but I gather he royally destroys perfectly good houses!

Where do I apply

You're not missing a whole pile.

The show involves him knocking down a chunk of an old house, building an open plan extension and making the walls out of windows. That's it about 90% of the time.

Saying that, I watch it without fail and enjoyed last weeks one as it was similar to my ideal house.

PARlance

the_pen_turner wrote: »

people putting stone on some of their house.
if you want it to look like a stone building then continue it around to make it look real.
this craic of just doing the front of the house and leaving the end facing the road in plaster just looks wrong.

same thing with porches and rooms sticking out of the main body of the house. do all of it and it will look good but this veneer of stone on one edge looks tacky

Bingo... the country is polluted with these bloody things. Let's throw some stone on it that doesn't come from the area and looks completely out of place.

Sleepy

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

Christ, I hope you got that house cheap :eek:

I paid a fair bit below asking alright!

whoopsadoodles wrote: »

I'll know tomorrow if I'll be buying a hundred year old cottage! Needs to be gutted.

Whatever your contingency is: double it. Our place is 100 years old as well and every step of the renovations has revealed a need for a few more hundred that we hadn't accounted for. I'd be close on 10k over what I thought it'd cost me to get to this stage and a few things have just had to be shunted to phase 2.

That said, go for it, it's the most enjoyable thing I've done in years and the sense of satisfaction when you do the work yourself is phenomenal.

osarusan

I hate stone wall cladding that has a mismatch of stones at horrible angles. Looks awful.

PARlance

osarusan wrote: »

I hate stone wall cladding that has a mismatch of stones at horrible angles. Looks awful.

What is that... The stone cladding is horrendous but what is that wall supposed to be. A wine rack / storage unit / sink.