Redecorating/ minor renovating on out first house

Bambinoonboard

Hi there,

My partner and I have bought a house that is structurally in good condition as well as turn key, yet we would like to redecorate it to our liking. Floors are hardwood pine upstairs and downstairs and doors are mostly that orangey pine hardwood style. A part of me feels it a shame to paint the doors as I quite like wood yet at the same time we would like to modernize.

Where do we start? Pick a 'style'/ 'theme'?

I imagine we'd be looking at refinishing floors first prior to painting anywhere...

Has anyone any advice re apps / links / companies / interior designers (also cost info) recommendations we could avail of?

Thanks in advance!! :)

ztoical

If the house is in good condition I would rec living in it for at least a few months before doing anything. You need to live in a space to really get a feel for it and what works best and how you use the space. Trust me if you rush in and paint walls and change floors without living in the space you just end up having to redo it. I moved into my house just over a year ago and I painted the living room before moving in as a I was 100% sure of the colour I wanted but now I want to change it as the way light moves through out the day in the room really doesn't go with the colour I picked, its still a lovely colour and I can live with it for now but it doesn't suit this space.

While you get use to living in the space start just start looking up ideas on Instagram/pintrest /youtube for different decor ideas, look for colours or themes you like or even just try typing in random things you like for music or films along with 'deocr' and you'll start getting lots of ideas. Create a folder on your computer of your favs and its easier then to get more specific ideas on cost otherwise its how long is a piece of string.

Emma2019

Plus one for not doing anything for the first few months.

Apart from all the reasons already mentioned you may find that there is a bit of unnoticed damage somewhere but that repairing it undoes all your good work.

Also I've decided after a few months living in my house that I want to get some soundproofing done which would have undone everything if I'd gotten floors done and painted.

Bambinoonboard

Thank you ztoical! I get what you're saying about getting the feel of the house itself. I suppose I'll have to park my impatience for now and sit With it all for the best :) Great idea re YouTube etc. :)

Bambinoonboard

Thanks Emma, that's interesting about the sound proofing!!! It's something we'd touched on for upstairs. Was it costly?

ztoical

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117867301#Comment_117867301

I know its really hard to wait but it will be worth in the long run as you'll get the space you want. My garden is a mess and I had great plans for the summer to build a deck area but my mum talked me into waiting and I'm glad she did as I found the sun in the evenings is in a totally different place as to were I was going to put my deck so next year I know exactly what I want to do. I hate looking at my garden right now but I know its going to look much better cus I waited.

I have found Instagram to be the most useful for ideas as once you start liking a few things they start suggesting similar to your tastes - I know not great having social media algorithms tracking us etc but it has been super useful seeing some of the renovations people have done and I've had some great inspiration as a result and saved money with some of the hacks people suggest

Emma2019

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117867312#Comment_117867312

I'm still at the getting quotes stage at the moment. I've gotten quotes of about 3k per room and I would want to get 3 rooms done so its not pocket change!

tscul32

There are different levels of soundproofing. When we moved into our current house we realised how thin the walls were and as we had 2 small boys and another on the way we asked about soundproofing. We couldn't afford much so got new plaster board on the two bedroom walls upstairs. About €300 per room to get them done nearly 10 years ago. Made a huge difference, still hear everything downstairs, neighbours now have small kids, so those walls will be done soon.

Bambinoonboard

Thanks for all the advice guys. With you on Instagram - have plenty saved already and liked for sure!! So many simple yet effective/decent hacks out there. Wow the scale from 300-3k sure is vast. Will keep in mind and good to know.

Pomodoro

Another +1 for waiting. Having recently moved into a house where everything is pretty dated (but freshly painted / clean). Initially I wanted to change almost everything, but the list of things I want to change in the near term gets smaller all the time.

When we do start doing some redecorating, it will be a lot more focussed on the few things that we still think are important.