Posts by: Jacqui

I agree that the way to go is to compromise, so why not have your wooden floor and put a large rug in the middle of it (to your taste of course!!!) That way you have got your wooden flooring and he has got his soft carpet and access under the boards (where you can bury him!!!) I sympathise with you as I am having same battle with my husband But I will win in the end!!!

You could set fire to your bathroom and claim a new one off the house insurance!!! Or more sensibly you could try and find a theme that would work with the peach colour; perhaps a soft oriental theme with peach, cream and green. Or paint the walls white and stencil using other colours with just a little bit of the suite colour to tie it all together. Good luck with whatever you choose. And if you really can't find anything you like then remove the lightbulb and keep your eyes closed whenever you go in there!!!!!!!!!!!

Layers of muslin would look lovely both from inside the room and from outside, and for privacy at night you could add blinds.

Hi, you could paint the slats using spray paint, or for a soft look you could cut out the slats leaving just the framework and staple fabric to the back of the doors to match the room. If you went for this option it would probably be easier to make new door frames out of two by one.

You could do wonders with plain white walls you are so lucky to have such a blank canvas to work with. You can colourwash a whole room with one tester pot (1 each) and a bottle of scumble glaze. And the paint mixing machines do sample pots of any of there 1600 colours in a little tin for 2. My shed is full of these for colourwashing, stencilling etc. You could buy a couple of these tins in different shades of one colour and paint panels on the walls for a modern look. The possibilities are endless! Good luck.

Hi, you can treat your cork tiles as if they were paper - they take all the paint effects etc. Just make sure you seal them well with several coats of varnish when you have finished. The good thing is that you can decorate them before you put them down if you are laying the floor yourself.

Ho, Ho, Ho!!!

There was a beautiful bedroom (on Changing Rooms i think) that was done in lovely dusty orange and brown, with sari material that one of the changees had bought back from India. The only thing that spoilt it was that they stuck bits of wood onto the wall in a geometric pattern and it looked really out of place. If I had a bedroom that looked like that I would never leave it!!!

Can anyone help with some advice?
I have taken the laminate floor up from my hallway and found some lovely terracotta tiles underneath. I would like to paint a border around the edge of them (wasn't lucky enough for them to have a fancy pattern)but am not sure what paint to use also how to seal them afterwards. I have seen something on tv where they melted some kind of wax and oil into a pan but did not catch what it was. I would rather use this method as I remember the presenter saying that it did not make the tiles slippery - which has to be a consideration with two children. Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hi Ems, an easy(ish) way of getting rid of tile transfers is to use an angle scraper, if you haven't got one of these then an alternative is to use one of the scrapers that you use to get the paint off the glass on your window frames. You can normally pick them up in a little set of craft/decorators knives cheaply from "pound" shops and little hardware stores.

My resolution is to all the little jobs that will make the rooms I have so far decorated finished. We moved into our house a few months ago now and although I have decorated the three bedrooms, the bathroom and the kitchen, only my sons room is completed. I still have to paint the floor in my bedroom and put up the cast iron fireplace (once that has been painted!!!), finish painting the lampshade in the bathroom, make some kind of door cover for the cupboard under the sink, and finish the mosaic tiles around the top of the bath, and then I have to finish stencilling the mural in my daughters bedroom (I have been "doing" that for about two months now (the birds on it have no eyes or beaks!!!). Then of course there is the kitchen, which I painted dark blue (don't ask why :( ) but have now painted a sandy colour but the cupboard door handles need to be decorated and I need to make some transfers for the tiles. Then, once this is finally done I can get to work on the hallway and living room. .......But first I have to lose my addiction to the computer so I guess that same time next year I can just re-post this message.

Hi There, What am I doing wrong;(, whenever I go to the "your makeovers" section I am still seeing the same pics that have been there for weeks. I have just checked before coming onto the message board (I have even checked for a second page!). Perhaps I need to have my eyes checked or (more likely) do some kind of computer course so that I understand what I am doing!!! Help please

Probably the best thing to do would be to search on the net for the programme you watched (eg realrooms, changingrooms with the name of the channel that they originally appeared on). Most of these programmes have a details page for each of the makeovers showing stockists etc. Good luck.

Thanks for your replies, I have just checked again and using the "your makeovers" from the left hand menu I still get the old makeovers (Kathryn at the top and Nadine at the bottom right)!!! Perhaps there is a time delay in Birmingham :confused

I managed to find Steph and Riah's makeovers by typing in the names and doing a search
They are fantastic, I love the idea of using a roll of tape as a stencil, and the bathroom looks nice and fresh now. And Steph's living room is fantastic, leave the keys under the flowerpot and I am moving in :D
Well done to both of you.

I'm upset now because I did the confused smilie wrong

Linda Barker did a blue room on changing rooms ages ago now and it looked really good. She painted horizontal lines around the room in different shades of blue (some colourwashed as well) and silver. If you do a search online you would probably be able to see a picture of it.

Thanks for your help Anna, apparantly somehow I had got the page on a "default" setting Don't know what it is or how it happened but the husband sorted it out.

Hi, can anyone give me any advice as to what I should do about the clematis in my garden?
I have lived here for 8 months now and the clematis was already here (it is a beautiful white flowering one). It survived being unclipped and laid on the ground for a week while the new fence was put up in the summer and I havent done anything to it since - apart from spray it with greenfly stuff because it got quite badly infested I need to know whether or not I should cut it back (it is about 6 foot high and the same spread accross the fence) and if so by how much. I know nothing at all about gardening other than some plants need to be cut back so that they grow healthy and flower properly. I plan to do the garden up in the summer (once the house is finished) but want to try to keep hold of the few plants that were all ready here. Thanks in advance.
P.S Can anyone recommend a good idiot proof book on gardening for beginners?

It flowered in June/July for a few weeks. It looked really lovely.

Why don't you feed them - then they will think that they live with you and go and foul in someone elses garden!!! :D

My husband moans that even he has seen the programmes at least once before, and can't understand why and how I can sit through them two or three times (especially when I know I don't like the finished room )
He just doesn't understand. But then he doesn't understand the need to collect tester pots either - he really is from a different planet :D

Are you thinking of removing the spindles because you don't like them, or for another reason? And does your staircase open onto a hallway or into a living room?

Too much !!!

Hi Diz, I have never used esp before (I don't trust the idea of not having to sand things down!!!) but I know that you can buy it in Homebase for 10. But as you want to paint over tiles I think you would be better using the tile primer (by International) also available from Homebase etc.

You can still buy the polystyrene lining paper that hope mentioned. I bought some recently for my bathroom from Homebase - they keep it in the aisle with all of the coving and ceiling roses etc. It is only about 3 per roll but you have to use heavy duty adhesive and it is quite awkward to work with. But it does help with keeping a room a bit warmer. We used to have the same problem in our daughters room in our old house and we found that using a bathroom type blow heater for about 15 minutes really took the chill out of the room and the radiator maintained it after the initial boost !!!