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Small, cheap home improvements

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  • 07-01-2008 7:58pm
    #1
    Faith
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,657 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    I'm not sure this is really the right place, but there's no "decorating" forum...

    I'm living in an apartment my parents bought in Edinburgh. They live in Ireland and simply can't understand that ALL the buildings here are old, and there's no new-build apartments around. I picked out the place because they told me to, and they were to lazy to fly over and do it themselves!

    Anyway, I picked a place I really like - the decor is great, I've no desire to change it. I've furnished the place mostly by myself - building shed loads of Ikea furniture along the way! Still, they're not happy. They want me to show that I have an interest in the place, by doing home inprovements. There's really nothing to be done, short of repainting rooms, but they're all huge, with 10 foot high ceilings, so that's not the easiest job. I'm going to repaint the skirting boards, and varnish the doors, but does anyone have any other ideas for small, cheap things I can do to the place? I basically just want to be able to phone them and say "I did X to the apartment today", but I'm on a VERY restricted budget!

    All ideas appreciated!


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    #2
    Wertz
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,909 ✭✭✭✭Wertz


    If it ain't broke...

    I dunno, you say you're happy with the decor so short of using some soft/mood lighting and hanging some pictures on the walls to personalise the place, what can you really do?
    What more of an interest in a place can you take, past living in it?
    In terms of DIY, there's only so much you can do on your own and with a small budget you're constrained even further.
    Try picking out some individual walls with paper or paint maybe? 10' ceilings aren't high....just a bit of a stretch :)
    Add soft furnishings like curtains, cushions and throws?
    When it comes to changing small features like iron mongery or switchplates (which can make a huge difference), even though the items can be gotten cheaply, you kind of need professionals to do it unless you're very DIY minded. That's especially true in an older or a period property.

    Bare this in mind too; botch DIY jobs devalue a property...maybe that would be a good excuse for the folks...


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