What’s the best home decorating decision you’ve ever made?

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

When you move into a house, often one of the first things you do is plan out in your head what you would like it to look like and where your belongings will go. What colour you will paint each room, the furnishings, the flooring and then there are the decorative touches. For me, I think it is often the little decorative touches that make a place unique and feel like home.

Speaking with you here in the CC, I know you put a great deal of effort into creating a welcoming environment for your guests and this got me thinking about the favourite things you have done in decorating your home.

Perhaps you decided to remove a wall enabling light to flood in, perhaps it was your bold use of wallpaper in your living room, perhaps it is the amazing table you built for the kitchen, perhaps it is your colourful use of tiles in the bathroom, which your guests alway comment on!

Please share what your favourite decorating decisions are and feel free to share any photos.

Thanks,

Lizzie

[Marzena4]

It's tiles that only look like wood - perfect solution if you don't want every single grain of dust to be visible, and of course more durable with all those suitcases and the number of cleaning cycles.

[Lizzie]

They are really effective @Marzena4, from the photo I would never guest they aren't made from wood. Do you know if you can get other tiles that look like other materials? 

Do you have these tiles in every room or just the entrance hall?

[Marzena4]

The most important thing, @Lizzie, is that you don't notice mud or dust on them. Another design that nicely composes into interiors is stone-like tiles. My bathroom is like that - some vintage style sandstone-like tiles.

[Lizzie]

Aw great @Marzena4. The stone-like tiles sounds good as well. I once have actual stone tiles in my bathroom and although they looked really nice, they were quite difficult to keep clean, perhaps just the titles I had, but they kept on having white cleaning marks on them. I imagine with your tiles in the bathroom, like the wooden-like titles they are low maintenance. 

Are they easy to lay like vinyl/lino flooring? 

[Marzena4]

Unfortunately, the hardest part is laying them - special cement-like glue and the spirit level at all times. But the maintenance - just proper detergent and there are no smudges, @Lizzie

And in the hall, guests' suitcase wheels are manageable thanks to that.

[Joe261]

I did something similar with "luxury vinyl tile."  Ridiculously easy to install--it went right over ugly prison-style tile in the kitchen and beat up bamboo in the studio.  Finished in a day and a half.

Waterproof, looks amazing and pretty cheap to install.beat up bambooprison tileyuckAfterAfterAfterduringduring

[Lizzie]

Wow, this did make quite a difference @Joe261. How long did it take to lay all of this?

[Joe261]

Working with a contractor (as in "rolling up my sleeves") we knocked it out in a day and a half.  He pulled up the old baseboards, I laid the planks, he made the weird cuts and BAM, done pretty quickly!

I will never use wood again--this stuff is amazing!

[Lizzie]

It sounds like you make a good team @Joe261, your contractor will want your help on more of his jobs! 🙂 

Is your listing all set up the way you want it now? Or are you busy working away on other things?

[Robin4]

@Lizzie......I have posted this before Lizzie I know, but it is one of my prouder decoration moments!

One winter morning we were both sitting in our breakfast den with a cup of coffee staring out at a bleak July morning, heavy with fog and our massive Elm tree in the back yard devoid of any leaves. All of a sudden four Adelaide Rosellas flew in and settled on the branches of the Elm.

Ade said, "Quick, get a photo of them"......so scrambling for a camera, I obliged!

That night we were trying to establish what we were going to do with a wall panel in our lounge which we were renovating at the time. Try to bare in mind when we bought this property there was no ceiling in here...the termites had eaten through all the roof structure...Anyway after a major amount of restoration work we ended up with this recessed area which was 3 metres by 1.75 metres and we wanted to make a statement piece that would suit the property!

Ade said, and bloody hell, I would love to have thought of it, but I didn't...."Why don't we blow that photo you took this morning up and put it in that space.....

So, I did!

And the actual photo is on the wall, on the right!

It is a statement piece but it is not a south sea island beach....it is not a massive bowl of fruit....it is our back yard and it doesn't belong anywhere else on earth other than in this room!

PS: the tele is motorised and goes down behind the sideboard when it is not in use...just in case you are wondering why we would bugger up a perfectly good feature wall.

My other statement piece in that room is my 'wood pile'! I gathered up all the old bits of trees that were lying around on the block, cut them into even pieces, sprayed them to keep the 'termites' at bey, polished the ends of them and spent a massive amount of time arranging this little feature. 

I have said to @Huma0 in another post, everything in this house is unexpected, nothing goes, there are no themes but it is really comfortable to be amongst...that feeling that you just never know what you are going to see next. Sitting in this Lounge gives a really nice sense of comfort and belonging.

People are funny though....I have had people say...."When are you going to finish it" to which my reaction is ..."Oh one day when there is nothing left in my life to do"!!!

Lizzie, thanks for starting this thread...It is hard having to compete with Huma, she does it so much better than me...and I feel like something of a draught horse following along in her wake!

Cheers.....Rob 

[Lizzie]

Hello @Robin4, I am glad you shared this again in the Community Center. 

I've always admired the changes you have made to your home (including your 'man cave').

I think you have hit upon a good point though, that every home is unique in their own way and a home is a functional thing so it has to be comfortable. One style might not suit one house, but look wonderful in another and as long as it is inviting to you and your guests then that is the main thing. 

We can also pick up tips from others. I do have to admit though, I love seeing all the different styles and transformations everyone has done and we now have some amazing examples here in the CC. A huge inspiration to anyone thinking of doing a little (or in some cases a lot of) renovation work. 

How is your shower room coming along? 🙂

[Robin4]

 @Lizzie .....It is coming along Lizzie but oh hell, it is slow, and in case you haven't caught up with the current status, check out this thread of Huma's ....

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Before-and-after-pics/td-p/486728/page/9

I had this notion that 8 days would see this bathroom reno completed, I had set myself a work schedule for each day but, I soon realised all I was going to achieve in that time was one wall, albeit, the main wall with all the plumbing (apart from the shower set) in it.

We have guests in at the moment but, I have blocked off another two week after these guests leave and Lizzie, I still have the big ideas, just need more time to achieve them!

Two things have complicated my progress somewhat!

I blocked off last July to do this but getting council approval dragged things out beyond my window of opportunity, and then the pressure of guest bookings has been such that I have not had a free patch to start into it until last week. I kept on willing it on, itching to get something more than a few concept photos up!

The second thing is, my ability! Lizzie, I am no longer the well organised tradesperson I was with all my tools laid out properly in good condition when we bought this property in 2009. The extra 9 years has seen a real deterioration in my skills and this both saddens me and frustrates me. I now fully understand why society forces people to retire when they hit 70, they do tend to become more of a liability to society than an assett!

As you know from previous threads, this property was a overgrown derelict shell when we bought it. The only thing it had going for it was the outside stone walls. I gave myself 4 months to get it liveable again and I gave myself 10 years to get it to the way I want it. I am not going to make that deadline!

But as always, I do get the thrill of being able to stand back when it's done and say...'I did that'!

Updates will follow!

Cheers.....Rob

[Lizzie]

Aw I think you are being hard on yourself @Robin4. Starting from the point you did, you have to pat yourself on the back (even if the outside stone wall was fabulous!).

If things take a little longer than expected, as long as you are pleased with the progress you are making and you are able to manage everything then it will feel even more of an achievement once it is done. Plus, you get to have a few things to add to your 'to-do' list every day (although in your case, I imagine your 'to-do' list is probably rather long).

I will take a look at your update in Huma's thread. I love the regular updates. Here in the UK we have a show called 'Grand Designs' and I often feel like we have our own Community version of that here in the Community Center. It's fantastic! 🙂

[Mari98]

I love making things on a budget and I needed a Kitchenette for My AirBnB. So I took some old cabinets I already had and painted them black. I also bought a cheap wall panel and painted it with blackboard paint and now I can decorate it with different decor. I normally welcome the guests to my yellow house in the forest... I also painted parts of the fridge with blackboard paint where I write down the food items that are available in the fridge. I think it turned out great! 🙂 You can see my whole listing here: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6143848

[Lizzie]

I agree with you @Mari98, I think you did a super job and it is great to hear your upcycled other furniture to make this. It is really creative.

How did you go about thinking of making this, did you just decide to start making it or had it been in your mind for a while?