Redecorating the Whole House (Buying my First Home)

I was initially going to do all the painting and redecorating myself, of course with my no ex. When the relationship ended, I decided it would be far too much for me too do myself and realistically, would take forever. Given that I've never painted before myself, I also didn't know if I'd been any good so I ended up hiring someone to come and do the work. They had great reviews and had a week free when my house was suppose to be completed. Unfortunately, the house got delayed and therefore I had to inform my decorator, who then sadly wasn't available. I found another decorator who also had good reviews on Facebook, albeit no one I knew had used them. I booked him about 2 months in advance and he was able to do the whole house the week I got the keys, meaning it was completed when I moved in. 

As most of you know, I'm quite a decisive person and once I have my mind made up, it doesn't really change. Most of the colour schemes were already set due to reusing the current decor and accessories I already owned, including blinds. I had initially ordered a beautiful colour swatch card from Little Greene. I loved the selection and the quality of the product. Sadly, the decorator wanted to use his own recommended paint selections.

He said he worked with both Crown Paints and Johnstone's Trade. Initially he just showed me the latter so I selected the shades based on the very limited selection that they have here. I didn't love the options for the kitchen and the master bedroom, but was happy with the other options. 

I had quite a few rooms to go through so I decided to keep it simple for continuity throughout the rest of the house, with one base wall colour. I had originally chosen Artic Cotton as I wanted it to be a warm neutral colour. When he came back to get wall measurement shades, he brought the Crown Paints colour chart. I kept the feature walls the same, but switched the main wall colour to Tottington White. 

For the kitchen, it was a navy blue I was after and I chose Blue Tang. In the living room, I decided to make either side of the chimney breast a feature wall with a beautiful ochre and grey striped wallpaper from Dunelm. The study was based off the blue in my pillows, so I chose Everglade Mist, as was the spare bedroom. I was torn between Rose Cloud and Rose Heart, but ultimately went for a latter, bolder shade and I am so pleased I did. The master bedroom was the one room I got to pick and make home from scratch. I was so torn between purple, orange or green but given the colour selection I decided to go for a deep, dark forest green and it's quickly become my favourite shade in the house: Country Club. 

In all honestly, I think the coverage and wall overall paintwork is great. I paid £3,800 for the entire house, bar the utility room, which included stripping wall paper, all doors and woodwork, as well as the walls and ceilings. They also ended up replastering and repairing the chimney breast after I ripped it out to replace it. The finish however is not great, with bits of paint missing that I will be touching up, splatters of the wrong paint on different walls, like ceiling paint on the walls, feature wall colour on the other walls. They even missed a huge chunk of wall in the study! In the master bedroom, they got a big blob of green paint on the carpet and even the professional carpet cleaners I'd hired couldn't get it out. To top it up, they filled my drains with paint and plaster, and also got paint on the paving stones outside. Nevertheless, it's all done, and I have no plans to redo for at least another 3 years so cheers to that.

Whilst I'm on the subject of carpet cleaning, I thought I'd just add it on the end here as it doesn't really warrant it's own post. I was going to rent one, but a friend from work recommended a really good company to come. I had initially booked for the lounge, master bedroom and hallways with landings to be done, but unfortunately, due to the building works going on, they couldn't access the hallways as there was tape down everywhere. They did do the lounge and master bedroom, but in all honesty I didn't notice much difference visibly or feeling wise. I'm sure it refreshed it and got rid of all the dog fur and dirt from the previous owners, but I was expecting it to be revived and it wasn't. They were also quite expensive for the length of time they were here, and they had two young boys working who were not at all customer service friendly. 

Like I said in one of my earlier posts, I'm going to be sharing room tours very soon so you'll be able to see all the room details very soon. If you want some sneak peaks, be sure to watch the vlogs!