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expensive / quality laminate is surely an oxymoron! It always looks cheap and nasty
Arguably No worse than not fitting flooring at all. Surely the definition of cheapass
I quite like the unmolested time warp houses from say 60s, swirly carpet, g plan furniture, brick fireplaces, Corby trouser press…
If I bought one I would keep most of it intact and have a retrotastic party.
We looked at a 1970’s chalet style bungalow when we were house hunting. It was AMAZING. All the doors were original, the stairs were the original open style with the flat horizontal planks for the bannisters. Lot of built in furniture which was probably there since it was built.
The thing was it looked really really good. Yes it needed redecorating (careful choices would need to be made) and a tidy up but I would have kept it mostly intact as is really suited the proportions and style of the house. Unfortunately it didn’t work for us in a couple of crucial ways - I reckon whoever bought it probably ripped out all the good stuff and put in IKEA furniture and Richard Burbidge turned spindles (boak) on the stairs. I don’t think I’d want to know what it looks like now just in case.
Arguably No worse than not fitting flooring at all. Surely the definition of cheapass
Lol! ffs tj at least put some sawdust down!
Trailrat - actually the main reason for the bare boards is neither me of the missus could find any flooring we liked! My hallway has been hardboard for more than a decade for the same reason.
That picture is of a flat intended for renting which drove a lot of decisions including the fact I am a cheapass!
Thermal /insulation reasons. Modern houses need to meet certain standards and its easier to do this with small windows
Exactly - cost saving. All modern houses are built to extract as much profit as possible from house buyers. In the past people were proud to build houses for people, yes following the design trends of the decade but you now have houses where you can place when they were built at a glance.
I doubt many people could tell whether a newer house was built in the 1990/00/10/ or 20 decade.
I reckon (hope really!) in 40-50 years time a lot of the houses built in the last 30 years will be seen as crap and “avocado bathroom”.
Pigeon hut timber , large grey windows (the white ones now grey to match....it's a left over from the old building)
I'm sure you'll hate it but I'm ok with it.
Inside is terrecota orange with laminate flooring and an oak/steel combo dining table.
I'm ok with that
*Edit I see insta links no longer work
That picture is of a flat intended for renting which drove a lot of decisions
Was the decision to make it as soulless as possible? Like a set from a 1980’s game show where the polished model shows off the dinner set or mini hifi you can win in the next round?
Terracotta! and you slag me off 🙂
Never mind taste, surely wood/laminate floor in a flat is a no no?
*Edit I see insta links no longer work
Aye, we had too many nice things.
The Guardian has published an article today featuring a few of the posters from this thread.
Exhibit 1 - TJAgain
Guardian Modern Life is Rubbish
I quite like the unmolested time warp houses from say 60s, swirly carpet, g plan furniture, brick fireplaces, Corby trouser press…
You've just described my grandparents house. Must have been a fashion because a lot of their friends had similar.
The raised swirly Artex plastering on the walls.
Carpets in a swirly pattern, multi-hued but based on one colour (theirs were green in one room and an awful red/orange in the hallway).
I think they had a peach bathroom rather than avocado though.
They had a dreadful conservatory too, built back in the time when they were just coming into fashion except done on a budget and it was little more than a greenhouse but in white. Single glazed so absolutely freezing in winter and so hot in summer that the laminate floor warped and peeled.
When they died my Mum did as much as possible with the house to clean it up and then sold it. The new owners absolutely gutted the place - I never saw it redecorated but my Mum said it had been really nicely done and all the awfulness had disappeared!
Was the decision to make it as soulless as possible
To be fair for a rental I can understand that. Keep it simple and when your tennent ****s it up and runs off its minimal cost to sort.
I'm ok with terracotta because it's not magnolia.
My paint is not magnolia either. Its "soft cream summer mist" or something equally pretentious
its really magnolia
frank - nope not me. My stuff is all minimalist and clutter free
I bet all the 50 something year olds here know what lineoleum is . They would have had it in their kitchen , bathroom, kitchen table if you were poor
Change its name to Marmoleum and it's apparently the healthiest most hygienic floor covering now although Kirkcaldy doesn't smell just as bad as it did 40 years ago
Should see my feature wall in the dining room. 3 walls are terrecota and one is pure brilliant white........
Bet you can't guess why.
Bet you can’t guess why.
To try and hide the damp?
Bet you can’t guess why.
To use it as a projector wall for your midget porn parties?
I bet all the 50 something year olds here know what lineoleum is . They would have had it in their kitchen , bathroom, kitchen table if you were poor
Isn't proper linoleum (ie. the stuff made from linseed oil) quite expensive now?
As with most things its all about not over doing it. Take TVs:
TVs on walls are fine.
TV's on walls so high up its like sitting at the front row of the cinema are not fine.
TV's on the wall so high up because they are above the fake mantlepiece in your new build that doesn't have a chimney are ghastly.
TV's on the feature wall so high up because they are above the fake mantlepiece which is also liberally decorated with "LOVE" and "HOME" ornaments strategically positioned to catch the light from the LED downlighters, well you get the point.
How do we stand on the Farrow and Ball type wall paints? Personally i really like them as they are not flat colours but subtle mixes. However I bet they will date as badly as the 80s/90s strong colours on walls or the 70s flock wallpaper
Seems I was right no correct guesses Ran out of terrecota paint and not bought any more so it's remained pbw of the undercoat
It's kinda like an anti feature wall.....
But yes projector wall is a good shout I'll use that next time 😉
flooding a house with cat5 seems to have died a death (and not just because of cat6), but at least it was hidden.
lol, i did that in my house, i've still not connected the ends up, just buried the cable behind the fittings because i cant be arsed..
How do we stand on the Farrow and Ball type wall paints?
Linoleum is pretty good stuff.
Yes, probably more expensive than vinyl (although not by much if you compare how they wear and longevity), but also made of natural materials not plastic. And yes it is hygienic - that's why it's used so widely in healthcare settings (admittedly not such a high priority in houses).
To fit it well, you need to know what you are doing though, and it isn't available in every fashionable colour and pattern.
[IMG] https://postimg.cc/qggCVdth [/IMG]
possibly an image ?
Apparently not- maybe a link ?
There you go teej guarantee you will hate it.
How do we stand on massive oversize copper coated faux ship lights ?
Either way a couple of tins of paint and it's a different room again.
That burnistoun link is fabulous dahling
Marmoleum if your willing to pay can probably be as fancy as you like with laser cutting or water cutting. Linseed oil and sawdust it's come a long way
Axctually trailrat thats not as bad as I thought - bar that bloody lampshade and the fake floor. 🙂
another thing we do not ave - lampshades. Again everytime I try to buy some I find them all to be hideous 🙂
We looked at a 1970’s chalet style bungalow when we were house hunting. It was AMAZING. All the doors were original, the stairs were the original open style with the flat horizontal planks for the bannisters.
I think you're getting at something really important here. I think a very high quality, well designed interior from almost any period can look really cool. But what happens is you get poor quality imitations of any trend and that tends to be what people end up hating. I've also seen places with original 70s woolen Axminister carpets that still look good in all their swirly glory.
E.g. the current trend for dark walls and wood panelling. I think done well by a master craftsman with high quality finishes it'll age OK. MDF stuck to the wall and splashed with some of Wilco's finest not so much. See also cheap laminate vs. high quality engineered wooden floor, and a quality stove installation vs. a ripped out fireplace with a folded metal box in it.
It's not a lampshade dear.
Wooden worktops. Previous house solid oak worktops, utterly ruined with water marks, espcially round the belfast sink (arrghhh).
Did a minor kitchen refresh (replaced some damaged ikea fronts while they were still available) and installed laminate tops. I had many happy evenings throwing chunks of oak worktop into the wood burner (defense - village with no mains gas, and a old inefficent oil boiler).
Laminate flooring. If you cannot afford wood then get carpet
As said quality laminate is expensive and a hell of a lot more resilient than wood.
expensive / quality laminate is surely an oxymoron! It always looks cheap and nasty
Anyone else dare to stick their heads above the parapet with pictures?
I'll fling a picture of the kitchen floor up after it gets washed but it won't be until later. Tile effect laminate, looks the same but with none of the disadvantages (cracking, bloody freezing). But see to be honest, I couldn't GAS what anyone thinks as I doubt you do either. This home was decorated for us, not an imaginary future tennent.
Have to ask though, does anyone still put carpets in bathrooms or pish mats around the toilet? 🤮
Oh, and completely with you on sparkly bathrooms.
Now this is a real floor. 150 year old boards showing all their history. Curating them took hours and hours of work. the picture somehow does not show the warmth of the colour and they have had nothing done to them bar cleaning and a little oil. You cannot buy that sort of authenticity but you can buy fakes.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50827019993_c27f2b28df_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50827019993_c27f2b28df_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2krpLfV ]20210112_101538[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/25846484@N04/ ]TandemJeremy[/url], on Flickr
IRL they really divide folk - some love 'em some hate 'em
People thought their bathrooms were nice at the time 😉
My father in laws bathroom still looks exactly like this, just a bit grubbier.
Tony wins!
do you think the move towards a retro 70s look will go that far?
How do we stand on the Farrow and Ball type wall paints? Personally i really like them as they are not flat colours but subtle mixes. However I bet they will date as badly as the 80s/90s strong colours on walls or the 70s flock wallpaper
Depends on the house. On newer houses it’s kind of pointless as a lot of the colours F&B and Little Greene do are researched from period properties like stately homes. The colours are really good for old houses as they tend to be less harshly tinted and probably quite similar to what was put in there originally. You can overdo it though.
Don’t use the estate emulsion from F&B as it’s very very Matt and chalky finish and isn’t very durable - but it isn’t meant to be, it’s supposed to be a traditional finish. The modern emulsion from them is good. Yes it’s expensive but you generally need a lot less coats so works out similar in price sometimes.
ha those modern front doors with full height handles are my pet peeve, but theyve been done to death... bifolds was another.
we have just completed an extension, made the standard big open plan kitchen / living space room. didnt go for bifolds, but got full height/length timber framed glazing at the back with french doors..
looks nice, but im not really comfortable in there. much prefer to sit in the snug with the fire on!
@tjagain Yeah, remind me of Emma's flat in Dalmeny Street, down to the sticky grot stuck down the wider gaps.
As someone also said, wooden floors in flats are a nono. You hear EVERYTHING and every damn footstep. They're probably illegal in Switzerland.
Previous owner thought this looked good.
Edit that's not magnolia...it's cigarette tar stain
Edit that’s not magnolia…it’s cigarette tar stain
Fagnolia...as it's known in the trade.
squirrelking - thats actually black rubber cast into every gap - and we are in the weird position of having no one living underneath us. I don't think I would have done it if we had folk living below us but maybe that one room as I love the floor.
I quite like the unmolested time warp houses from say 60s, swirly carpet, g plan furniture, brick fireplaces, Corby trouser press…
If I bought one I would keep most of it intact and have a retrotastic party.
A friend of mine bought a house that hadn’t been touched since the 60’s and paid over the asking price on condition that they left all the furniture, carpets etc. It was ace.
See, that's a good floor TJ.
We have crap laminate boards in our house that were here when we moved in, but some of the better laminate floorings are very good, if it is a quality engineered timber system. Dimensionally stable, available in all sorts of widths and timbers, and can be finished in much the same way as a solid wood board because the bit you see and touch is real wood. Expensive, yes, but a quality product.
We lived with this for 9 years.
How do we stand on the Farrow and Ball type wall paints? Personally i really like them as they are not flat colours but subtle mixes. However I bet they will date as badly as the 80s/90s strong colours on walls or the 70s flock wallpaper
As far as us muggles go they're supposed to be the trend setting paint of choice, their current range in B&Q at least could be described as 'fifty shades of grey' with a few grey-blues/greens thrown into the mix, there's others, but the bulk of the range is greys, at some point most of those greys will disappear and the next big thing will arrive.
As paint goes, they do come in interesting shades and there's a 'look' about the finish you can see, it's not very good paint IME though, needs multiple coats for a decent finish and isn't very robust.
I can take a photo of my living room that will show.
Grey wall
A GIANT MidCentury sideboard in teak
Bare floorboards with mad gaps
Mustard rug
two african drums
an early anglepoise
....
aaaaaand....
I actually prefer barefloorboards to other flooring options. I haven't got round to it in all my rooms but the ones i have retrofitted with wood slithers int he gaps looks good
Some cork tiles on the old harth...
Previous owner thought this looked good.
It probably did in the 90s, laminate floors, pine furniture etc, that was probably the last time they could bring themselves to give enough of a toss about it to redecorate.
Someone spent a bit of time fitting these ..... Thankfully they took about 30 seconds to remove.
Aye - but in many years time will the F&B colours be as dated as 70s stuff is now?
I quite like the unmolested time warp houses from say 60s
Marvel at the beauty of this
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-76777290.html
Some of it looks a little impractical (such as the hobs), but I think it great that it has been preserved as true to the original design intent over the last 60ish years
As with most things its all about not over doing it. Take TVs:
TVs on walls are fine.
TV’s on walls so high up its like sitting at the front row of the cinema are not fine.
TV’s on the wall so high up because they are above the fake mantlepiece in your new build that doesn’t have a chimney are ghastly.
TV’s on the feature wall so high up because they are above the fake mantlepiece which is also liberally decorated with “LOVE” and “HOME” ornaments strategically positioned to catch the light from the LED downlighters, well you get the point.
TV's built into fake chimney breasts with full width glass box gas fires...
Oh, and a wall mounted TV (at the correct height for watching TV from the sofa.
Oh yes the whole place was done in the 90s. But it aged directly 90s.
They had lived here since 1950 . The original lino tiles were still on the floor under the laminates in all houses.
The kitchen was good quality full solid wood carcass and doors just horrible to look at and worn out after probably 25 years.
The kitchen floor was parador and looked like new.
Those god awful feature walls with some mad indian restaurant style wallpaper.
One I always question with bifolds, glass walls and modern looking houses with no smaller opening windows is what happens when you want some fresh air but not all the doors open? How about when you go out for the day or to sleep.
I mean. Who really cares?
Next thing you'll be saying that you need to be redoing things every five years, and bang goes a few more years of your life paying stuff off.
If you *need* to redecorate then do it - but if you just fancy a change or think things look "tired" - do they look more tired than working another year, when you could have that year off and suit yourself?
Am doing a mahoosive renovation of an old welsh farmhouse and a full demolish of an old outbuilding and rebuild. It's going to cost me a fortune.
However, at 47 years old, if it needs redoing before I die I'll sell up, buy a big boat and spend the rest of my dwindling years sailing around the planet.
Eff spending money on constant updates to keep up with the Jones'...
Peekay, that's lovely. I'd live in it.
Not nice 1960s modernism, but this has some spectacular interior features..
https://www.rettie.co.uk/properties/13069746/sales
Eff spending money on constant updates to keep up with the Jones’…
Amen.
plastic grass
Some folk in 25 years time will be wearing brown and beige , cordoroys, tena pants etc
You will still have the receipts kept in a quality st tin from when you bought that Meile washing machine, 5'Samsung telly from John Lewis and still loving your out of fashion grey windies with condensation inside the glass , you will constantly be contacted to sell up and buy a brand new old folks bungalow you can't pass on to your kids and your meals delivered ready made to stick in the micro
Previous owner thought this looked good.
I can do better than that:
What you can't see is the transition to a slightly darker shade of terracotta just behind the TV. Not a different wall, just a line straight down it where they obviously just changed brands.
Not nice 1960s modernism, but this has some spectacular interior features..
I think that, and a few of the other mid century houses and images that have posted show that it isn't necessarily the avocado/pastel bathroom suite in itself that is disliked. It is about the context of the surroundings.
Curating them took hours and hours of work.
You should know better than this, TJ. 🙂
I can do better than that:
I've worked in social housing refurb for two decades.
You people have no idea.
There aren't even any pictures of houses with graffiti on the inside, dogshit on the floor or floor to ceiling "specialist" pornography.
The range of peoples decorating "choices" is waaaaaaaaaay wider than you could ever comprehend.
There aren’t even any pictures of houses with graffiti on the inside, dogshit on the floor or floor to ceiling “specialist” pornography.
I spent 2 summers refurbing such flats for social tennents. I know where your at. Baths full of human feaces are more common than you'd think. Was essentially full hazmat to go in there.
Good money though if you can do it quickly.
Well when we talk about decorating we're actually talking about otherwise sane choices rather than slum living.
Good money though if you can do it quickly.
I'd imagine you would want to given limited lung capacity.
Martin - glad someone picked that up 🙂
Aye – but in many years time will the F&B colours be as dated as 70s stuff is now?
Yes.
Everything that is fashionable now, will look as dated when the next trends come.
The reason some houses look dated, but not worn/grubby is there's a point in all our lives when you just don't care about that sort of stuff anymore, I thought reached that point years ago, but my Wife who is a bit younger than me, and well... cares about stuff hadn't. So I try to steer her away from anything too permanent or expensive to replace that's too 'on trend' because in a few years she'll hate it. It's a funny old world.
It's funny, I've been obsessing about the colour of the living room, because for some reason I've decided that after painting it all about 6 months ago, it's a big boring. It's a HUGE room, not because it's a big house, but because it's a 70s semi with a big long, combined living / dining room which would have had some horrible big sliding glass doors in it year ago. I wanted to paint the living room in one colour and leave the dining room whatever marketing name of magnolia it is now.
After 5/6 taster pots of, yes, shades of grey, she's settled on a F&B grey for just one wall, to my mind it's neither fish nor fowl, it's not dark enough to be that sort of 'Heritage look' which I sort of had in mind, but then, it's not a heritage house, and it's not light enough to be 'just paint'. It's just boring. It reminds me of the Spitting Imagine puppet of John Major.
Despite "not caring about that sort of stuff" it seems I do... so, and I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I've been reading up on new trends, lots of bright colours coming according to Home and Gardens (as well as ****ing grey).
It seems green is THE colour for 2021.
https://www.homesandgardens.com/news/paint-trends-206929
I've thought of all of this as I type it, time for a convo with the Wife I think.
Micro en-suite shower rooms / bathrooms and barn sized open plan living, dining, kitchens...
Don’t use the estate emulsion from F&B as it’s very very Matt and chalky finish and isn’t very durable – but it isn’t meant to be, it’s supposed to be a traditional finish. The modern emulsion from them is good. Yes it’s expensive but you generally need a lot less coats so works out similar in price sometimes.
I'm using some modern emulsion (grey obvs) for a current job. £73 for 2.5 litres! 😳
You could buy a car for that.
Luckily, the customer specced it.
I'm not convinced I'm getting good value when I'm buying paint from a brand that has multiple s****y high street showrooms.
Micro en-suite shower rooms / bathrooms and barn sized open plan living, dining, kitchens
This one actually makes lots of sense....not that I have an ensuite but why would you want a massive bathroom. You spend minimal time in it-unless I'm doing it wrong 🙂
can't believe no ones mentioned baths in bedrooms.
not like en-suites or the like, but a bath in your bedroom like in some boutique hotel. seems to of trickled down from the likes of grand designs and now 'normal people' appear to be doing it. why in gods name would you want a bath in your bedroom or watch your partner have a bath whilst you are in bed. it's just really weird and future generations will judge us harshly
I have been looking at houses to buy in an idle fashion - some of the interiors are utterly hideous. My fave is the faux stone fireplace thingy that runs along all of one wall at differing heights
It seems green is THE colour for 2021.
We've just done our living room in F&B Pigeon and have to say it looks fab - and I was very skeptical.
You are doing it wrong trail rat. My bathroom is even linked into the sound system with proper hi fi speakers
You are doing it wrong trail rat. My bathroom is even linked into the sound system with proper hi fi speakers
And there was me thinking my last land lord was odd for suggesting I broke the toilet through some kind of bathroom party. I guess maybe they are a thing afterall.
And there was me thinking my last land lord was odd for suggesting I broke the toilet through some kind of bathroom party.
That's also more common than you would imagine.
In buildings with communal toilets like office buildings, the correlation between broken toilet seats in cubicles and the discovery of empty vodka half-bottles above suspended ceiling tiles is surprisingly high.
It seems that bathroom parties are actually a thing.
we've just moved to a normal-sized house with a weirdly enormous bathroom that has a spa bath. Guess the previous owners enjoyed a good soak! It is a really nice luxury tho 😃 Read a book or listen to an audiobook/podcast via the HomePod. Have even idly thought about putting a projector or big telly on the wall (would take a bigger telly than our living room 🤣)You are doing it wrong trail rat. My bathroom is even linked into the sound system with proper hi fi speakers
Speak for yourself Percy.
Ex MHA house clearer.