Little things that make all the difference - a home improvement thread

vacuuming

getting rid of clutter. i love the tidiness!

i have one of those bamboo blinds in my kitchen rumpie and i completely agree, it looks great and it cost me some ridiculously low price.

getting rid of the two six-foot-high wood/formica wall units i had in my room -- it's a small space and they towered over the room and made it look tiny.

i have to do that soon too, i need to recruit someone with muscles to help me. getting rid of something like that makes such a difference when you live in a little place.

Mirrors can help open up a small space as well, I'd love a large one for my main wall but haven't yet found one in my meagre price range.

No home should be without…
http://www.crystalsandjewelry.com/crystalsnjewelry_images/gifts/tealights.jpg

I never EVAH want candles in my house. Much too dangerous. Maybe for someone else it's okay, but I'm very negligent.

Yesterday I bought 3 wireless phones. 't Was about time!

I love tealights too, but I've swapped them for a large pillar candle in a glass vase, which I've half filled with pretty stones and coral and I've picked up in all the nice places I've visited.

i have a little bowl full of shells that i've collected all over the place too. beachy!

Covering the amps with large paisley scarves. It makes them look less like clobber cluttering up the room and more like design features.

Heheh Jim is OTM about the vacuuming!

Doing a spring clean... thats a paddlin' er I mean, that helps. I love this stuff - I think of 1001 things I could do to my flat - teak wood venetian blinds, a feature wall in a bold colour, more prints... renting means I cant do much of it though :(

if your landlord likes you they'd probably let you do the feature wall one trayce. also i've had landlords agree to stuff i wanted in the past if i offered to share the cost. after all it only enhances the value of their property.

I've asked before! My house is all white, except the carpet (which is uhh.. blue, I think, under all the stains hehe). White is bland and so easily stained. I wanted to paint the bedroom wardrobe doors chinese red... I asked for permission... no one said anything :( Maybe I should just do it anyway. The previous tenants stuck ugly adhesive mirror-tiles on EVERYTHING (the bathroom walls, the shower (!), various cupboards), so yeah fuck em.

But I wish I owned this place. I'd replace the carpet, maybe have a hall feature floor of floating hardwood, wooden blinds, wall colour, a new stove... get the bath re-enammeled. Damn the Sims. Makes me wish it was as easy as clickety click.

imagine if you could remodel your house with a few clicks! i'd do it every day

Yeah, I'm loathe to waste money on my place cause I rent, but your living space has got to reflect your own personality in some way Trayce.

I like the paisley scarves idea, I have an old calor gas heater that Mr Rumpie insists on keeping 'just in case'. When I get home I'm going to sling some fabric over it and make it a table!

a little 0000000000000.1p nail to hang yr front keys on

Clearing the clutter from the places it always gathers and putting a plant there instead. Re-arranging the furniture. Hoovering.

Oh how I long for "point and click tidy-up". It's right up there with my dire need for a teleporter.

I've got electric candles, the clear kind, in all of my windows. They're on every night of the year. Inexpensive to buy - around a dollar each, and cheap to run - 4 watt bulbs. From the outside the house looks all dressy and inside there's ambient lighting in every room, plus they're a real comfort to come home to after it's gotten dark.

I would also suggest adding a dimmer switch to a lamp or two here and there. They sell dimmers that install directly in the power cords for around 2 bucks and require nothing more than scissors or a sharp knife for tools. Even I can do this!

new shower curtain liners = heaven

something about that fresh plastic smell makes me feel like the room is cleaner.