DIY home decorating thoughts abound on the box program of today, having gained in popularity over the past twenty years or so, with many of us learning new skills from leaflets unreservedly unfilled in all the huge DIY superstores. Government legislation in the UK has precluded many DIY-ers, especially in the realms of electrical and plumbing work and, following the introduction of the HIP Packs into UK Conveyancing, where documentation has to be provided for all and any alterations to your property, DIY at its greatest popularity has slipped down a notch or two. But, even after persons disastrous MDF makeover programs lost favor, people are still enthusiastic about DIY and not paying out for expensive overstress expenditure unless it is absolutely necessary.

One way that is bound to increase the value of your property is revamping your bathroom, with new bath, handbasin and toilet, together with separate shower if you have the room unfilled. If you are on a budget, replacing taps and showerheads and putting some attractive cabinets in the bathroom will achieve a dramatic look without too much outlay. With any DIY project, I would be inclined to go for the simplest first – take a look at whether your curtains, floors and other fabrics need to be replaced. They might be looking a small worn and, in replacing these, it may not be necessary to go to major expenses associated with a full redecoration project.

Try changing your tired ancient carpet with more modern hardwood or laminate carpet. If your hardwood is looking tired, sanding and re-stain should give it a new lease of life and, to brighten it up further, give is a few coats of varnish. There are many other carpet options such as textured rubber, vinyl or tiles – in fact, on one of my DIY shopping trips I found the most attractive textured floor tiles which, when laid, resembled hardwood carpet so closely that I could only tell the difference when I was just a few inches away from the tiles. They weren’t especially costly – but they certainly looked it!

Some people assume that decorating needs to incorporate only the most expensive looks but some of my friends’ homes really look lived-in – they have achieved that ‘tatty’ look where everything looks nearly chaos but, in fact, as one of my friends admitted, it took quite a bit of cunning to achieve the look without going too far. I can see her point – she has gone for stripped down doors which she bought from a junkyard, stripped bare wood shelves inset into her alcoves and the walls are all refined in an off-white Artex-type end to give them the rustic look. Thankfully, she left the ceilings alone and did not go for the mock-antique beams. She has an ancient rocking chair which she bought from an antique shop and family’s toys on view on the shelves [these are for accent only]. She admitted to me that the toys are simply there as interior d