Popular interior design that doesn't appeal to you

Anything from IKEA (sorry, I just hate most of it).

Their tables are flimsy, often very square, often looking plastic-y and white. Usually hideous and lime green shelving wouldn't look out of place in an IKEA store.

I can see why people shop there as it is a cheap solution to a problem, but I think most of i looks terrible.

Their sofas are appalling too. I had to put up with one in a flat I rented a few years ago. The cushions slid off the fron constantly, the back cushions supported nothing so you couldn't really slouch back in them and they were too low.

I could go on.

Net curtains I don't particularly like, blinds are much better, but I can see why people would have them if their houses are right facing a busy street.

As for the feature wall, for the most part I quite like this. In my house I have two rooms like this, the second bedroom, with 3 of the 4 walls painted a light white colour and the 4th is a vivid purple. In my lounge we have some nice wall paper on two opposite wall with the rest painted. It would just look big, open and bland without it.


Oh, and carpets in bathrooms.

Laminate flooring when it is everywhere in the house, a rented place I lived in, every room was laminate, it was so annoying to sit on the sofa with your heels based on a really hard lounge floor. After two hours it was a right pain and I aren't a fan of rugs.

I'll expand on this post later today when I get back from work as I have loads more....pipework going to radiators going all over the walls - I know its easy to fix but pipework showing all over your walls looks horrible, the colour brown, I don't have too much of a problem with flooring tiles but they tend to be freezing cold to walk on throughout the year, knotted cheap skirting boards.

Tesla said:
Downlighters/Recessed Spots in every room.

Fancy sockets/switches all over the house. White looks best in most rooms.
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Mismatching sockets and switch styles tend to annoy me. I recently got rid of an expensive fancy switch for the cheapest bog standard white plastic type, purely because it didn't match the other cheap bog standard white plastic ones.
 
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Belfast sinks are awesome. Can soak so much stuff in them overnight as well as clean bigger items (chopping boards, clothes, shoes etc). We've got one in both our bathroom and kitchen and would hate to go back now.

I also prefer fixed showers so long as they're powerful. I never take the head off anyway and fixed makes the whole unit neater.
 
I'd like to be able to go back in time to the 70's and shoot the guy who thought an Artex craze would be a good idea.
 
Haze said:
"Feature walls" - You know, that one wall in the room that has wallpaper.... I don't get it, it looks ridiculous.

THIS ^^^^
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I've got one. Although if just purple paint! :D Makes the room much nicer

I can't stand beds or couches with 100s of pillows/cushions on them which makes it impossible to set/lay in. You just end up throwing them on the floor :confused:

Also dislike generic unoriginal prints on the wall buy some decent original art!
 
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Bubo said:
I'd like to be able to go back in time to the 70's and shoot the guy who thought an Artex craze would be a good idea.
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Totally agree. Thank god this isn't a modern trend...

I personally like featured wall but solid complimentary colours only. Wallpaper with Victorian/Ewardian style pattern all over just makes it look tacky! Especially Black & White (including inverted style!).

My hate is current trend of shabby chic.
I don't mind people upcycling. It's a good fruggle way of redecorating but following the trendy market of shabby chic by buying a specifically made shabby chic item is just stupid. And people spending more money for the look is more a fool.
 
Whites, creams and browns.its so boring! "It looks modern" it looks like no one lives there more like!

I'm slowing getting this flat to how we like it but the above colours are not even entertained for walls.

I don't like textured wall paper but don't mind feature walls as long as its not the hideous flowery wall paper that I keep seeing.
 
shabby chic. I'm with you on that one, i don't mind the whole reusing old stuff, can look really nice.
But spending a more money on tatty crud just baffles me. It's like people buying ripped jeans...
I don't get it.
 
Nightglow said:
One thing I miss is a larder, consider so old fashion today.:(
The house were I grew up had one, it was shelved from floor to ceiling, it also had a 50mm thick tiled concrete shelf, kept things so chilled.
Was a wonderful place to explore as a five year old, at one end it had jars & jars of homemade pickles, jams & chutney, & other edible goodies.
And old man kept his booze, we kids, use to snaffle it.
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The inlaws have one in the kitchen and then another for booze, pickles and jams in the back kitchen. It was a relatively important requirement when we were looking for our current house, but they are as rare as hen's teeth.

Had to settle for a big utility (scullery) instead and when I get round to going that room I might have one put in. It's going to be tough though as we've just had the water tank put in that room and it's probably too warm now.

Airing cupboards are something I miss. I'm going to build one around the new tank location.

My current house is plagues with artex, 'feature' plasterwork on some chimney breasts and all of the woodwork has been stripped. The stripped wood works in some cases but not in others and so I'm going to gloss it all over again. I'm sure that's going to result in the death of some kittens somewhere, but it is what it is.
 
drunkenmaster said:
Hmm, laminate flooring I do and don't like, it can look really cheap and doesn't seem to be done all that well. I'm under the impression that a really solid plywood base screwed down very well, quality flooring on top should be pretty quiet but most places seem to end up loud, creaky and very harsh with no give to it.
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The laminate that looks cheap and is creaky will be the really cheap 7mm stuff, with the cheapest 2mm foam underlay. Laminate floor needs a very flat subfloor for there to be no bouncing or creaking. People DIY the laminate and dont give any consideration to the sub floor and just buy the cheapest flooring and underlay they can. Also they don't allow for an expansion gap around the room, this is also another cause of creaky of bouncy floors. Or they do leave an expansion gap around the room but not around pipes etc which can cause lots of problems.

For a decent job you need to get Laminate that has a V-groove all the way around the board. Completely flat laminate will lift at the edges as it absorbs moisture and when the light catches this it looks awful.

Plus make sure the laminate is minimum 8mm thick and use the fibre underlay boards, rather than the 2mm thick foam roll stuff. 12mm expansion gap around the room and any pipes etc. removing the skirting boards and then replacing once the laminate is down also makes a massive difference to the look. I really dont like the trims you tack on to cover the expansion gap.


I have to agree with net curtains. I see so many houses with these and they look horrible. Especially when they are yellow as the occupants smoke and they want them putting back after haviung nice new windows fitted :(.
 
Laminating dining room soon, been using in other rooms, MDF skirting,long 5.4mtrs lengths, no waste, pre primed, & I just use Gripfill or similar to fix it.
Got 60mtrs 100mm BN off the bay for £25.

Really annoys me when you see laminate laid & they tack beading around the edges, so shoddy, looks much neater if you take the time to remove skirting first.
 
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I'm going to have to remove some laminate flooring and replace it because the laminate I have at the moment is very scruffy and cheap looking. Hoping to replace it with some nicer stuff. I am also going to take it out of the converted garage and put carpet down. Will have to consider the skirting board, but it appears that the current laminate just goes up to the edge of the skirting board, not actually tucked underneath it.
 
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Slowly removing all the laminate in the house, apart from the kitchen.

My biggest issue is the dust but I also find it too cold.

Since I'm changing the electrics and plumbing bit by bit, it's a lot easier having carpet down.
 
We had laminate in our old flat and no matter how often we swept or moped or vacuumed there was still always masses of dust and my girlfriends hair on the floor!!!

Personally I would never want anything apart from carpet on my floors (except obviously the Kitchen...and maybe cork flooring in the bathroom - had it at uni in one of my student houses and it was so lovely to step onto!!!
 
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