House Critic

New wallpaper can really refresh a room. It’s a fairly basis DIY task that is a very useful skill to learn.

How to pick the right wallpaper? Decide whether your room needs lightening up, darkening, or you want a feature wall. There’s lots of options. At the cheapest end of the scale is woodchip but although it’s hardwearing and can be painted over forever, it’s not the most pretty stuff on the planet.

Pick something you like.
Pick something that will blend in with your flooring and furniture for that room.
Don’t pick a bold print for an entire room. Bold prints are best restrained on one wall. I’ve seen a bold print work really well on a neighbour’s staircase though on the main wall only. It looked really impressive!

Wallpaper Direct is well worth a look. They have some amazing wallpapers that I know you’ll love. I can’t help but spend time browsing the site. It’s easy to find specific wallpaper if you have something in mind as they have a colour search option and a style option.

They also have some murals that are incredible and would create an amazing feature wall!

Wallpaper Direct has the widest range of wallpaper and wallcoverings online

There’s a great voucher for that gives you a fiver off when you spend over £50.

The Voucher code is WPD789
It is valid until 31st August 2011

You get £5 off when you spend over £50.
Why I like this wallpaper shop: They have an impressive range of papers. They have videos and instructions on how to paper. Their wallpaper calculator tells you how much you need to buy.

A hint I’d like to share with you – create a house notebook and write the number of rolls of paper you use to wallpaper each room in. You can add in room dimensions, window measurements and other information about the room. When you come to decorate again in the future you’ll have the info you need to hand easily!
They also sell the tools you need as well as lining paper. They even sell a nice pair of steps for you to use to get to the top of the wall!
You’ll need a seam roller for flattening down the seams between sheets and a nice sponge for wiping excess paste off the paper when it’s hung. They do a nice set of tools too – which would make a nice gift for anyone who needs a hint dropping that you need some wallpapering done!

My favourite – Antoinette Motif Lilac by Arthouse I really like this one. It’s very girly and soft. The full page shows the paper in several situations to help you imagine what it’ll be like in your own home. It shows it against white wall, carpets and with furniture. It’s a clever site to allow you to get an idea what the paper looks like up. It also gives you the info about the paper you need to know like the repeat and width. The related button takes you to the same design but in it’s different colours. This is a nice option that allows you to keep the pattern but change the colour somewhat to see what it’s like in different shades or stronger colours. You can add it to your basket or request a sample. They send out 2 A4 size samples free but you can request additional ones for a small charge. You should get a good idea of what the pattern looks like up, so it will just be a case of deciding on the colour when you have picked a pattern.

Sully Island off the Welsh Coast – Offers in Region of £95,000 – about 14 acres. Put offers in by the 4th April.

Ailsa Craig island – £2.5M – Massive island – Home to the world’s best known Curling Stone Quarry. Annual rental of £26,000. One attractive cottage and three former cottages. In all about 219.69 acres.

Hook Island, River Ouse, Goole, East Yorkshire £100,000
Special Protection Area
About 19.4 acres

I’m not sure I fancy the two smaller islands at all!

Other islands around the UK – not a whole island but houses on Hayling Island which is in Hampshire.

Essex has Mersea Island and Canvey Island

If you’ve been trying to sell a house for a while and aren’t getting viewings, or aren’t turning those viewings into offers then you need some help.
The estate agent should be working for you asking for feedback from viewers, and showing your property to anyone on his books who might be interested. Ask them first for advice. They know the details and the local market and in theory should be able to give practical advice. If they can’t, then maybe they aren’t the right estate agent for you.

There are a few things that you should bear in mind.
– price
– position
– photos

Do the photos of your house do it justice? If not then re-take them. Things like having a snowy garden when it’s July will really make it seem like your house has been on forever. If your house looks untidy or cluttered in the photos then it’ll not encourage people to come and view. People want to buy a house that has space for them to fill with clutter – so seeing yours in situ puts them off.
Whilst you might not want to do a full house doctor treatment there’s something to be said for tidying up massiviely and taking good photos.

The position of your house might put off people. If it’s down a narrow road that’s hard to get down then that’d put lots of people off. Without causing a parking war with your neighbours you might have trouble shifting cars. However the fire brigade might like a look to make sure they could get an engine down in an emergency.
If you’re next to an eyesore then campaign to the council for it to be tidied up! If it’s a neighbour’s garden that is untidy, then why not ask if they mind if you sort it out. If it’s public land then you could tidy it up yourself too.
Price is very sensitive for many people. The idea of lowering their house price means they are losing money – when in reality until it’s sold they don’t have any money. For negative equity you need to cover the loss with a loan or savings. Speak to the bank about the options.

Would you like me to look at your house listing and make some suggestions?
If so then please use the comments below!

A few thoughts on finding your forever home:

Finding a forever home

First decide on the area. Use Rightmove’s map drawing tool to define the
area. You can zoom in and alter the map as much as you want. Once you’ve
drawn this review it every so often, so if you discount another street or estate
you need to alter your map.

Write your definitive list of everything your forever home should have.

This is where you specify whether you don’t want ex-council, what your
budget it, how many bedrooms, how much outdoor space, whether you want rural
or not.
Make this document as inclusive as possible. Include photos of things you like
from other properties or websites.

Decide whether you want to do work. You might keep looking at properties that
are almost right if only you could alter one or two things. Would you consider
doing work? Do you have the budget or any experience of doing work?

Remember that carpets and wallpaper can be changed, but the neighbourhood can’t!
This is where location comes in. Is it the right location?

Write a list of all the things you do in your daily life that involve you leaving
the house:

– going to work
– taking the kids to school
– going to the gym
– taking the kids swimming
– going to your art class

Mark on a map where these are in your preferred area. Are there are schools
or pools? What’s the commute like? These are important things to consider.
It’s no good if you live in your dream house but everything you do it
an hours drive away.

This redefining of your area and house brings in the compromise. Most of the
people who spend years looking are unable to compromise. You can either wait
for ever for the dream house or try and get one that’s 99% perfect.

If you find you’ve narrowed it down to a small area but nothing is for
sale there, you could try leafleting.

This house for sale is supposed to be the world’s most expensive and it only has three bedrooms (It has plenty of other accomodation for staff etc though) . You’d need $175m. It’s on the daily mail website.

It’s in Wyoming which has no state income tax or estate tax.

The ranch is called Jackson Land and Cattle and has it’s own website where you can discover more about the place.

The estate agent listing is here 1,750± acre.There is a three-bedroom home, a four-bedroom guest/bunkhouse and two employee apartments on the property.