Home decorating and interior trends come and go (thankfully, in many cases) and have a lot to answer for when it comes to taste. The top 10 home design turn-offs from the last 20 years have just been revealed in a new survey – can you guess which dire faux pas made it onto the list?

The survey, which was commissioned to mark the launch of UKTVHomes, asked 2,000 British home owners what they thought were the worst home design turn-offs and what they’d prefer to see in homes today. Coming top of the list of modern dire designs were paint effects, such as rag rolling, sponge finishes and stencilling. As these were all the rage in the 90s, many a house across Britain is likely to have sported such effects at some time, even if they’re now safely hidden from view.

The second most hated design was found to be mirrored wardrobes (53%), closely followed by heavily patterned tiles (52%) and ghastly animal statues (51%). Other home design turn-offs were noted to be garish 80s colour schemes, net curtains, magnolia paint, futons and wall mounted TVs.

The survey highlighted that more people are thinking about redecorating and improving their homes at the moment, with 40% claiming to redecorate every three years. Nearly half said they renovate to create spaces that are practical and functional and one in ten are concerned about creating eco-friendly rooms. When asked about the style trends they thought could add value to their home, 47% said a loft conversion, whilst 38% said a new kitchen.

In contrast the home design turn-offs, the list of top 10 turn-ons which people would much prefer to find in a home were found to be:

1. Power shower
2. Heated towel rails
3. Under floor heating
4. American style fridge freezer
5. Granite countertops
6. Concealed appliances
7. Stainless steel appliances
8. Solar panels
9. Free standing baths
10. Slate floor tiles

Home cleaning services, from £7.95 per hour at Belle Casa
Cleaning services: the ultimate gift for homeowners. They will probably erect a shrine in your honour.

Cath Kidston rose blue oven mitt, £9
Cute, classic, practical and inexpensive.

Fire blanket, from £16.99 at Safelincs
An inexpensive and thoughtful gift that says, ‘Congrats on your new home, try not to die in a kitchen fire’.

Yule Tree-To-Be Kit, £17.75
A green and Christmasy way to commemorate moving into a new home.

Bunny dish rack, £20 at the V&A Museum shop
So cute it’s guaranteed to make anyone forget they’re washing up. (Maybe.)

Articulate! board game, £25 at John Lewis
New mortgage = plenty of future nights in = plenty of time to play board games. Articulate! is the greatest game in the world – if you don’t wholeheartedly agree after one round, I will personally refund your £25. (Not really though.)

Personalised Swarovski-encrusted bottle of Moet & Chandon, from £50
Londoners can drop into the UK’s first pop-up Champagne store at 70 New Bond Street from December 3-28 and order bottles of Moet, hand-customised with a name or date written in Swarovski crystals. Nice touch for a housewarming celebration!

Nebula Chandelier, £381 at John Lewis
Giving a chandelier makes you better than pretty much everyone else at a housewarming party. This one is particularly good, as it looks like it belongs on an episode of Doctor Who.

KitchenAid Artisan coffeemaker, £505 at John Lewis
Attractive and practical, this baby lets you brew, froth, steam, grind and any number of coffee-making verbs. Available in cream or red.

Coffin couch, $USD3,500
Little bit morbid, little bit odd… but surprisingly nice. And made from recycled (but unused) coffins, so bonus eco-points for you.

Barn conversions have been popular for a while and there are some spectacular examples in existence. If you’ve dreamt of buying an old barn, converting and creating your very own unique home, it’s still possible to find properties in the UK ripe for conversion at prices that won’t break the bank.

Unless you have very specific ideas in mind for what you’d like to do with a barn, it’s helpful to look out for properties that are being sold with planning permission already in place. This means the existing owner has done some of the hard work already and gone through the planning permission process, which may save a bit of time for you. Details of the planning permission and plans are available for prospective buyers, so you can check out exactly what has been approved.

If having planning permission already sorted out isn’t a concern to you, or you want to handle the complete project from the very start to the finish, then there are some advantages to be had. The biggest is that, without planning permission, the price of some barns may be slightly cheaper (approximately 10% – 20% less) than they would where permission has been granted.

The price of barns inevitably varies, depending on factors such as the size of the barn, its access, whether it has additional land available and its location. As many have already been bought up and converted, it’s helpful not to be too prescriptive with your requirements, especially regarding location.

As an example of the types of barn that can be found on the market today, in the leafy Devon countryside at Morchard Bishop, there’s a Grade II listed cob barn. It comes complete with planning permission already in place for it to become a two-bedroom, two-storey house. With the price listed as being at “offers in excess of £79,950”, it’s a good illustration that buying the shell of your future home needn’t necessarily be expensive.

To find more examples of barns up for sale, add your desired location and the keyword, ‘barn’ into the Primelocation.com property search.

If eco issues are big on your agenda when choosing where to live, then you may be intrigued to know that Bristol is officially the most environmentally sustainable city in Britain.

It’s true – Bristol has been named as top of the league in the second annual Sustainable Cities Index produced by sustainable development group, Forum For The Future. The Sustainable Cities Index is designed to track the sustainability progress of the 20 largest cities in Britain and looks at factors such as quality of life, environmental performance and what they call future-proofing, or how they’re managing recycling, biodiversity and climate change issues.

Bristol was commended due to its increase in activities such as recycling and composting – it has moved up the ranks a massive ten places since last year, so has made a real effort to become more eco friendly. Plus, it did well due to its effective waste collection service, having plenty of green spaces and good water quality.

Last year, Brighton and Hove in East Sussex was named as Britain’s most environmentally sustainable city, but it was pipped to the post this year due to poor environmental performance and only came second. Despite that, it was noted as having good transport services, a good number of green spaces, good recycling rates, a climate change strategy and good provision of education.

Interestingly, cities in the south dominated the top three rankings, with third place taken by the city of Plymouth, in Devon. Plymouth scored well on employment, life expectancy and recycling rates. It was also noted to have good water and air quality, which may be useful for potential residents to consider if they’re thinking of buying property and living here.

The rest of the cities in the top 10 were:

1. Bristol
2. Brighton and Hove
3. Plymouth
4. Newcastle
5. Cardiff
6. Edinburgh
7. Sheffield
8. Leicester
9. Nottingham
10. London

With the current turmoil and uncertainty in the economy, some landlords and buy-to-let investors are having a hard time and wondering how to cope with the situation. If you feel in need of a bit of extra help and want to find out how you can protect yourself during the credit crunch, there are free events taking place this month that could help with answers.

The Money Centre, one of the UK’s largest independent buy-to-let mortgage brokers, is running several free Investors’ Days, incorporating seminars and exhibitions designed with landlords in mind. On Tuesday 25th November, a free event is taking place at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange, from 10am–3pm.

On Wednesday 26th November, they’re heading to Belfast and will be running another free event at the Park Avenue Hotel in Belfast. Both days include an exhibition, running from 10.30am–3pm, plus a seminar programme from 11.30am–2.15pm (with a free buffet lunch thrown in, too).

The events are aimed at both seasoned investors, new buy-to-let purchasers and even those who are considering doing so. Some of the topics on the menu for discussion include the current economic situation, successful planning during the credit crunch, top secrets to renting, hints and tips for the portfolio landlord and aims for the future.

The seminars are also designed to help you learn key skills for dealing with letting during the credit crunch period. In fact, the Money Centre says it’s not all bad news for investors as there are ways of benefiting from the opportunities created by the credit crunch. With networking opportunities included too, it’s a good chance for investors to get together and tackle their concerns and issues head on.

To find out more, or book a place at either event, call 01603 489 12.

For more advice for landlords, take a look at our dedicated Landlords, Developers & Investors guides.

A new survey by Impartial.co.uk says we are all seriously overestimating the current value of our homes – and that younger homeowners especially are in denial about falling home values.

Apparently the average younger homeowner thinks their property is worth – oh, about £2,000 more than it was a couple of months ago. (Maybe they added a wet room.)

Well, this is awkward. Actually, kids – your property is more likely to be valued at… er, around £7,000 less. Sorry about that.

Of course it would be unfair to put the spotlight on the iPod set alone. Many sellers are only now starting to realise that it’s necessary to lower their asking price if they want to move house any time soon.

Savvy Londoners apparently have a more realistic view of things, estimating their property values to have fallen by around £46,000 on average. I can only imagine this pragmatic point of view is due in part to growing up fast on the mean streets of Mayfair.

The Primelocation.com September House Price Index shows that prime London values have decreased for the fourth month running, dropping nearly 1.8% since August. The decline in house prices has been quite widely documented.

So why are the majority of us still in denial about the value of our homes? And why younger people especially?

Here are some possible reasons:

• We’ve been too obsessed with Obamarama to notice what else is happening in the world
• Anytime our eyes alight on a newspaper article about falling house prices, they’re quickly distracted by a photo of Amy Winehouse looking dangerously malnourished on the opposite page
• The Olympics dazzled us for a month or so with shiny opening and closing ceremonies – not to mention all the sports and whatnot. Blame China.

Any other ideas?

With the traditional property purchasing process, buying a home can be long and tedious. But one trend that’s fast on the increase can significantly speed things up – and give you the chance of getting a bargain, too.

Property auctions have always existed, but their appeal seems to be on the up. London-based auctioneers have reported a significant increase in the number of property auctions taking place this year – in some cases, they’ve tripled – and interest from buyers is high. In fact, Savills are reporting that their auction rooms are full to the brim with prospective buyers and many properties are selling well above the guide price.

Although typically regarded as the realm of repossessed or rundown properties for refurbishment, it’s also possible to pick up prime properties at auctions. You do have to be on the ball though and not get sucked into the bidding atmosphere without doing your homework first. After all, a major purchase like a property is a bit different to buying the occasional item on an auction site such as Ebay.

As with any property purchase, it’s important to view an auction property first, so you can be sure it’s right for you and doesn’t have any major flaws. The auctioneers will be happy to arrange a viewing in advance for you. Don’t forget to ask for a copy of their legal pack, which most properties should have, as this will highlight any issues; if you’re not confident that you’ll understand it all, seek advice from a solicitor. If you’re planning on carrying out building work or renovations, then you may benefit from taking along a builder to the viewing and gleaning their advice on what will and won’t work, as well as potential costs of any work.

Auctions work at a fast and furious pace and if you’ve never been to a live event before, it’s well worth going to one or two first, just as an observer. That way you’ll know how everything works and hopefully avoid getting carried away with the buzz on the day or ending up with a property you don’t really want.

Finding property auctions in the UK is fairly straightforward – when you search for UK property for sale on Primelocation.com, enter the word ‘auction’ into the keyword field, and this will bring up the properties listed for auction on the site.

Wall insulation... that's hot.

Desperate times calling for desperate measures and all that, there seems to be a whole new stable of home improvement shows on TV vying for our attention all of a sudden. Apparently we need to start adding value to our properties. Apparently our homes aren’t magical box-shaped pots of leprechaun gold, effortlessly twirling, twirling, twirling towards improbable resale profit.

Like apparently every other human being in the UK, I lap these shows up – and I don’t even own a home (yet) to make improvements on. Still I watch faithfully, like a sad little King Charles Spaniel watches girl spaniels on Hampstead Heath, even though deep down in his puppy heart he knows he was actually neutered six months ago. Homes & Property, please show me how to convert my (imaginary) loft into a stylish dining room or home office! Room For Improvement, tell me again how I can turn my (landlord’s) cramped bathroom into a modern European-style wet room!

It’s just so fun. There’s something truly fabulous about taking a dark, tiny, underused space and turning into a… Scandinavian cheese and disco room! (For example.)

Compare, then, phrases like, ‘loft conversion’, ‘wet room’ and ‘brand new walk-in wardrobe’ to the following:

Energy-efficient boiler.

Window glazing.

Internal wall insulation.

(On the other hand... if done right, supposedly a converted loft can add 10% to your home's value.)

Slightly less inspiring? Why, yes. Almost completely unsexy? Oui oui. Quite a big value-add, though, when you really think about it and try to forget that designer wallpaper you had picked out for your new Art Deco spa room? Er, yes, actually.

According to our eco homes expert Sarah Lonsdale, carbon appeal is set to replace kerb appeal when it comes to attracting a buyer. A study by the Energy Savings Trust (EST) found that from a survey of 2,090 homeowners, 53% said they’d be willing to pay up to £3,350 extra for a home with greener features. Even more interestingly, 78% said that a ‘poor’ rating on an Energy Performance Certificate would lead them to haggle down the purchase price. With the incredible rise in gas and electricity costs over the past couple of years, I can’t say I’m surprised.

Homebuyers – is an environmentally-friendly home really more valuable in your eyes, or is a lousy EPC rating just another unchecked tick box you can use in price negotiations?

Homeowners – sexed-up loft conversion or sensible boiler?