Hire other players to decorate your home in Malta Living

Some players love arranging a room piece by piece. Others would rather hand it to someone with an eye for it. In Malta Living you can now hire other players to decorate a home for you, and earn by decorating theirs. It's the first of the jobs players can give each other, and the game looks after the money so nobody gets stung.

Post a job: Get it decorated

Open Homes on your phone. On the home you live in, or on an empty home you own, tap Get it decorated. A shared room, the hostel, the Airbnb and hotel rooms can't be posted, and nor can a home you've rented out.

Then choose:

• Which rooms: the whole home, or the lounge, bedroom, kitchen or bathroom.
• The look: Marble & Brass, Smoked Oak, Limestone & Linen, or Surprise me.
• A furniture budget from €200 to €50,000. This is what the decorator spends in the shop.
• The decorator's fee: 10% to 30% of the budget, at least €50 and at most €5,000. The screen shows what they'd get after the game's 3% fee.
• Who can take it: anyone, people in your contacts, or one friend by username.

Tap Hold and post it. The budget and the fee leave your wallet in one Bank line, and the game holds them. If you cancel before anyone is picked, every cent comes back. If nobody is picked in 7 days, the job closes and it all comes back too.

Pick who does it

Players offer from Earn, under Jobs from players, up to five of them. Each offer shows a record made of facts, never stars: "Finished 7 of 8, 6 approved first time", or "New to jobs". Pick one. If you haven't picked 12 hours after the first offer, the player with the best record gets it.

While they work on it, your Buy is locked for that home, so the two of you never move the same sofa at once.

Decorating for someone else

When you're picked, you have 24 hours to start and 72 hours to hand over. Tap Decorate and you see the home from above, a square a metre. Choose a piece from the shop, then tap where it goes. You can move, turn and store the owner's pieces too. The budget bar shows what's left.

Everything you buy comes out of the held budget, never your own money. You can't sell the owner's things. A piece you bought for the job can go back to the shop for its full price if you change your mind. When it looks right, tap Hand it over. If time runs out, it's handed over as it is.

To take jobs, you need to live in Malta (tourists can't work here), an account at least 7 days old, and play on 3 different days. Two no-shows in 30 days, and you're off jobs for a week. It works much like a shift at a job, except your boss is another player.

Approve, ask for changes, or say it's not what you asked

When it's handed over, look round and pick one:

• Approve. The decorator gets the fee less 3%, and whatever's left of the budget comes back to you. Saying nothing for 48 hours approves it.
• Ask for changes, once. They get 24 hours more.
• Not what I asked. Offer to undo it all (every piece goes back to the shop and your own things go back where they were; they get 25% of the fee for their time), or keep it and pay half.

The decorator can accept your offer or ask the moderators, who look at the brief and the before and after and rule: the full fee, 25%, or nothing.

Why the game holds the money

The game holding the money means the decorator knows they'll be paid if they do the job, and you know your money only moves when you're happy. The 3% fee leaves the game, which keeps prices steady, as the weekly tax on what your homes and businesses earn does. If you've used Buy mode before, the furniture is the same, at the same prices.

Hiring someone in real life works on the same idea: agree the job and the price first, and pay when it's done. Malta's consumer authority, the MCCAA, has advice on agreeing services before you pay.

New to the game? Start with what Malta Living is, or just play Malta Living free in your browser.

Questions people ask

Can I lose money if the decorator does a bad job?

No more than you choose. Undo it all puts every piece back in the shop at its full price and returns your budget; the decorator gets 25% of the fee for their time. Keep it and pay half pays them half.

What happens if I move house while a job is going?

The job ends fairly straight away. Not picked yet: everything comes back. Being worked on: the pieces stay with you and the decorator gets 25%. Already handed over: they get the full fee.

Can I pay for a job with euros I bought?

Yes. Bought euros pay for the furniture first, then the fee. A fee paid with bought euros still counts as bought euros for the decorator.

Do I need a job to decorate for someone?

No. You need to live in Malta, have an account at least 7 days old and have played on 3 different days. Find the jobs in Earn, under Jobs from players.