Home & DIY

If you need inspiration for your making your house a home, but have a budget to stick to, you’ve come to the right place.

I too want to be as frugal as possible with the money I invest in my home. I’ve remodelled my own fixer-upper and have shared all the dos and don’ts along the way

Browse through my DIY posts and upcyling projects room-by-room to get advice on renovating your home, inspiration for revamping furniture, and discover thrifty ways to decorate on a budget…

RECENT POSTS

HOME DIY

4 Frugal reasons why hiring an interior designer can save you money

Considering some of the mistakes I’ve made when renovating my own home, I can now see how appealing it would be to get some professional advice before I started! Whether you are looking to re-do one room or the entire house, there are times when hiring an interior designer makes sense…

Bathroom

How NOT to remodel your bathroom – my costly mistakes

Renovating my bathroom was a steep learning curve & I made a few mistakes along the way! Today I’m sharing my experience & hopefully you can avoid my newbie errors, as well as saving money on your own bathroom makeover…

HOME DIY

6 Ways to automate your household chores & adulting tasks

There just aren’t enough hours in the day, are there? You’ve got work, cleaning, family, cooking, household chores and bills to pay so there’s never any time left over for you. That can’t be right, can it?! There must be a way to minimise the chores you have to do and free up some time for yourself. I’ve come up with some interesting solutions to get the time you spend ‘adulting’ back, so that you can use it for the more enjoyable moments in life…

DIY

Why my boiler breakdown made me appreciate my home more

January is probably the worst time of year to be without heating, right? It’s frosty outside today, I shivvered my way around the shops yesterday and the wind is whipping around the house. However, now that I’m indoors with the heating on, I’m nice and cosy despite the cold temperatures outside. But that was a completely different story last week when our boiler broke down…

DIY

How to upcycle a mid-century cabinet into an indoor plant nursery

If you’re a big fan of house plants like me, here’s a quick and easy DIY plant nursery unit that you can make to keep all your cuttings, off-shoots and baby plants safe and cosy while they grow. You can choose a cabinet to suit the style of your home, and it looks pretty darn cool too! Here’s how to do it…

DIY

3 Things you can do right now to prevent dampness and mould in your home

Does your home smell a little foisty? Do you have condensation on your windows? Is there a little patch of mould in the corner of your room? At this time of year it’s easy for sealed, heated homes to become breeding grounds for mould but don’t worry, it’s a problem that you can solve yourself – here’s how…

Bathroom

How to survive a DIY disaster – & now my kitchen ceiling is a sieve!

Well, my year has got off to a cracking start..! If you detected a hint of sarcasm in that first sentence, you’d be right. A mysterious water problem quickly turned into a day of emergency repairs, with floorboards taken up, holes drilled and plumbing problems. Here’s what happened…

Bathroom

5 Surprising ways to use steam for a quick & easy new year clean-up

I don’t know about you but, almost as soon as Christmas is over, I start thinking about the big clean-up I’m going to do when the tree comes down and the decorations are put away. Even if you don’t usually like household chores (yes, that’s me!), if you own one simple tool you can make most chores an absolute breeze. When I did the 14 Days to a Tidy Home Challenge earlier this year, I discovered just how fab steam is for cleaning almost everything! Here are five different ways you can use your steam cleaner during your new year clean-up for brilliant outcomes…

Anniversary parties

DIY low-cost festive table decorations for Christmas or New Year

If you’ve got guests visiting over the festive season, are planning a big New Year’s Eve party, or simply want to dress up your dining table for a special family Christmas today’s easy DIYs will help you create magical place settings for next to nothing..!

HOME DIY

Budget & DIY flooring suggestions to suit your lifestyle

If you’re anything like me, you’ll quite enjoy planning your home renovations and browsing finishes for your decor. Whenever I get a spare moment – like during the Christmas holidays – I’m on Pinterest and flicking through interiors magazines to get inspiration. However, sometimes there comes a point where budget is an issue. Sure, we would all love to spend without having to think about it, however I’d rather spend less if I can and have move money to actually pay off the mortgage! That said, having a budget doesn’t have to put a stop to your plans, it just means looking around and see what options are on offer to you…

DIY

3 Space-saving Christmas trees you can DIY from upcycled materials

Over the years I’ve lived in some rather small homes and it’s been difficult to decorate for Christmas in such a compact space. However, that’s never stopped me from filling my home with festive decor each December and, in fact, I’ve quite enjoyed the challenge of making my own DIY space-saving Christmas trees. Here are three ways to upcycle pallets, pipes and paint to create your own unique festive decor that doesn’t take up too much space…

Bathroom

How to create a warm and cosy feeling in your bathroom for winter

Seeing as the rest of the house is getting a bit of a makeover for Christmas, I wanted to take a look at my bathroom and figure out some ways to make the space feel cosy and warm throughout the winter. Here are some suggestions to create a snug space where you can enjoy a much-needed relaxation session…

DIY

3 Things to consider now if you’re planning building work

I’ve been looking ahead to 2020 and making plans for our life and home. With plenty more renovation work on the horizon, I need to think ahead to make sure everything gets done! So, if like me you’re thinking of doing some work on your home in the New Year here are some thing you should consider before you get started…

DIY

Upcycling a writing bureau into a cocktail cabinet for festive parties

No festive party should be without a cocktail cabinet, which is precisely why I’ve DIY’d one this month! Turning this writing bureau into a drinks bar is a relatively easy upcycle (no power tools required!) and it’ll be the hub of all your gatherings over the festive period, so read on to find out more…

Festive

3 Ways to DIY a Scandinavian style star wreath for Christmas

If you want to add some festive touches to your walls but don’t want to go all-out with tinsel and garlands, today’s DIY star wreathes could be the solution. They’re a minimalistic, Scandi-style and look great in both contemporary or rustic homes so here’s how to recreate this simple Nordic look for yourself…

HOME DIY

Planning the right furniture layout for my living room (it’s taken years!)

Have you ever had a room where you just don’t know how to lay out the furniture? One with an unusual L-shape, or alcoves, or windows on two or more walls? In most rooms you can just ‘feel’ where the furniture should go and, in many modern homes, you can see exactly where the bed should go, because there are two plug sockets either side where your bedside lamps would plug in! But what if your room isn’t quote so ease to configure? Here’s what I learnt when tackling my own 1950s home…

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