Our DIY Home: Back splash DIY and Kitchen

hello,
When we moved into our house, our kitchen had no shelves or upper cupboards only a small cupboard either side of the stove, 4 small drawers for utensils and 2 large drawers and the walls were painted a yellowish sponged effect! The first thing we did was repaint the walls our main colour: Corner Stone. Corner Stone is a Grey/Beige Colour.

I knew I wanted Back Splash behind our stove and that I wanted something unique. I eventually decided on a heat proof safety glass and a piece of fabric behind it secured with mirror screws.

We are still working on our kitchen, anyone who is doing DIY work themselves knows that it all takes time. I am in the process of teaching myself to tile and mosaic. Watch this space :)
 Below are some pictures from the day we moved in and some of the work we have done so far.

Our Kitchen the day we moved in

Th fabric I went for and the mosaic tiles

our back splash, we still need to tile either side of it

no upper cupboards :(

my open shelving (and Finlay)

looking into our dining area

we still need to tile behind the taps (the day we moved in)

the day we moved in: preparing for painting- the pantry in the left corner

Hope you enjoyed the brief tour of our Kitchen thus far :)

Shared with: Not just a Housewife

Love Lauren

Our DIY Home: Part Five: Built in DVD shelves DIY

 Hi

This is mostly a photo post just showing how our DVD shelf project went. We don't watch TV so we watch a lot of movies and series on DVD. Because of our extensive collection we needed somewhere to store them all. We built them into our entertainment/bbq/braai/lapa room that is attached to the house. The room is an odd shape sort of hexagon, so our solution was to build up instead of horizontal.

               Bailey making sure Mark is building the shelves correctly :)

Cover strips were attached to the back, making it easier to attach to the wall.

                                                           Side one complete

                                         Mark putting shelf 2 into place

 TA DA!  Both shelves up and almost full!

Having a handy husband is awesome :)

Shared with Cherished Handmade Treasures
Love Lauren

DIY House: Our Bookshelves part 1

HI!


Yesterday I was featured on Judy's Handmade Creations as the most clicked on link in a Linky Party! Thanks to all of you who viewed my Microwave Fudge Recipe.

I am a reader, for as long as I can remember I have loved books! When we moved into our current house there was a lack of shelves- shelves of all kinds and especially bookshelves. Now after 18 months my books have been unpacked!

My husband worked on it for about two weeks in between work and other house hold tasks.

the wall space where the bookshelf will be

building it on the lounge floor

The shelf unit is too big to attempt to build outside and carry inside, so all the building took place on our lounge floor, our furniture was moved aside and it made a real obstacle course to get through!  Our Cats seem to enjoy sussing out and inspecting any work that gets done especially my little Bailey. Spot the cat in the picture above :)

it's up and in place

I decoupaged washi tape to the shelf fronts

You know my love affair with washi tape!

sorted into piles waiting to be shelved

 I kept all  my childhood books for my future children, here's hoping they actually enjoy reading!

all done- but only the adult fiction

we ran out of shelves before getting to this pile

 We still have to build another set on the opposite wall, but that's another task all on it's own.
Of course I was my OCD self and everything is alphabetised. :)

I love my bookshelf!

Shared with  Not Just a Housewife

Love Lauren

Washi Tape!

 Hi my name is Lauren and I am a Washi Tape addict....I love washi tape! It started with one roll in December 2012 and snow balled from there. I now boast a collection of 113 tapes! My lovely husband gave me 30 for my 30th,and my parents sent me some from Scotland as well.

What is washi tape? (For those of you who may not know)

Washi tape is a decorative masking tape originating from Japan and comes from 'Wa' meaning Japanese and 'shi' meaning paper and the term is used to describe paper paper made in a traditional manner.


It sounds odd to be addicted to/obssessed with printed tape but to justify my addiction there are so many uses! And the tapes are pretty and that's as good an excuse as any. Seeing them all organised and sorted by print just makes me smile. But then you'll learn that about me, anything in colour order or alphabetised makes me happy, it's the OCD in me coming out.

I choose to display and store my tapes in an unused spice rack.

Stencil Wall tutorial here

Using washi tape to tape up Christmas Cards

Washi Tape doesn't leave behind a sticky residue, in the picture above I went as far as to use my Christmas print tapes- Of course!

Above I hung my tapes on my mini Christmas tree's branches just for a bit of extra Christmas cheer.

some coasters.

Here I temporarily covered a light switch in my Kitchen, it fits in well with my Retro pink and blue colour scheme.

passage light switch

future baby room light switch

bedroom light switch

my business cards- the fronts only

a clip board.

my market day name tag

Other uses that I haven't put pictures up of are:  Decorating plainer Gift wrapping,decorating tea lite candles-on the foil bit,covering note books and beautifying clothing pegs for clipping a tag onto a gift, or anything really. I am not quite so nuts that I decorate all my clothing pegs just for hanging them on the washing line- at least not yet, doubt I'll ever be that nuts.

I source my tape in a few ways. PE doesnt have too many suppliers so getting it locally is a bit of a stretch. I tend to shop on line. My favourite online shop is:

DOOLALLY DAISY. Carene is fantastic,her service is brilliant and the care that goes into her presentation of the packages is an unexpected treat when receiving a parcel. She has a wide range of beautiful tapes and many other crafty items to tickle any one who's remotely creative's fancy. She also does mystery bags of tape and manages never to duplicate any she sends you. I Would and do recommend her to anyone who'll listen to me.

Two other sites I have used in the past have been WASHI BUG,they run a sale if you buy more than 3 tapes you get them at a lower price and they have over 400 tapes! Including some thicker ones and 'brand name' ones

And JAPANESE WASHI, have very reasonably priced tape, but a smaller collection.

Locally I have seen Washi Tape at Peace of Art, Scrapbook Nook, iScrap, Camden, Typo and surprisngly Mr Price Home. But none of these places have as large a selection as on line.

*I will not be held responsible for any new Washi Tape addictions  that may occur from this post ;)

tags

And a sneak peek of tomorrow's post.....

What are some ways you use your Washi Tape?

Shared with Sew Many Ways

Love Lauren

Upcycle projects: Part two : Chandelier re-do

When we moved in the house had the most horrific lights. Think glass panels and fake gold metal. I knew things had to change.

one in the passage and one in Mark's office

without the glass panels

 

Two of these in our living room/dining room

 When I buy an object I plan to “up cycle” I have to let it sit for a bit where I can see it and think about what colour it wants to be. Normally I leave it in the room where it will end up and that makes things easier to envision.

I found our first chandlier at Elephant Walk farm/charity shop at Cows Corner. It started out cream, with wicker clip on shades.

before

I eventually decided it just had to be a vibrant turquoise. I initially used a brand because it was slightly cheaper than other ones I saw. But I found it didn't dry too well and tended to be a bit “drippy”. But it did serve its purpose okay.

left:  2nd chandelier: before. Right:  first chandelier: after

after

after

The second chandelier also came from Elephant Walk,this one was wood and a fake brass with brass rings for shades to fit onto but no shades were sold with the chandelier. This one I knew HAD to be a deep purple. That was when I discovered Rustoleum spray paint. It is well worth the more expensive price. The smoothness of the finish is fantastic and unless you're too close it doesn't streak or drip.

before

before

before

during

after: its actually a deep purple

I did manage to selvege one of the original lights by spraying it a gloss black and adding strings of pearl beads left over from the wedding and removing the glass panels for good!

before

after

We found one more chandelier at a secondhand shop in Sedgefield and even managed to negotiate the price. We dont have the room built yet where we want to put it, so for now it's in storage.

before

tape covering the light fittings, ready for spraying

during

after

We have come to love the hunt for chandeliers and other treasures much more than just buying the standard ones everyone seems to have. The thrill of finding an unexpected hidden treasure waiting to be revamped and reloved is exciting and makes future hunts …. well thrilling .

Love Lauren