Tag Archives: DIY

Make Your Home Beautiful With 10 Quick & Easy Storage Life Hacks

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LS-Shelf-storage, life storage, To make your home beautiful for Summer, dust off those cobwebs and take a look at these ten quick and easy life hacks from LoveSpace to help declutter your home, organise your world and make the most of your space:

 

1. Don’t just use the space under the stairs to store boxes – add a desk shelf to turn it into a space saving office area.

2. Old perfume boxes or cereal boxes cut in half are perfect dividers for your draws to store your smaller items like makeup, jewellery, creams or hair accessories.

3. Use curtain hooks on a wardrobe rail for your handbags, making each one clearly visible.

4. Thread your ear phone, mobile charger (in fact any type of electrical wire!) through each end of a clothes peg to keep them nice and tidy and untangled.

5. Stuff old tissue boxes with all your old plastic bags and keep under the sink to save space and keep everything neat and tidy.

6. Use shower curtain rings to hang your scarfs through, and then attach all to a hanger – one hanger = all your scarfs!

7. Use chalkboard paint on a kitchen wall to write to-do lists, and messages to do away with the need for messy bits of paper.

8. Recycle jam jars and pasta sauce jars for candle holders, or to store paperclips, staples or any other little knick-knacks – Glue the lid to the underside of a table or shelf and simply twist the jar off to access what’s inside.

9. Mount a tension rod inside cabinets beneath your sink to hang your cleaning bottles on, providing more space below.

10. Take the lid off tin cans, paint the outsides to make them pretty – glue to them to a bathroom wall, then roll up hand towels and insert to create a funky storage solution?

 

 

Make a Pretty Rosette Brooch To Go With Any Outfit

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To celebrate summer, Maggie Robb from Made by Maggie will be sharing some of her favourite seasonal makes. They’re simple enough for everyone to try and you’ll love the results. Visit her on Facebook MadebyMaggie07 for more making tips and lovely stuff.

This month – Up-cycle pretty fabric scraps into an eye-catching rosette brooch.

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“I totally love making these brooches – they’re a great way to use up the scraps from my other projects and it’s very satisfying piecing the rosettes together and choosing their centres from my stash of vintage buttons. You can make the rosettes as big or as little as you like, and also use them to embellish t-shirts, bags, children’s clothes- your whole world!”

 

What you’ll need –

Scraps of Fabric in contrasting colours, patterns and textures.

Ribbons and buttons

Wool felt for the backing

Needle and thread

Scissors and Pinking sheers

Brooch clasp (can be found in craft shops like Hobbycraft)

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First, cut out three different sized circles from your fabrics. I use cardboard templates with diameters of 16, 13 and 9 cm but you can also draw round anything handy you have at home – a cereal bowl makes a great large rosette and a mug or glass is good for a smaller size. The general rule is that your finished rosette will be approximately half the size of your ‘raw’ circle.

Next, fold over the edge of your first fabric circle and sew a narrow hem with a running stitch.

Gently pull your thread tight to gather up your rosette – smoothing the fabric with your fingers to create neat and even pleats. Thick fabrics like tweed or velvet work better with a larger circle but silks and Liberty Lawn and other thin fabrics can be smaller. Secure your rosette with a couple of stitches.

Now for the fun bit! Once you’ve got two or three different sized rosettes you can start assembling your brooch. Choose a centre piece for it from your stash of buttons or pop down to your local fabric or craft shop and choose something – buttons with ‘shank’ fastenings at the back rather than holes can be especially effective. You need to place your rosettes pleated side up to achieve the ruched rosette effect. Secure your layers and button in place with a couple of stitches.

To sew a set of ‘tails’ onto the back of your rosette select a couple of lengths of matching ribbon of different widths. Cut them to the desire length and trim the ends to an arrow to avoid fraying. Attach to the back of your base rosette so that they cross over with a few stiches.

To give your brooch a professional finish cut a circle of felt in a matching shade using pinking shears (zig zag scissors!) to achieve an attractive and non-fraying edge, and sew in place on the back of your brooch using a simple running or back stitch. It’s a good idea to pin your felt circle in place before you start to sew.

Then attach your pin fastener two thirds up and in the middle of your felt circle. And you’re done!

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You can experiment using stripy fabrics, porcelain buttons or even cover your own with fabric or snippets of embroidery using self-covering buttons (try any haberdashers or craft store or online) for a really personalized effect. The brooches look great on coats, dresses or even pinned to canvas bags. Or sew a selection onto a t-shirt for you or a little friend! When making rosettes for young children to wear, leave out buttons as these could be a choking hazard.

 

Next month…… Join Maggie as she shows you how to make a cute little tape-measure holder out of scraps of felt.

 

 

No Space? No Problem.

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Now Christmas is done and dusted for another year, it’s time to start thinking about putting all of your new presents away and packing up the decorations ready to go back in the loft, cupboard or shed. The issue is, however, that with more possessions in the house you inevitably have less room to store them all and you have to think about new ways of putting things away before you start tripping over them all.

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The obvious solution for many is to take advantage of the New Year to go through your cupboards (like you’ve been promising for months), and throwing away the things you no longer need or use, or giving your old clothes to charity. However, as good – and kind-hearted – a plan as that might be, some people just can’t throw things away and while there may be a pile of things that are good to go, you still might not have made enough room for everything. What then?

One of the most spacious areas of the bedroom – a room in the house that is usually more cluttered than any other – is often somewhere that most people can’t get to and might not even think about. Underneath the bed you can find tons of room that isn’t utilized, mostly because of the sheer size of the bed you have. However, a solution to that problem could be to invest in one of the frames or mattresses that will not only provide you with a really stylish and comfortable bed, but plenty of storage space beneath it too.

Okay, so the space under your bed isn’t always accessible – that’s fine, because an Ottoman bed can be lifted up using the hinge that is located either at one end or on one side, allowing you to raise the mattress and reveal a storage space that can be hidden from view so anyone who comes round won’t see any of the things you’ve got stashed beneath. It makes perfect sense, especially when you consider that equipment or clothing that you only need at certain times of the year can be stored there to create room in your cupboards and wardrobe.

There’s a major benefit of an Ottoman bed that people don’t really appreciate until they give them a go. When you bring in a new form of storage, either a set of drawers or a shelving unit, you take up valuable floor or wall space. This means that you’re actually losing space to save space and quite often it doesn’t make that much of a difference. With a bed that has plenty of storage, however, all you’re doing is swapping a bed that uses the floor space for one that utilizes it and you get something stylish in the process, a win-win situation if ever there was one.

5 Inexpensive Ways To Brighten Up Your Home

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Home is where the heart is, a safe haven from the world and a place to call your own. So here are some tips to add your personal touch.

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Shades of Blue, Paul Smith LA, Painting, John Tierney,,United Kingdom

Decoration

Renting? Can’t paint or redecorate? Well I have the answer: decorations! You don’t even have to spend too much money. A bright lamp, a bookshelf, some heirlooms or even just a rug can personalise a house and make it look like a home.

If you own your home you can buy as much as you want, space permitting. But this is supposed to be an article on inexpensive ways to do up your home so why am I saying buy lots? Well, read below. You can get a beautiful piece of furniture for the price of a trip to the cinema.

Charity shops

Charity shops are treasure troves. While you might not want to wear second-hand clothes, second-hand furniture is a different matter. There is a Trinity Hospice quite near my flat and the furniture in there is of good quality and very reasonably priced. You can get a recently upholstered pre-war chair for £25. Modern chairs cost quadruple that and are not as good quality.

Art

While some art is incredibly expensive you can still get an art print for sale at Saatchi for a reasonable price.

Another favourite is Spineless Classics. Spineless Classics are art that you can read: entire books on one page along with an illustration of the book. Clever and stunning. I love them.

Spineless classics, the great gatsby, art, books, style

Paint

A lick of paint makes all the different. Different colours affect our moods. Some blue colours can make you feel, well, blue, but it is hard to be depressed around sunshine yellow. If you don’t want to paint an entire room then just do one wall or even just a fireplace.

Bedding

New bedding always makes life better and immediately brightens up the bedroom. Get some sheets in a bright colour or throw some colourful cushions on. You will be surprised how much some bright colours here and there add to a room. If you are renting and everything is white, add some colour with beautiful, bright bedding.

There you go. Some tips for your home. What home ideas do you have?

5 Ways to Make Your House a Home

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heart-home-rugGetting a house of your very own is an exciting experience and you will want to start putting your stamp on it straight away. Turning a house into a home is a great way of making it yours in a special way and so here are the top five ways you can make your new house into a personal, warm home for you and your family.

Personal Touches

It is the people who live in a house that make it into a home and so make the most of the people around you. Photographs and mementos hung in stylish frames make great wall art and you can put them in any room of the house. You can even get your friends and family to help you decorate your home thus create new memories and a familiar feeling every time you enter.

Make It Yours

When you are looking to decorate your house, you will probably look through hundreds of brochures, trawl the internet and speak to everyone you know about what they think but, in the end, this is your house and you need to make the final decision. Go with your instincts, even if it’s not in the latest decorating magazines and you will find your home has a personal, meaningful look that is all you.

Invite Me In

A house becomes a home when the people you love feel conformable and welcomed when they visit. A bright and warm home will put them immediately at ease and you should always make sure you have plenty of seating to accommodate everyone. Of course, an emergency tin of biscuits in the cupboard and lots of mugs for tea and coffee are essential too. A cold, draughty house is one way to put people off visiting so it is worth taking a look at your heating system and seeing if it needs an update. There are so many beautiful fireplace suites to choose from on the market and it will keep your home warm and toasty – perfect for when visitors drop by unexpectedly.

A Finishing Touch

Although it can’t always be helped, people will feel more comfortable in a home that isn’t halfway through a renovation. A half-finished bathroom or bare walls in the lounge don’t exactly scream ‘come on in!’ and you will feel less than pleased that guests are seeing your work half-done. Try to get things finished once you begin and don’t let DIY jobs over-run into weeks instead of days. The bigger jobs, such as changing your heating works may take a little longer but they are worth getting done in one go if you can – especially when there are plenty of fires & stoves at Homebase to choose from!

A Group Effort

If you live with others, it is important that they have a say in how your home should look. A spouse may have ideas of their own about what style to choose for a particular room and with the rush of getting things done; sometimes we can ignore their requests by accident. Make sure you have discussions about what you both want for your home before you begin. The same goes for children too – let them have an input into what their room will look like so that they feel that their own personal space has their very own stamp of approval on it.

 

How to Buy the Right Shutters

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Shutters are extremely popular amongst homeowners and interior designers: indeed, in warmer cities such as Rome, they are white-shutters-bay-window-chorleywoodfrequently used instead of windows rather than as an addition to them!  However you plan to used them, choosing the right shutters can be tricky: after all, there’s a fair few different models out there.  That’s why we’ve written this piece on helping you pick the right ones when checking out the different window shades:

Choose According To The Design

Because they’re designed to different aesthetics, different shutter models suit different décor.  Solid shutters, for instance, are more suited to older style properties that lean towards a Victorian visual.   As they keep out more light, they also work well in rooms that have a more minimal décor, such as country cottages.  Vice versa, of course, shutters that have a solid lower half but movable slats on the top work very well on French doors, as they give off the perfect impression of a continental aesthetic.  Plantation shutters, meanwhile, are ideal if you’re looking to get more creative with the colour schemes.

Are Shutters Right For You? 

Essentially, shutters are used as an alternative to blinds – so how do you know they’re right for you?  Well, for starters, they’re far more hygienic.  Curtains and traditional blinds have been known to absorb dust, where as shutters are simply wipe clean.  The adjustable ones are also more measurable in terms of how much light enters the room – more so than many blinds.  Finally, they also offer an increase in insulation when compared to blinds, saving a decent amount of money in the long run.  Essentially, shutters are the right choice if you want a cleaner, cheaper room.

What’s Your Budget? 

Whilst they’re by no means crazily expensive, full shutters aren’t going to be a cheap as simply knocking up a pair of home-made curtains.  However, it’s still more than possible to budget for your own design.  For instance, café-style shutters are hung-up on just the bottom half of the window, so are ideal for those who want to achieve privacy without spending the cash to kit out the whole set of panels.   Of course, those with a slightly higher budget can then move on to full-height shutters and the solid models, both of which offer a great deal of options.

How Much Light Do You Need? 

Different shutters will enable a different amount of light through, meaning that they’re suitable for different rooms.   If, for instance, you’re looking to set them up in a professional environment such as an office, then you’re going to need the shutters that let through the maximum amount of light during the summer months – otherwise you’ll have quite a dingy workplace.  Vice versa, shutters within a restaurant should be able to offer enough natural light to have an atmosphere but without blinding the customers, especially in the evening.

Finally, the matter of spend is worth considering.  If you’re making a long-term investment, then it makes more sense to spend a decent amount and get full shutters installed.  However, if you’re simply giving them a tryout to see how they look in a new property and you’re unsure if they’ll be kept, then you should hunt around for any bargains.

 

 

How to Create a Clutter-Free Modern Living Room

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HK_Government_House_Living_RoomIt is imperative that you keep a tidy, neat living room in your home. The living room is where you’ll entertain guests and where you’ll want to hang out after a hard day at work. Inviting guests over to a cluttered living room is embarrassing, and coming home to one after work will only stress you out instead of calming you down.

 

If you’re really stumped about why your living room is in a constant state of clutter, you should probably think about re-organising it into the room of beauty and comfort that it’s meant to be.

 

Restructure your entertainment system

 

If you have a large television, or a nice audio entertainment system, or both, it probably takes up a lot of space in your living room. It doesn’t have to be this way. There are a number of solutions. You could get a TV cabinet that neatly stores your sound system as well as your TV in one compact area.

 

Alternatively, if you really want to save space, TV wall brackets are the best way forward. Your TV will no longer take up any ground space whatsoever, and will be neatly and beautifully displayed on your wall.

 

Display your books in an efficient manner

 

Instead of having small piles of books and magazines all over the place, you should probably invest in a sleek-looking bookcase to neatly stack all your books and other items there. Put the big classics that you’ve already read at the top, with everything else that you read often on the lower levels for easier access.

 

What you could also do is invest in a coffee table that has storage cabinets beneath it, where you can store some of your other magazines and books for curling up on the sofa with.

 

Impose laws

 

This is essential if you’re a family with kids. You have to understand that your living room is never going to be uncluttered unless you enforce rules about keeping it tidy. The first thing to get through to your kids is that they need to respect their own house, and all the rooms in it.

 

Next, you need to lay down specific rules about them leaving their toys and belongings all over the place. Adults should be able to follow rules too – there should be no dumping of jackets, shoes and hats when you come in from work – use the coat hooks!

 

New Year, New You – Part 3: Transform Your Home

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In the first installment of my ‘New Year, New You’ series, I wrote about how the start of a new year was the perfect time to change all those things that perhaps bugged you a little in the previous year – such as your job, your wage and your home.

But, on later reflection upon the latter subject, I realized that for many, moving home probably wasn’t the most financially viable option when it comes to starting 2013 afresh. After all, given the current economic climate and the situation of the housing market, this prospect is totally unrealistic for many.

So, if my suggestion of changing your home did you get thinking, but you just can’t afford to uproot completely, then here are a few ways you can transform your home, so you can start 2013 in a beautiful fresh new home:

The Living Room

The living room should be a place all the family can go to, to relax, unwind and put their feet up after a hard day at work or school. But, for some reason, you just can’t stand spending time in yours. You can’t quite figure out if it’s because of that laminate flooring you put down, or if it’s because of the old sofa that’s long passed it’s time, or whether it’s just everything combined.

Well, if this is you and you’re looking for ways to change your living room without spending a fortune, then believe it or not, there are a few simple ways you can transform it beyond recognition, whilst still keep those all important pennies in the piggy-bank.

If your living room is a little on the small side and you long for a bigger living room, then purchase a mirror – yes, that’s right; It really is as simple as that. Buy a frame-less mirror and pop it above your fireplace and it’ll instantly open up the room and create the illusion of a much bigger space.

If you’re sick of your old sofa, then the New Year is the perfect time to purchase a new one – big furniture giants often have their biggest sales at the end of the year, just after Christmas. So, if you’ve had your eye on a gorgeous corner piece all year, then now’s the perfect time to buy it!

The Bedrooms

We all like our bedrooms to look nice – after all, they’re the first rooms we see when we wake up and the last ones we see before we go to bed. But, you’ve had that plain magnolia on the walls for years now and quite frankly, you’re getting a bit tired of it. You’d love to decorate it with that gorgeous wallpaper you’ve seen, but you’re terrified about what the final price would be.

Well, you can decorate it with that lovely wallpaper and you can afford to do it – with a feature wall. Feature walls have become increasingly popular in recent times, simply because of their affordability and their ability to make a room look effortlessly sophisticated.  Classic feature walls normally consist of ones backing the bed or at the foot of a room.

Bathroom

From having a bath or shower, to brushing our teeth or putting on make-up, we spend an astonishing amount of time in our bathrooms on a day-to-day basis. So, it’s important that they get a little sprucing up from time to time, too.

But, splashing out on a brand new bathroom suite can get pricey – after all, the old one has to be completely ripped out, and you can end up spending a fortune on a new one to be fitted in its place.

But, there’s a much cheaper way to changing the whole dimension of your bathroom completely; a bathroom TV. Now, I know you probably only ever really see bathroom TVs on programs that spy on the homes of the rich and famous, but believe it or not, they really are affordable.

Simply mount one on the wall facing your bath or shower, and you can enjoy your favourite programs whilst you’re winding down in the bath, or catch up on the morning news when you jump in for your shower. And, what’s more, when they’re switched off, they standby-by screen changes itself into a fully functional mirror, so you can prune yourself in it once you’ve finished bathing!