*Our hallway was still rather yucky looking when we first finished our veneer lamp shade - you can see more current images in our house tour! Having made our office lamp, and been inspired by all of the great ideas that Allison has on her amazing the 3R’s blog, I thought it was about time to attempt making a replacement for the pendant lamp in the hallway. This is the lamp that was there when we moved in. Although it did the job, it wasn't really our style. The problem was, that we ... Read the Post
How To Compost
Just after moving into our first own home, we visited a festival where local companies presented some of their products. It was nothing special, but one thing we did at the festival, was ordering a compost bin. We thought it would be a good idea and it allows us to recycle some of our waste. It turned out, not to be that easy! Our first task was finding a suitable space for the bin. We choose a corner near our garden wall. It's not the ideal place, as it isn't in the direct sun, but when we ... Read the Post
How To Remove The Smell Of Urine From Wooden Floorboards
Okay, this is going to be a yucky one - don't say I didn't warn you! When we moved in about two years ago, there was carpet in the living room, the bedrooms and, wait for it, the bathroom. Like most things in this house, they were all really old as well as dirty and stained. The little dog that the people that lived here before us had, obviously wasn't house-trained and I don't really even want to start on what the bathroom carpet was like. Let's just say, we assume that its original ... Read the Post
How To Restore A Cast Iron Edwardian Fireplace
This was the fireplace in the dining room when we moved in. We had the gas disconnected straight away as it really wasn't safe to use, but rather than having a huge hole in the wall, we left the fireplace and surround in place until we could find something to replace it with. Luckily, we didn't have to wait too long, as one of our lovely neighbours had an original Edwardian fireplace that he no longer needed, and we were able to buy off him. We removed the ugly fireplace and surround and ... Read the Post
How To Stain A Handrail
Two years ago our hallway was - what we can only describe as – brown. As you have already seen, we have painted everything white, restored the front door and replaced the missing stained glass panel. We have also started restoring the staircase, handrail and balustrades. This was the upstairs landing when we viewed the house. The first task was to remove the boards that were covering up the original balusters. (We removed the awful carpet in the hallway, too) Although we are ... Read the Post
How To Paint A Garage Door
Okay, you’ve seen our bedroom, office, bathroom and living room makeover posts, so we thought is only fair to show you what we’ve been up to outside. Amongst what seems to be about a million hours of removing weeds, we also found the time to paint our garage door. Since moving in about two years ago, we haven’t done any work to the garage. As it was in a bit of a sad state when we moved in, it is in an even more miserable state now. All of the woodwork needs replacing, the gable walls are ... Read the Post