Has legs

I found this shallow crate in the basement at work and bought some legs so that it would be a table. I painted it inside and out and used the inside for the table top. That way nothing will ever fall off. As always my lovely dog photo-bombed my picture.

Upcycling incomplete

I received this beautiful old couch from a friend's family. We started to strip it over the weekend and found the most amazing spring system at its core. We haven't decided yet how to reupholster it. It will be our project for this winter, or the next ;-)

Making up bath salts

We have made up bath salts as stocking fillers. Smells divine and is really easy to make.
You'll need some jars or bottles, Epsom Salts, coarse sea salt, dried herbs and essential oils.
In a large bowl mix 2 parts Epsom salts to 1 part coarse sea salt, add the dried herbs, we used lavender from our garden, and a few drops of your preferred essential oil. We used lavender, duh!
Mix thoroughly and scoop into the bottle. Add a label and and wrap up for Christmas.

The lavender we made up for the ladies and for the men we mixed mustard (Google how good a mustard bath is), rosemary and thyme.

Pallet project

We turned these pallet into pool loungers. They are so comfortable. Roll them into the sun or shade, whatever.

DIY weekend, painting the lounge walls

We painted the entrance hall, dining room and lounge as well this weekend. It's open plan so it all got the same colour. The chimney wall, however, we left in African Mud and the library we had done earlier this year in the dark blue.

A few weeks ago we had selected a green paint and had painted half the walls with it but when we stepped back and took it all in we realised we hated it. For two weeks we tried to like it, let it grow on us but on Friday morning we stopped at Builders Warehouse on the way to work to buy this colour. At the end of the weekend our mistake was no more. Yipee! 

DIY weekend, painting the bedroom walls

Garden path

We are re-laying all the paving for the path around the house. I wanted to show you the path but I got a little side-tracked by the pretty flowers.

Take a moment

Shelf unit

Months ago I applied the stencil design to an old pallet I had in the garage. At long last, we have cut a plank, painted it black and nailed it in place to create this shelf unit outside the entrance to my therapy room. I provide therapy, although sometimes I need it myself ;-)

From white to stone wash

We have revamped the bathroom for my clients. Still have to sort out the floor and hang something on the wall, but so far we're happy with our work. Only bought a new toilet. The shelf is a piece of wood we found in the storeroom and the nicknacks were sourced from the clutter in the house. Oh yes, we did buy the mirrors from Mr Price. Stone wash is the colour we painted the walls.

Stencil onto wood

Last year I made up one of these, the design was slightly different, and it was white on wood.
This one is gold, translucent, onto wood. It looks at lot softer than the white. I wish I had rather made it up in white. Too late, she cried. I'm not cutting it all out again ;-)

Okay, it's no big deal really, you just stick your design onto the wood with spray glue, cut along the design then pull off the area you want in colour. Spray lightly and voila! I coat it with a layer of varnish.

Adding colour to a memory

My mother had this 'kist' in her bedroom all her life. We often sat on it and chatted to her while she was trying to grab a minute away from us and read her book on the bed:-) I didn't want to throw it out so we just painted it and recovered it to fit in with the other renovations we are doing.

New look library

We repainted the library walls, the colour is Ocean Melody, but I'm calling it Varicose Vein Blue.
We are very happy with the result, we sat on the couch with a glass of wine admiring our work. Yes, we have read all those books and more. As soon as there are more books than shelf space we take a bag of books for redistribution to a charity.

Carbon Filament

I bought these light fittings before Christmas and we have only put them up now. Amber glass, in 3 different shapes (only showing you the one shape here), with the carbon filament bulbs.

The secret garden

Everyone calls it the secret garden, and we have put our left over tiles on the ground so it looks a little neater. It's a great area for a romantic dinner with candles and champagne.
Top left is our before pic.

Hand-drawn cereal bowls for Easter

A few weeks ago I got the children to draw on these cereal bowls, anything they wanted. I wrapped them up with some eggs and other goodies and so for Easter they received them back as their gift ;-)

Just do it yourself

I wanted this done yesterday and my contractor was ill, so I just did it myself. Have to still finish it, fill it and furnish it ;-)

Everyday DIY

No harm in doing a little DIY before work in the mornings. Benches and garden furniture before the rains start.

New seating arrangements

I reupholstered my dining room chairs on Saturday morning, I started at 7, sorry neighbours. So I could only do 5 of them because the 6th piece of material I got on the sale was too short :-(

Red table

Why a red table out on the patio? To match my mosaics on the wall.