Dining Room Update

Ok so I have lived in this house for 5 years and have never been able to decide what to do with the dining room. It always looks dark, cluttered and uninviting. 

Then a fortnight ago I came across this awesome wallpaper, I absolutely loved it.

I found it on Ebay, thought perfect I'll put the paper in the recess next to the chimney breast, paint the chimney breast and the other 3 walls. It'll look fab. I ordered two rolls, and had £5 off voucher for ebay so cost £18. Perfect. I thought I have some white paint in the shed so I'll get started whilst I wait for delivery.

Pulled the wallpaper that was on the chimney breast off ready to paint and was left with this:

1 very untidy, needs a replaster chimney breast. Definitely not a quick paint with white emulsion job. I don't have the skills or the money to fix this, especially as this is a rented home and I plan on moving in a couple of years as I aim to buy my own home. (long term plan, details coming soon!)

This means a change of plan- I'll just wallpaper across all of the area you can see in the picture above.

I forgot to take before pictures of this room, that's how much I disliked it! In the alcove on the left of this picture is where I had my freezer (kitchen is too tiny to fit a fridge/freezer in it. The alcove on the right is where I put my dining table and 6 chairs. The opposite corner to where the freezer is, so behind me and to the left where I stood to take this picture is where I had the fridge/ freezer, then the opposite corner to the table, so on my right and behind me when I took this picture is the bookcase and my desk. There never seemed to be enough room and it was not a comfortable space to use. So the whole room ended up a dumping ground.

Whilst I was painting I came up with a cunning plan to fix this. 

All the walls that were not papered were painted white to allow for the room to appear brighter, the wallpaper has potential to make it look dark so I wanted to balance this out.

This si the finished room:

I absolutely love it. I have spent all my time in here/ the garden since I finished it. I smile everytime I walk in. I love how I have laid the space out and it feels less cluttered. I haven't taken any of our stuff out, it's just better organised.

It's not the easiest room to photograph, but hopefully that gives you an idea of how much better it looks.

I did have to buy a third roll of wallpaper, as I was one drop short after having to paper the chimney breast as well as the alcoves.

Total costs:

Wallpaper- 3 rolls= £30

Gloss for woodwork- tin £8- I used half so £4

White emulsion- I used half a of a huge tub which cost £12 so £6

Wallpaper paste £1.

I have used all of our own furniture and didn't buy anything new. I have the light fitting from a previous room decorating.

Total cost for project: £41.00

I'm very happy with that as it has given us a fantastic looking room that we are all now using properly.

home improvements

I have been slowly getting organised to improve the decor in our home. both children's bedrooms have been transformed now it is the turn of my bedroom. When we moved in I said that I could  live with the downstairs decor but upstairs needed changing first. Obviously over time I will change all of the rooms to make them our own. I have bought a tub of paint a month over the last couple of months so that I can decorate my room without it being a large expense at once. Yesterday I bought the final tin- the gloss and came straight home to get started. I have now completed 2 coats of gloss on all the woodwork  in my room, except the door which I want to lay flat to decorate preferably in the garden. I need to sand it down before I can paint it but the sander has just had an emergency repair. The velcro part that the pads cling to came off with the sand paper. I have used my trusty glue gun in hope that I can make the 14 year old sander last a while longer. Once the glue has had time to dry then game on- I will be getting this room finished.
A sneak preview of what it was like before (and partly is now!)

A wonderful wallpaper totally not to my taste! Accompanied by 

Bright red walls. Not quite the tranquil and calm place I envisage my bedroom to be. With the help of my ancient steamer the wall paper was down in a jiffy. Once the woodwork is dry I will fix the walls.

First with several coats of this boring white paint to hopefully hide the red. Then a splash of this;

The colours I am hoping to instil from accessories which I will buy as money allows I am wanting nice purple items, I shall be on the lookout in charity shops and budget shops to find these.

I am in the process of trying to decide whether or not to lay the old blue carpet (new carpet is out of my current budget) or to keep the floor boards bare. They are in very good condition and look good. Just a little sanding needed as there are small paint splashes from previous decoration. I haven't quite decided yet. What are your views on this? 

How do you decorate and add your own personality to a home  on a budget?

diy

I began today by painting the hallway and stairs this is a job I have had on my todo list for several months. I am pleased that I have finally done it as it looks much better now- Kitchen next!

After painting next we did some weeding down at the allotment I weeded under the apple and pear trees and the raspberry bush, Dylan weeded the potato bed. Dylan also finished fixing the compost bins while we were there. They had collapsed we have spent the past few weeks working to empty them so that they can stand up properly and be used again.

Whilst there I admired the neighbouring allotmenteer rich green foliage of his potatos they are really thick and leafy. Mine are looking bedraggled and slug eaten. I was feeling rather downhearted and wondering what I am doing wrong when he arrived with a large pot of chemical fertiliser, this has got me thinking. I don't want to put chemicals on my vegetables so is there something I can fertilise with? A quick internet search found me this nettle fertiliser what a better thing to use these things for? I will be going to give this a go.

After we had finished at the allotment we made a picnic and went to a local park for a walk through the fields and woods.

Mr frog came to visit us!

you're never to old to enjoy a slide!

Stephanie chanted "scary scary scary" as she climbed to the top!

more clearance bargains

I get a real buzz out o saving money, I always head straight to the clearance aisles whether I am food, cloth or home shopping. So imagine my delight when I stumbled across wheelie bin stickers for 5p a pack. I bought 4 packs; daffodils, lilies, tulips and butterflies. I didn't buy them to pretty up my wheelie bin thought my intentions were for my house. I am so pleased with the results;

This used to be a nice but plain mirror in my downstairs hallway. I love it's new look it has my favourite flowers and butterflies on it. I have to look at it every time I pass now.

I have also put some on my front door but it is dark outside so I'm not going to attempt to take a photograph now. Stephanie used some to decorate her bedroom door too. I'll try and get a picture of how she used them another day- she is supposed to be asleep now so don't want to go and disturb her with the camera flash