Gah! I am currently sitting on my bed with my iMac precariously balanced whilst trying to type up this post after painting myself in to my bedroom for the next eight hours. Oh, the joys of DIY! I don’t have anything pretty to share this week so I thought I would give you a glimpse into the chaos around here instead – makes for a nice change, no? Kitchen is almost done, just tiling and door handles to change. Sitting room is half painted and floor is half painted, too. Jules and Otto have gone to stay with his mum for a week so I can crack on with it all (floor painting and Otto do not mix, believe me!).

I wish I could afford to pay someone else to do all our home improvements but we are able to do it ourselves, we have the time, we have the flexibility and between us we have the know-how so somehow it seems like a huge luxury to pay someone else to do it for us. However, there are times when I’m covered in paint or the whole flat is filled with sawdust that I wish I was anywhere but here. Although, there are a few things that I have learnt along the way that make DIY so much easier and less chaotic that I will share with you, too.

Are you ready for the ugliest photos this blog has ever seen?

Tip 1: Don’t freak out!

When the new work tops arrived I burst into tears. In isolation and before they had been oiled I worried that the wood looked too pink and I was terrified that I’d wasted a huge amount of money on something I didn’t like. However, as soon as the worktops were installed and I could see them in context they are exactly what I wanted. It is far too easy to panic when you are doing home improvements that something isn’t right. However, until you have put the whole room together it is far too difficult to tell whether you have made a mistake so don’t freak out prematurely!

Tip 2: Prepare practical stuff

I knew that there would be a few days without a cooker, hob, sink, plumbing for the washing machine and dish washer. Therefore, I cooked some meals that could be frozen and then heated in the microwave so we didn’t go hungry. As well as that I did all the laundry before we began and got the bath set up for washing up (back breaking, I tell you!).

Old worktop coming out.

Everything had to be unplumbed to remove this worktop and for a new sink to be installed.

Tip 3: Don’t get carried away!

On the first weekend of our DIY endeavours we fitted the smaller of the two worktops. It all went pretty smoothly and without much disruption. However, after waiting until the next weekend to do the other side of the kitchen we both got a bit carried away and rushed into starting the work without preparing as much as we should have done. Jules was ready to get going and asked me to clear out the cupboards and instead of doing that job properly I rushed it and didn’t bother packing everything into boxes. Instead I just heaped it onto our table and onto the floor. Such a silly mistake  – the second worktop required far more cutting and the amount of sawdust was out of control! Every single thing that I didn’t bother packing into boxes got covered  and very quickly it all became pretty chaotic. Our over exuberance to get started on that second weekend actually slowed us down in the long run.

Tip 4: Plan time carefully

I think it’s best to work back from when you want the room you are working on to be complete. I knew that I wanted everything to be done by the start of March. Therefore, I made sure I ordered new furniture/materials with long lead times before Christmas. I also organised to sell old furniture by the weekend before I planned to paint (the point I am at now). That way it makes painting so much simpler, especially because I have decided to re-do the floors so getting rid of our old sofa and selling our teal loveseat made clearing the floor space so much easier.

Although there is still a fair bit of stuff packed into the office and bedroom!!!

Tip 5: Buy all the materials you will need in good time

I am lucky enough to be trying out one of the nine new Farrow & Ball colours in my sitting room (they launch on February 1st so keep your eyes peeled and try to guess which one I have chosen!). Only problem is I didn’t order quite enough – rookie error! There is nothing worse than having to interrupt DIY because you don’t have the materials you need. We have also had to do an 7.45pm dash to B&Q in a taxi before it closed to buy the correct jigsaw blades. Gah! Waste of time and waste of money so make sure you prepare properly and always get more than you think you’ll need.

I still have a couple of coats of paint left to do before Jules and Otto come back on Friday and then we will do the tiles in the kitchen this weekend. After that I may never do DIY again…until the next time, at least!

Katy x

Just a quick post today because I am up to my eyeballs in paint! Last week I showed you the last home tour of my flat before I make major changes in the living room and kitchen. When it was photographed it was in that weird in-between stage of feeling a bit bare and naked, ready for painting and new furniture (and yes, shock horror, it is not going to remain white!!!). Stripping back has made me realise how easy it is to forget that just because your furniture is laid out a certain way does not mean it has stay in that position forever. Even the smallest change to the layout of furniture can change the whole feel of a room and costs you nothing! In fact, I had a moment last weekend when I had just made a couple of changes to my living room layout after selling a couple of pieces and I thought “why on earth am I spending hundreds of pounds to re-do this room when a couple of layout changes makes it feel like a new space?!”. So, I suppose today’s post is a small reminder that it is possible to change things up for nothing.

We have sold the sideboard that you can see in the picture below to create more space, which already makes the room feel different, and then suddenly it came to me that the position of our dining table wasn’t working. For almost six years that dining table has sat in that position and it has never felt quite right when we sit down to eat but it wasn’t until I stood back and looked at it with new eyes, once the sideboard had gone, that I figured out the problem. I usually sit at one end (in the chair nearest us in the pic below) and Jules sits in the chair facing the mirror as it is a rectangular table so sitting at either ends feels too far apart. Therefore, we are not directly looking at each other and it feels a bit odd so we never really linger at the table, immediately opting to sit on the sofa after dinner. I very quickly pulled the table round so that we could sit opposite each other and that evening we sat and talked and lingered. It was wondrous! I woke up the next day and walked into the living room and the new table layout made it feel like a brand new space.

So, why not take another look at one of your rooms and see whether a very small change could reinvigorate the whole room without spending a penny. Think about whether furniture is blocking out light, functions as well as it should do, ask someone else’s opinion – a set of fresh eyes always helps – and experiment.

Katy x