All About My Kitchen Revamp

I had painted my teeny-tiny kitchen units about 5 years ago.  I went for a black, white and chrome look.  However, once I had painted other rooms in the flat I had a nagging feeling of wanting co-ordinate the kitchen too!!  Last time I had used cupboard paint, but I couldn't find a colour in shops that I liked enough.  So I went back to Sally Bourne Interiors for some advice.  They suggested I used eggshell paint.  I was a little unsure, but I trusted their advice.  I was also able to choose from a wider range of colours.

I took each door off the units and painted them flat to avoid drips.  I sanded down each door, used a primer, then added one coat of the eggshell.  Each door needed well over 24 hours to dry.

I painted the tiles to match and added white transfers, purchased a personalised wall transfer and changed a few small accessories.  The small space now feels bigger with a much lighter colour.

All About My Bathroom Revamp

My teeny-tiny bathroom was infamous for being pink!  Again, I'd gone for accessory's in a white room and got carried away over the years!  I decided to neutralise this room (like all the others) and went for pale blue walls and shabby chic accessories.  Once again I sold what I could to fund the new items - if money was no object I'd be in trouble!!  

Like all of the other rooms, this is now much more to my taste.  I guess I had just got used to how it had always been.  The room doesn't feel so busy now.  It is much calmer.  I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint to transform the flower pot, mirror frame and the shelves.  

All About My Bedroom Revamp

I have grown to love the shabby chic look over the years and wanted to bring this style into my bedroom,  I chose two lovely Annie Sloan colours and set to transform my room!  Again, there wasn't too much wrong with it before, but with paint and a few new accessories, a change could be done quite easily.  Again, I sold the old items to fund the new ones.  The room now feels cosier and a lot brighter.  

I added paint and handles to the drawer unit and wardrobe.  I also added material wrapped around cut to size hardboard to the door panels.  

During the process

Drawers & Wardrobe before and after

New chair and new colour on chimney breast.  Material on seat pad matches wardrobe.

With my Dads help I made some frames from an idea I saw on Pinterest.  We used pine dado from B&Q to make the frames, a lot cheaper than buying big frames! 

The added bonus of redecorating furniture is having a massive tidy up and sort out.  I have got rid of so much stuff that I'd held on to for no apparent reason!  

I repainted my pine framed mirror in the matching colour and distressed it in certain areas.

I matched my smaller shelves and wooden storage boxes with the paint colour scheme.  This is a good way to tie everything in the room together.  I changed the lampshades, bedding and drapes.  

The frame above my bed I add pictures and cards to each week.  I have added fairy lights to the top, which has made the room a lot cosier.  

All About My Lounge Revamp

Now firstly I know that my lounge wasn't that bad before, but I decided I needed a major change. So to start with I simply had a drastic shift round of the furniture. Once I discovered that I could get a digital TV extension cable, the move could be made! I loved the red colour and seriously accessorised with it in a room that had bland 'rented accommodation' walls.  I sketched out some rough plans and went from there!  

Before Furniture Move & Repaint

After Furniture Move

After Furniture Move

I knew that I wanted to make all of the furniture white. This meant painting all of my birch effect Ikea furniture. (ironically I noticed when in Ikea recently that white furniture is cheaper than beech effect....the beauty of hindsight huh?!) I started with one of the smallest items to get used to the paint. 

From there I went on to painting all of the other furniture.  It wasn't that easy!  The cube shelving and media units took a very long time!  Everything needed two coats of paint and wax brushed on, and then wax buffed off!  But the end result was worth it.  I love the combination of grey and white, so decided to paint and accessorise with those colours, using blue to contrast the greys.  I sold some of my red soft furnishing to fund replacing them with new blue, grey and white ones.  

Grey choices 

Bye-bye red!

The previous black wood paint kept yellowing the white chalk paint, so a coat of white gloss stopped this

A splash of blue worked well on these painted canvas'

My old chair-bed that was posing as a poor man's armchair had definitely seen better days, it used to be in my bedroom at my parents!  I gave it away via one of the local facebook groups to a Grandmother for her Grand-daughter.  I found a new chair in my local charity shop and covered it with a throw that matched my sofa.

I am very pleased with the final result.  The room feels a lot more calm and neutral.  The mock brick wallpaper (pinned and blu-tacked up!!) is a great addition to any room!  I have transformed my living space in a way that is all portable if I had to move out.  I sourced new soft furnishing items from Ikea, Dunelm Mill, Store 21, The Range, Sainsbury's, B&Q and eBay!  

After Move & Repaint of Furniture

Before & After Comparison

Creative Revamp Introduction

There is no easy way to describe my reasons for embarking on the revamp of my home, other than needing a project to focus my attention on after the breakdown of a serious relationship.  But it has helped me discover and engage in a whole new area of creativity.  After living in the same place for ten years, I now have a home that is much more my taste now compared to how I had decorated and accessorised it over the years since moving in.  (not that it was that bad before may I say, but it has been nice to bring a bit of change in!)

As a charity worker, I do not have vast amounts of money to spend of furniture and home furnishings.  I was introduced to an amazing product by some good friends, and this is the brilliant Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!  Explained briefly, this is a product that you paint onto furniture without needing to sand or prime beforehand.  I went to Sally Bourne Interiors as my nearest stockist, and I was well helped and advised by the staff in there.   Their advice to me was to add a little water to the paint as I used it, by decanting it from the tin into a separate container.  This is good as it helps the paint to go further, and to obviously thin it down a bit.  They also helped me with wax and application advice.  A great help to me the novice.  

My whole flat is full of Ikea furniture, which is an easy surface to apply paint to.  I look forward to more challenging projects in the future.  I discovered great sites such as Ikea Hackers, which gave great inspiration for possibilities.  And of course Pinterest was always on hand for ideas too.  So after this will follow blogs on the specific changes I made in each room in my flat.  I am in rented accommodation, but the furniture is mine, so this was a great way to make drastic changes in a place that I do not have full control over.  

Sleep Out Fundraiser

Back in September I did a sleep out to raise money for All People All Places, a local homeless project that is using churches as a winter night shelter.  About 40 people from the local area joined together to do this.

I had no idea what to expect.  It was a surprisingly warm night, (I was colder in a tent during Momentum in August!)  I'd already had a small debate with a colleague who had planned on bringing his airbed!  I wanted to make this experience for me as realistic as possible, but obviously we had good conditions in comparison to those who face life on the streets days after day.  I have volunteered to help with the night shelter on the evening it is at my church each week, so I wanted to be able to remotely empathize with the people who would be walking through the doors seeking a safe and warm place to sleep.  

I turned up already in my PJ bottoms and a hoodie.  I had my sleeping bag, a ground sheet (which was shorter than me, so I put the overhanging end of my sleeping bag inside a bin liner!!), I had a hat, a scarf and a tiny pillow.  I didn't need the scarf, so I put that and the pillow inside a bag and put it under my head.  It made me think about how vulnerable you are living on the streets when it comes to your personal property.  I wore old boots, as these would have been the only thing someone could have potentially easily stolen while I was sleeping!

We set our beds up on the Library Green in Enfield Town.  There were seven of us from church doing this together.  We didn't try and go to sleep right away, we spend a lot of time chatting as a group.  Even though the area is open on all sides, there were stewards wandering around for the whole night.  It is at a quieter end of the town centre where pub revelers staggering home on a Friday night wouldn't have passed.  There was a portaloo, for our convenience!  

These measures were obviously linked to a load of health and safety guidelines, but it wasn't fully representative of what people living on the streets have to face every night.  It took me a long time to drift off to sleep, the only disturbance were cars and buses driving past.  I was shocked at how comfy I was laying on the wet grass.  Rain was due around 5am, but I decided to not sleep under an umbrella like some people did.  When I did wake up in the night (needing the chemical facility!), I felt at ease as I was surrounded by all of my sleeping/snoring friends.  

I went back to sleep easily, and considering I am a very light sleeper, I was woken (with a torch in my eyes!!) by the stewards moving us on around 5am!  I only had about 4 hours sleep.  A breakfast of egg and bacon rolls were put on for us back at church.  (a great team of people got up early to make this for us all).  The rain had held off, and while we were eating our breakfast a storm passed over head.  I was grateful that it had stayed dry for us.  

I then headed back to my warm dry flat and went to bed to catch up on sleep, fully appreciating that this is not the cosy reality for so many people.  The main sad irony from the whole experience is that the actual homeless people in our area (of which we hardly see in an obvious way) were probably seeking shelter in the bus depot opposite where our safe sleep out was taking place.  

Blog 'To Write' List

I have had a long list on my phone of blogs that I have wanted to write.  So slowly, they will begin to appear.  Hopefully over the next week!