I really went from “I don’t do DIY” to “pass me the mitre saw let me cut something quickly” and I never thought I’d be that person 😅
Full disclaimer, Jack still helps a lot of the time, despite him not really featuring in this reel 👏🏾
Looking back on the past 6 months in awe of what we’ve achieved so far. This isn’t meant to be a self congratulatory post, but more of a reminder that the little projects really add up. Of course, my favourite is the gym, but the front and back gardens also look ridiculously different to what they did a few months ago and I catch myself staring out the windows looking at them 😂 here’s to another 6 months of projects! (I already have a few lined up in my brain - I’m sure Jack will be jumping for joy reading that 😬)
ad | Did you know that 20% of Brits feel stressed and anxious about doing DIY without the support of others? And that 1 in 4 of us wish more people around them would pass on their DIY skills? @hippowaste are on a mission to ensure that these skills are passed through the generations, whether that’s passed down through legacy or passed back up the family.
I didn’t grow up in a DIY household, so it wasn’t until I was doing my own renovations that I decided it was time to learn some new skills. I started out with painting, and since then I’ve learnt a lot about what to do and what NOT to do. My painting in 2021 was...questionable 🫣 so I’m sharing my tips for fixing past mistakes.
Inevitably, DIY can produce a fair bit of waste, so it was @hippowaste to the rescue with their eco friendly bags. You can purchase a bag through the app or on their website (head to my stories for a link), and you can also get 15% off your very own bag with code DISCOUNT15B.
I’d love to know what DIY skills you learnt from your family members, and ones that you’ll be passing down!
FRONT DRIVE GLOW UP (part 1) 🪴
If you’ve followed me for a while you’ll know how much agg our front drive has caused us just trying to make it look fairly presentable. The weeds are constant and it’s just a losing battle. So recently we decided to do something about it, it became too much of an embarrassment 🫣 it’s a short term fix (3 years maybe) but a fraction of the cost of what we eventually want.
The vid shows what we did but we made 2 mistakes:
1. Bought damp proof membrane instead of weed proof membrane, and I’m thanking my lucky stars that it rained heavily the day after we did this (although wasn’t fun on my commute!) because it was obvious we had installed something that was going to give us no drainage.
2. Delivery of the 10 tonnes of gravel. I should have made sure it was either going to be delivered via a crane so that all bags could have been delivered directly on the drive, or it was loose so the truck could have driven on the drive to deposited the gravel. Instead, it was on a pallet truck which had to be delivered on the pavement outside our house, so it was imperative we got it off that night as it was blocking access to pedestrians. Not what we wanted to be doing after work!!
Anyway, it’s looking SO much better now, we still have bits to do to finish it off but at least the weeds are at bay and I’m not so embarrassed. Honestly our house was letting the side down 😂
ad | We can finally relax in the garden! I have been waiting so long to say that (4 summers to be precise!), and thanks to @amazonuk ‘s extensive Lawn & Garden range, we’ve been able to have some super comfortable furniture to chill on. The best part was that I didn’t have to lift a finger - I chose the “assembly” option at the checkout and it was all put together for me on my decking whilst I was WFH. How convenient is that?! 😌
Be sure to check out the full range, and if you like this one, I’ve put the link in my stories and on my Amazon Storefront in my bio 🔗 flexible payment options are available to help make this a possibility for everyone ☀️
ad | Spruce up my entrance hall with me, and watch me finally hang this mirror that’s been leaning against this wall for 2 years! I’ve been putting off hanging it because I didn’t want the aggro and mess of drilling into plasterboard, but these 3M CLAW™ Picture Hangers for Plasterboard are an absolutely genius solution and a convenient alternative to drilling holes in the wall! It’s really no surprise that these won the Product Of The Year 2024 DIY/Home category.
They come in a range of weight bearings, up to 30kg and are SO easy to install. You literally just push it in with your thumbs, whilst keeping the bottom edge against the wall, make sure it’s completely flush, and voila.
Available from lots of retailers, including Amazon, B&Q, Dunelm and Homebase amongst others. Let me know in the poll if this will solve a problem for you like it had for me!
#3MCLAW #plasterboard #productoftheyear #newbuild #poy24 #innovation #poty
I can finally be one of those people who clean their decking! 🙌🏾😂 this was a couple of weekends ago and now that I know what I’m doing I’ll be able to knock this out in a day next year 😅
Ideally we would have gone for composite decking to avoid the aggy maintenance but the quotes were way too expensive for us.
Also…things are happening in the garden this week! I’m so excited that it’s not going to look like the swap that it is for much longer! Stay tuned to find out what we do 👀
ad I’ll put my hands up, I had no idea that @qvcuk had a garden centre until last year! I was lucky enough to visit some of the flower fields in the Netherlands where I learnt about how the flowers selected for QVC are grown, and also how to get the look in my own garden. We learnt so much from QVC’s in house expert @mr_plantgeek who gave us talks on the best way to care for the plants 🪴
My Garden Escape at QVC UK is the ultimate destination for garden inspo, shopping and planning. You can order these dahlia tubers for immediate delivery, ready to plant next month. They’ll transform your garden from July - November (you might need to stake them to prevent the stunning flower heads from breaking the stems!). Have a look in my stories for links to these
Can’t wait to see how they look this summer! 😍
#mygardenescape
ad Welcome to my new home!! I wish 😂 Last week you may have seen on my stories that I went on a retreat with my brilliant agency @eightysixtalent where we stayed at Northridge Hall run by @kateandtoms. They have 250 holiday houses so it’s well worth taking a look if you’re planning on a trip.
We also had an absolutely delicious 9 course dinner cooked by the talented chefs at @dineindulge who took over the kitchen (including all washing up!). They have given us a discount code, 86T10, which you can use to get 10% off your booking, valid for the remainder of 2024. 🥘
A wonderful 3 days with some equally wonderful people ❤️
Turning my thoughts to the garden and the progress we made last year when we had the decking installed. I mentioned that we needed planning permission for ours, which isn’t always necessary, but if your decking meets certain criteria then you’ll need planning.
- if your decking is over 30cm higher than the ground that it’s on. This was our reason for needing it as it was 48cm off the ground at its highest point
- if it takes up more than 50% of your garden
- if it goes beyond your front wall boundary
There are other rules as well, especially if your house is in a conservation area, so it’s always best to check your local authority’s planning permission rules if you’re unsure! Did you already know you might have needed planning for decking? ☀️
I always think when you’re planning a project that it’s nice to have a ballpark of the costs to know what you can afford. Our kitchen and utility cost us roughly £18.8k (I’ve added the rooms together because we bought the units and worktops for them both at the same time so I don’t know the split).
We didn’t pay for this all in a lump sum - our units from @wrenkitchens are being paid back over 5 years at 0% interest. We put a 10% deposit down and are paying £190 a month. 2.5 years to go! 🥳 We also lived without a splashback for over a year. And our fridge is a hand me down from my parents. Not looking so glamorous now is it?! 😂
- units and appliances (2 sinks, 2 ovens, 5 ring gas hob, extractor and dishwasher) £12.7k @wrenkitchens
- quartz worktops supply and fit £2.6k @citygraniteltd
- taps £240 each @crosswater_uk via @tap.warehouse
- handles £24 each @shopmeraki.co
- wine cooler £550 @hoover_uk via @currys
- quartz splashback (including worktop in the pantry) supply and fit £2k @sharpstone_granite_ltd
Hope this helps in breaking down how we paid for various bits 😊 any questions ask away!
Jumping on this trend of posting my most popular content from last year…I’m actually not reposting my most viewed because it was a Christmas reel and it was only from about a month ago 😂
My *second* most viewed reel last year with 2.4m views was this one of the utility room. I haven’t posted about this room in ages but it was a crowd pleaser last year so I’ll post more if that’s what you’re here for? I tend to recycle this one twice a year because lots of people find it really useful when planning to either create one, or rejig what they already have. On the other hand I also get quite a bit of stick for it so we’ll see what happens with this one! 🤷🏽♀️
#utilityroom #laundryroom #laundryroomgoals #utilityroominspo
ad This one is for the smart tech lovers! This is the @aqara.smarthome.official year round energy saving intelligent control bundle designed to save money on your bills. You can control the whole system from the app which is perfect for being on the go if you’re away from home. There are also cool automations, for example if the presence sensor detects you in a room, the heat turns on automatically. Buying this bundle gives you 23% off buying individually!
Seasonal Sundays ✨ this one is a really simple tutorial using ribbon as a napkin ring. I used red ribbon for a pop of colour - a phrase that I never normally say being a neutral gal and all. But it’s Christmas!🎄
Don’t forget to save if you want to use it on the big day! 🫶🏾
#christmas #christmasnapkins #christmasdecor #napkins #napkingfolding
#AD I’ve shown you how we’ve got the guest rooms ready for the cold months, but what about our bedroom? Here are the 5 easy ways I’ve made our room winter-ready with the help of @dreams_beds winter bedding:
1. The perfect duvet
2. Soft, yet supportive pillows
3. Heated blankets - the fleece one is possibly my new favourite thing
4. Lots of cushions and pillows
5. Candles and mood lighting
I’d love to know how you’re preparing your room for winter!
#dreamsbeds #loveyourbed #mydreamsbed
ad | If you’ve followed me for a while you’ll know I’ve done a few DIY projects this year. I wanted to hone my newly learnt skills by creating a window box using offcuts from previous projects. I made this in 2 days (the weather was a bit of a hindrance!) but I’m super proud of how it turned out. I then put all of my offcuts plus waste from other projects into the @hippowaste bag which is basically a skip but it’s in a bag form. How cool is that?! Also, 95% of the waste that they collect is recycled which is obviously great for the planet. 🌍
HIPPO are currently on a mission to encourage more of us to #DIYSkillShare after their research found that only 28% of Brits would speak to another person to learn new DIY skills!
Join in with DIY Skill Share and let me know your top tips in the comments below – and if you’d like to try out a HIPPOBAG of your own, use code DIYSKILLSC for 15% off any HIPPO Bag and Collection package via the HIPPO website, valid until 31st January 2024.
Would you attempt a window box now that you’ve seen me (who couldn’t use a power tool a year ago) try it? 🛠️
#DIYHeroes
Another episode of Seasonal Sundays - this time another napkin tutorial in the form of a rose 🌹 Similar to the last one, this can be used at other times of year as well like Valentine’s Day. Let me know if you’ll be trying this!
#christmasnapkins #christmas #christmasdecor #christmasdecorating #rosenapkin #rosenapkinfolding
Seasonal Sunday is back with a chocolate tear & share🍫 I saw this last year and had to try it. Can confirm that it’s delicious but if I was going to make it again I would put double the amount of chocolate that I did. As a side note did you know how hard it is to find a nut free chocolate spread?! Most people use Nutella to do this however that would put me 6ft under, but this @tiptreephotos chocolate spread is delicious 🤤
Bake for 15 mins at 200°C
Have you tried this? And if not, would you?
#christmas #christmasbaking #christmascooking
ad We’re hosting Christmas this year, and now that our guest room is ready for family to stay over, I wanted to make it really cosy. I’ve got new bedding from @hellofurn which is so soft and gives that subtle nod to Christmas with the cute Christmas trees! I’ve also used cushions and blankets to switch up the look. I’ve even got a draft excluder which will work wonders in keeping the heat in for that extra bit of cosiness! AND they currently have 20% off cushions, throws and bedding in the Black Friday sale! 🥳🫶🏾
I’ve linked the bits that I’ve got in my stories, or you can search them below:
🔍Beni Throw Moss/Natural
🔍Cabu Textured Boucle Draught Excluder Ecru
🔍Cabu Textured Boucle Cushion Taupe
🔍Tufted Tree Festive 100% Cotton Duvet Cover Set Snow
🔍Beni Cushion Moss/Natural
🔍Waffle Textured 100% Cotton Duvet Cover Set White
Let me know what you think!
#wearefurn
ad Come Christmas shopping with me! I’ve finally made a start on buying presents, and was absolutely spoilt for choice when I visited the @murmurliving store at the O2 in London. They’ve got everything from sleep masks to room sprays, slippers to reed diffusers, all you could want to gift your home-loving loved ones 🫶🏾 and if you’re anything like me…you might end up keeping something for yourself instead 👀
@outletshoppingattheo2
#murmurliving #murmur #bymurmur #outletshoppingattheo2
