Making it home.......... Kitchen renovations continue

I'm not sure about calling this post making it home it should really be called making more mess, or please can we get something finished.

The kitchen renovations continue in our house if you would like to find out more here is the link to planning a  small kitchen.
It has been a stressful couple of weeks to say the least we seem to be hitting a problem at every turn i sometimes wonder if the house does not want to be fixed. It seems to want to hold on to its 80's grey kitchen and garage you can't fit a car in.

I thought the original grey kitchen above was scary but then things looked alot worse when everything got ripped out and thrown in the skip and the items to go back into the kitchen got moved into the lounge for what was intended to be a temporary stay !

 A month later the lounge is still chaos as it still has dining table and other kitchen things strewn all around it as sadly we had a couple of weeks where are builder was very unwell and work stopped in the kitchen leaving us in a right mess. Things moved forward a bit more last week and we could finally see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel although we still had along way to go.

Then this week things really started taking shape and we managed to sneak a few essential items back in and finally had a sink again ...... no more washing up in the bathroom hurrah.

Its really getting there now and a million miles away from the grey impractical space we started with. I can not wait to start doing the finishing touches but i think that's a way off yet as still electrics to be done and a wall to come down and a garage to be converted to give us the link through rooms. I am really pleased though with what we have achieved so far and I am really looking forward to getting each room back to its proper use and being able to use it as a real family home.

That's it from me this week what have you been up to around your house to make it home, i would love you to link up and share your home and its always lovely to hear from you so feel free to leave a comment.

<a href="http://makingitasmum.blogspot.co.uk/ " target="_blank"><img src="http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy145/mediocremum/makingithomebadgefinal.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

         Feel free to grab the making it home badge and ready steady link.

Thought of the day.................. Renovations and children don't mix !

Making it home .......... Best of British

Welcome to making it home..............

 This weekend we have been celebrating the Queens Diamond Jubilee so with that in mind i thought it would be lovely to give making it home  a best of British theme this week.  This can be linking up how you decorated your home or garden for the jubilee or like me celebrating the best British home products

There are so many lovely British made quality products on sale and some fantastic statement pieces that can really add wow factor to a room.  My post this week is all about celebrating and showcasing a few of my favourite things items i have found and handpicked as best of British.

I adore the light shade pictured above it really gives the wow factor to a very simple white dining area and adds a great focal point to the room. I have had these on my wish list for awhile now for my lounge a room i know we will get to revamp one day!! I found these at very nice things who indeed do very nice British made things.

 Next on my list are these lovely inspired by nature limited edition prints by Eloise Renouf'  once i get to the finishing touches stage in the kitchen i will definitely be inspired by these prints. I wish there was a  fabric too as i could really see a lovely kitchen blind in this sort of print.

I am a really big fan of good quality oak furniture and i think when making over a room its good to invest in furniture as well chosen good quality pieces will fit in with any scheme and will therefore last you well.  I love oak and this dining set i think is a modern classic and would definitely stand the test of time. I found this set at topfurniture when i was looking for a bench to update my own dining table as my budget won't quite stretch to replacing a whole set.

Wallpaper on the other hand is a great way to update a room without breaking the bank by adding a feature wall you can really change the look of a room. My favourite wallpaper at the moment is this gorgeous retro feel bird print by Rachel Powell i hope i can find a small space somewhere to add this as a feature wall.



My final celebration of British is a fantastic company i have found called new life paints who
bring new life to old paint and help the landfill problem at the same time. Paint is simply saved from landfill sorted into type then blended and treated filtered and tested to produce a high quality paint in a very good choice of colours. What a fantastic idea helping the environment and giving us stylish homes at the same time.

                                                                             

 That's it from me for this week now  its over to you to link up your posts on how your making it home. Feel free to continue the Best of British theme maybe you have decorated your home or garden for the jubilee or you have made something for the home or like me you may want to tell us the products on your wish list.

<a href="http://makingitasmum.blogspot.co.uk/ " target="_blank"><img src="http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy145/mediocremum/makingithomebadgefinal.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Feel free to grab the badge and ready steady link

Making it home.... Boys space bedroom on a budget

We have lift off !!!

Welcome to the next instalment of making it home a little link to share ideas and all things interiors that help to make a house home. Every Monday i put up a post on the progress of our house renovations or share inspiration and ideas or must haves for the home.

I love to save money and time where i can as there is only so much of both when your a mum so you can be reassured whatever i share will be aimed at making life easier cheaper and more beautiful.

I hope you will join in by writing similar posts or linking up old posts that provide inspiration for making your house home. If this is your first visit and you want to find out more about making it home or see the progress so far on the bedroom or kitchen or bathroom just click on the links.

Anyway without further ado here is my latest update.............

Moving and renovating can be quite unsettling for small children so the first project we tackled when
 we moved in was little E's bedroom to get him settled and feeling safe in the new home. The bedroom he has now is half the size of the nautical bedroom he left behind so some creativity was definitely going to be called for to give him a space he loves excuse the pun !!

To help settle him and make the room seem comfortable and familiar i started by painting the walls a similar colour to his previous room using satin paint as it reflects light better and is wipe able a real must in a child's room. The next thing we needed to do was raise the money to buy him some new furniture as his bed was now too small and wardrobe and changer no longer needed.

We listed his old furniture on EBay and the money raised was the budget to spend on the new bedroom. Selling his old outgrown items we raised £275 so my challenge was to create a boys bedroom for £275 or less but technically its created for free as recycled money i guess!!

I wanted to get a bed that was good quality and going to last him for a good few years so i opted for an oak single as this would  last and adapt to fit most schemes.

I shopped around and found this bed as an ex display item in a  local bed shop who were changing round to make room for new stock. It is always worth looking at ex display items as they have not been used and you don't need to wait for them as in stock. This bed and mattress cost £159 a real bargain for what would of been  £359 if i had of ordered it.

This left me £116 to finish the room so i had to search and spend wisely my first bargain was found when doing my weekly food shop at Sainsbury's i picked up this very lovely star duvet cover and pillow case  for £7.50. It's a really good match for the wall colour and also picks up on the old blind we brought with us from the old house.

The stars then got me thinking along the lines of space and from there the room started to evolve and take shape. Next i looked at storage the room had a really large double size wardrobe too big for little E's small clothes and then a small cupboard next to it which did not really give enough room to store toys.

The most cost effective way to get the storage we really needed was to remove the hanging rail from the wardrobe and cut it into two making smaller rails to fit into the small cupboard making perfect double hanging for E's small clothes.

We then just brought some wood and batons from a builders merchant for £25 (cheaper than going to diy store) and made the large wardrobe into a shelved toy cupboard and painted the shelves white to match the room.

The inside of a cupboard or wardrobe is the perfect place to display childrens artwork and little bits and pieces sort of like an open up gallery.  A few handy hooks on the inside off the other door are great for bags and all the other bits that don't have a home to hang.

Excuse the mess, at least i can just shut the door on it at night.

Left with £83.50 i searched for an in expensive way to inject some fun into the room by way off a wall sticker. I found it quite hard to find something fun and tasteful as a lot of children's stickers can be a bit tacky on the front as well as the back ha ha!

Eventually Ebay came to the rescue and i picked up this lovely space theme for £20 and they were even kind enough to send contrasting colour stars free of charge. Wall stickers are really easy to apply and are a great inexpensive way to add fun to a room.

Easy to apply and little E loved to help create his space!

Ebay also came to the rescue with the lovely space throw at the end of the bed complete with cushion and pillow case £9.50 including postage. I will tell you a bit more about this in another post as they will be changing slightly into more!!

My final £54 this went mainly to Argos where i purchased the lovely cube storage units with star and stripe boxes one as a bed side table and one at the end of the bed for £30 the next £10 went to next the little cubes on the wall and the last bit to the charity shop lamp and light shade.

There you have it a little space from recycled money and bargain finds. I will also be linking up this post on Monday magpie and Thrifty Thursday.

I hope you have been inspired to get renovating its always lovely to hear from you please feel free to leave a comment.

Now its over to you to link up how you are making it home with your ideas inspiration renovations and pinterest anything goes ........... ready steady link xx

Thought of the day.................   In every home there is space if you look for it xx

Making it home ........ Relaxing natural bedroom

Welcome to the Making it home linky a little space in blogsphere to share ideas, inspiration and home improvement posts. Thank you to all of you who joined in over the last few weeks some amazing ideas shared and beautiful posts showing the amazing improvements you have made to your homes and inspiration and items you have found..

If this is your first visit and you want to find out more about making it home please take a look at my first post to find out what its all about.

Here's this weeks update for me on the renovation progress in our house ....

Work has finally started this week on our kitchen but i thought i would spare you the horrors of the building work stage as its looking quite scary at the moment!! The house as you can imagine is in chaos as the temporary kitchen in currently in the lounge and the bathroom is the only place with running water until the kitchen sink goes back in.

We started work on our bedroom a few weeks ago and although its not quite finished it is giving us a relaxing space to retreat from the building work and a lovely space to rest our weary heads after our evenings of painting.

When we moved into the house as you can see the bedroom was a bit dated and in need of a bit of TLC but was a good sized room with lots of potential.

Before bedroom

  The first thing we did was replace the carpet and change it for a natural colour to flow with the other rooms in the house and provide a neutral base for the start of any colour scheme. We then replaced the old fashioned pine pole and put up some temporary white curtains that we brought with us from our old house. I will soon upcycle a pair of linen curtains with a splash of colour added to liven up the room but for now the white ones are doing a good job!

I really want to have a nature inspired theme to the house and had fallen for the Laura Ashley cottonwood wallpaper for the bedroom, however we were going to need five rolls and at around £40 a roll i  shopped around  and found a really good  birch tree equivalent at next for £15 a roll a big saving. We wallpapered two walls and painted the remaining walls in a complimentary mushroom colour.

The bedroom is a slightly irregular shape where a built in wardrobe is and i have always wanted a dressing table so our hall console table from our old house has made a perfect little dressing table to fit into the gap and for now until i find a lovely stool a leather dining chair is giving me a perfect seat. The small glass dressing table mirror and trinket pots are really pretty and bounce light around the room when we get a rare glimpse of sunshine through our windows.

The fitted wardrobe was not really designed for sharing but hubby has been very handy and has moved the existing rail up and made space to fit another rail below to give us double hanging and maximise the space. He has then fitted hooks inside the doors as a handy place for my scarfs and jewellery.  I have used pretty storage boxes dotted around for storing hairdryer and other little bits and pieces. The storage boxes have a little hint of duck egg blue and when i get to do the finishing touches in the bedroom i will add a few more hints of duck egg to lift the room maybe in a trim on the curtains throw and cushions. I really love the room though even in its unfinished state it provides a lovely space to retreat too and get away from the work going on in the rest of the house.

That's it from me for this week now its over to you to link up all things that make your house home, show of your handy work or simply share the lovely things you would love to do and products and inspiration you have found.

If you would like a badge here is the code for you


<a href="http://makingitasmum.blogspot.co.uk/ " target="_blank"><img src="http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy145/mediocremum/makingithomebadgefinal.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Feel free to leave any comments suggestions etc as its always lovely to hear from you.

Ready steady go .......... here's the linky xx

Making it home ..... planning and updating kitchens

            

My old kitchen i left behind !!

Welcome to the second Making it home linky the place to share ideas, inspiration  and home improvement posts. Thank you to all of you who joined in last week there were some amazing ideas shared and beautiful posts showing the amazing improvements you have made to your homes and items you have found.

If this is your first visit and you want to find out more about making it home please take a look at last weeks post to find out what its all about.

Here's this weeks update from me !


 This week i have been trying to find the balancing act between budget and space to try to make the best use of our downstairs space on the budget available. Planning has been granted to convert our integral garage to extend our kitchen, converting a garage that is not being used for a car and is just being used for storage is a really good place to start if you need extra space for a growing family.
We had planned to re create a space similar to the kitchen we had to leave behind when we moved but that seems not to be!!

Building work was due to start earlier this week but had to be put temporarily on hold as there were some issues with drainage and re situating a soil pipe that were going to add thousands to a full conversion. Therefore we went back to the drawing board and after much deliberation we are now adapting to a partial conversion to add a utility and downstairs loo and the money saved will be re directed to adding a conservatory to give us the needed  dining space.

This was really disappointing as the room i miss the most since the move is my old kitchen i really loved the space. It was family friendly perfect for cooking and designed in such a way that although a kitchen diner the dining space felt like a separate grown up room when entertaining. The black feature wall was family friendly and very forgiving when little E was baking.
This has left me needing to re think the kitchen space in our new home as now working with a tight space that needs to work well and be family friendly. Heres how i got on with the planning and some tips that may help others planning a small kitchen

Planning a small kitchen family friendly kitchen.............

A good starting point is writing a list of must haves and thinking about how you use the space, i like to cook meals from scratch so wanted a good work top space and I'm usually trying to entertain a small boy while cooking so a place for him to sit and join in was essential.

This breakfast bar idea from a holiday cottage for inspiration

In a small kitchen you need to balance the need for storage against making the kitchen look bigger the best way to achieve this is by avoiding a rows of wall cupboards.Ideally just having  wall cupboards on one wall will make the room feel wider. This is not always an option so a double run can be made more spacious with open shelving so that in places you can see right back to the wall! Another trick is to use glass doors on some cupboards again to break up the closed in feeling.

Another lovely kitchen i left behind !!

Radiators in a small kitchen use up valuable wall space and can often be tricky to work around, if budget allows underfloor heating is a great solution or a really cost effective alternative is using plinth heaters. Now with no radiator to work around the units can run wall to wall giving a more stream lined look.

Fitting in a seating area without losing work space can be a bit of a challenge but can be achieved by breaking up the run of base units with a couple of shallower wall cabinets to create a space for a couple of breakfast stools. This gives the perfect area to seat children with some colouring books while your cooking and a nice place to enjoy a cup of tea and flick through a magazine.

Avoid too many tall units as again they can close in the space the best place for tall items such as fridge freezer is just inside the door as your eye goes past them and follows the worktop run giving a sense of space.

White or ivory is a good colour choice in a small space as the light colour will brighten the room and any glass doors used will reflect natural light just like a mirror does.

Using all these tips and tricks i have put together a plan for the kitchen that I'm really pleased with and i can,t wait for work to start next week. Once i got a plan together that i was happy with i was able to shop around for the best deal most kitchen suppliers  price match and most are happy to take some extra money off or throw something in as everyone wants the business so definitely shop around as the money off can be put to tiles or flooring etc.

Hope you enjoyed this weeks offering its always lovely to hear from you so please feel free to comment and follow.

Now its over to you lovely people to link up and share how your making your house home xx

     Feel free to grab a badge if you would like one............ here's the code

<a href="http://makingitasmum.blogspot.co.uk/ " target="_blank"><img src="http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy145/mediocremum/makingithomebadgefinal.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

More importantly here's the linky for you to join in with thumbnails this week to easily see your handy work xx

Making it home..... Bathroom makeover

  Welcome to the first ever making it home linky!
So many of us are renovating /redecorating and making over our homes or  bringing old items back to life or generally searching for items to make our houses home.

 I thought it would be lovely to share ideas and inspiration get support if your stuck with something and just generally show the world our handy work on home projects.  Every week i will write a post following either the progress of our house as work in progress or finished projects or generally passing on lovely items and ideas i have seen.

 I hope you will join me by linking up and sharing your renovation projects and room makeovers items you have brought back to life or any relevant post about making your house home.  It can be a new or old post either finished projects or work in progress or maybe you have seen too many nice things and can't decide and need help choosing.

Hopefully its fairly simple there is a link at the bottom of the page to link up your post and i look forward seeing your projects and popping over to and visit your blog. While your linking up take a look at the other entries and find inspiration and share the blog love xx

Here's my bathroom update.................... 

  We moved  house at the end of January this year out of necessity to a home in need of improvement so that we could reduce our mortgage add value to a property and therefore allow me more time to spend with my little boy and care for my elderly mum.

 Every room needs attention..... downstairs the layout needs re arranging and the floor space needs extending but while we are waiting for planning permission etc we are starting on the upstairs.

 The bathroom changes needed are mainly cosmetic and re doing the previous owners half finished diy!! When we moved in as you can see the bath had not been fitted properly had been put in too low and this meant the bath panel did not fit. The layout was not ideal the bath sink and loo have been fitted to close together and the blue tiles and dark floor make the small room feel even smaller. The window glass has been painted along with the frame and generally the room looks small and dark and unfinished.

Before bathroom!!

We are working on a tight budget as we need to use most of our money on the kitchen and building work so here is how we managed a low cost bathroom transformation.

First we just needed to work out how to lose the blue go faster stripes as these are really making the room appear smaller..Re tiling would of been costly so before going down that route we decided to see if tile paint would work ..... I have to say i was a bit dubious at first but once i had mastered the best technique i was pleasantly surprised.

If you fancy having ago at this really cost effective way of updating tiles this is how i found to get the best result. Use a tiny roller from a craft shop as you will get a better finish than with a brush. Go over the whole area including covering existing grout rather than trying to go tile by tile. Leave to dry for longer than it says on tin i found 48 hours better.I would not bother buying a grout pen the finish is not realistic instead leave for 48 hours and then with a small tub of grout re grout the area all over the tiles then wipe off excess with a damp sponge. Voila new tiles for the tiny cost of tile paint and grout around £25 much cheaper than new tiles and someone to fit them.

Next we tackled the layout by moving the radiator and putting a slimline towel radiator on a smaller wall to free up the big wall for much needed storage. Then we raised the bath very slightly to fit the bath panel properly.We then Painted the walls a natural colour using kitchen and bathroom paint and tidied up the woodwork. 

The next project was the floor we went for a vinyl in a light oak colour to lighten and brighten the space, and chose one with a real wood floor affect. In a small room its good to use something like this as the planks draw your eye to the widest point and give the allusion of space as a result.

Storage is in short supply in our house so the bathroom was finished off with a slimline tall cabinet to get the best use of space without taking up much room.

I wanted to continue the nature theme in our house so that the rooms link together therefore i finished the room off with a lovely ex display Laura Ashley blind which i picked up for a bargain £40 and a few nature inspired accessories.

I have been really pleased with the overall result and what we managed to achieve without spending a fortune.

I hope you enjoyed this weeks offering ............ Now its over to you to link up and share how you are making your house home.

Please feel free to grab a badge

<a href="http://makingitasmum.blogspot.co.uk/ " target="_blank"><img src="http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy145/mediocremum/makingithomebadgefinal.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Adding colour and fun to a childrens bedroom

          

Decorating dilemma ............How to add colour and fun to a child's bedroom.

Its really easy to add colour and fun to child's bedroom without breaking the bank. Painting the walls a lovely spring green and adding a wall sticker can really transform a room. I'm a real fan of wall stickers as they are easy to apply and are an inexpensive way to instantly add fun and interest. I love this owl wall sticker from next the colours of the owls can be picked out and used in complimentary accessories such as the patchwork curtains and gingham bedding.

I think when choosing children's furniture a white bedroom set is a great investment as it will last and grow with the child as it can be dressed with age appropriate accessories .It is far cheaper to replace curtains and bedding as the child outgrows it than replacing the furniture if they suddenly go off the car shaped bed or princess castle. If space is tight in the room consider something like a mid sleeper as this will maximise the rooms floor space which is essential for  playing!

Storage is really important in a child's room as the bigger they get the bigger the toys seem to get. There are lots of fun ways to store things in children's rooms from colourful boxes baskets and drawers.

         

More colour and fun can added with useful finishing touches such as the little owl door stop to match the wall sticker. I think a doorstop in a child's room is a safety feature as well as being very very cute as it avoids little trapped fingers. Lighting is also really important a bedside lamp is essential for bed time stories and a little night light that can be left on gives a child reassurance.

   

I found the items at next to be very reasonably priced so a lovely child's room makeover can be achieved without breaking the bank.

I also spotted Next are running a competition to win £1500 home makeover

http://www.facebook.com/nextonline/app_197783583629991

Looking forward to starting the blog hop next week called making it home and i can,t wait to see your home transformations. Everyone is welcome let me know if you would like to join in.

Always lovely to hear from you so don,t be shy say hi and leave a comment below xx