Using a paint roller can help you to get the job done faster and at the same time use less paint and therefore save money, but what about the mess? So what is the best way to use a roller?

1. Firstly the easiest way to prevent paint marks on other walls and ceilings, is to use a paintbrush, yes I know it’s about a paint rollers, but what can you do? Use the brush to paint a nice border around the wall or ceiling that you are intending to paint, around 75 mm should do, this will help you not to mark other parts that do not need painting.

2. In the tray it is easy to put too much paint into the tray, which will result in too much paint on the roller, leave the raised section of the tray can be used to remove excess paint from the roller.

3. Push the roller up and down along the tray until it is fully loaded with paint, it needs to be evenly balanced otherwise there will be gaps on the wall when you start to use it.

4. Pick a starting point on the wall, it should be about a width of the roller away from the border that you have already done, work the roller back towards the border, this will fill in the gap.

5. Try to spread the paint evenly all over the surface, only refill the roller when it is running out of paint
and remember to start each new application about a rollers length away from where you finished and work your way back, this way the wall will get an even coating and not two coats on some parts and one on another.

6. When you have finished applying two or three lots of paint, it is a good idea to get a new or dry roller and apply it all over the newly painted surface; this will even up the area, so that there are no patches or unpainted areas.

Source  [Better Homes Gardens]

When we think of stairs and storage naturally we would be thinking about the space that is underneath the stairs themselves, but in a lot of buildings this space has already been utilized into a useable space, what we are going to be looking at is something entirely different, something that will change the whole concept of stairs for the future.

Well as you can see in the image, this system makes use of the some of the space under the stairs, in fact the front of each step can be transformed into a drawer, the size of which is determined by the size of your stair case, and you can do as many as you wish, the space that is taken up will not really make that much difference to because of the angle of the stairs.

This is a really cool design feature, which can be applied to any home, that has wooden stairs, even just a couple.

The design is from Australia and by the looks of it will only be available there for the mean time, but if this is looked into, I believe that this can be done as a DIY project, if you think about it, the work would involve the removal of the front panel, and creating a draw from it, and by placing runners inside the stairs this would create your drawers.

It is worth looking into as this type of project could create a lot of storage.

Source  [Gizmo Central]

Once you have got to the furniture stage in your kids room plan, there is one thing that they will all love, and that is a bean bag, but instead of buying one, why not make it for yourself.

You’ll need:

Butchers paper
3.3 x 150cm wide fake fur
45cm closed-end zipper
35cm red fabric
35cm iron-on stabilizer
35cm Vliesofix
Matching thread
Embroidery threads
500g bag polystyrene balls

Equipment:

Metal Square rule or set square,
Scissors,
Pliers,
And sewing machine.

Getting started:

Draft out pattern pieces onto paper, do not forget to leave enough for a seam, about 1.5 cm.

Cut out the bean bag sections, this will be six side, one full circle and two half circles.

Sew along the long sections, press when finished.

Draw heart shape on red fabric, mark the center point, here you can embroider your favorite pattern.

Place stabilizer on inside of panels and press to set.

Place vliesofix to the inside of panels; remove paper and iron onto fur.

Sew around heart with a wide stitch, remove excess stabilizer.

Sew the other four long sections and join up, press to open up the seams.

Sew the small circle to upper edges of bag and press the edges flat.

Place the two half circles together along straight edges, press seams open.

Place zipper into place sew 6mm either side.

Sew large circle into place, then turn inside out, the bean bag is now the right way.

All you need do now is get the polystyrene beans into the bag, just snip the corner of the plastic bag only an inch or so and slowly pour them into the bean bag.

Source  [Yahoo]

The kitchen is the center of the home and more and more it is becoming the central meeting place for all the family, this is the reason why so many people are in the process of or thinking about a refurbishment of the kitchen, this can be very expensive and time consuming, but what can you do about it?

There is a great way to freshen up the look of your kitchen without all the fuss of going through having a completely new kitchen, this way is to simply reface your existing kitchen cupboards and it is not as hard as you may think it is and because it only involves the door part of the cabinet then the cost is going to be a lot lower than replacing the whole thing.

You can quite simply just replace the doors, this is a fairly easy job but can be quite pricey depending on where you and the type of door that you choose.

Depending on what the doors are made of you can refurbish them by stripping them if they are solid wood and then either finish with a varnish, paint or stain, if they are made from a veneer construction these type of doors can painted with special paint or covered in a veneer covering.

This simple process can give you kitchen a completely new look and without all the hassle and expense of having a new kitchen fitted.

Source  [Home Improvement]

The prospect of tiling a floor no matter what size can be daunting, in fact if you have never done this sort thing before, it can be a bit of headache even before you get started.

This piece will explain the basics; obviously as you get going it will become easier.

1. Everything has to be cleared from the floor, all appliances, furniture and even the baseboards if you have them.

2. Is your floor concrete? If not then you will need to clean, put down a layer of cement and cover with a concrete backing board, once dry this will need to be screwed into place to secure it.

3. Locate the exact center of the room, you can mark thins with some chalk or anything else that is at hand.

4. Try a “dry” run, this will give you an idea of what the tiles look like down on the floor, and where you are going to have to do some resizing.

5. Begin to lay the tiles for real, in order to set the tiles trowel down some adhesive onto the floor, carefully place the tile down and firmly press on to make sure that they are firmly in place, you may wish to use a spirit level to check that each one is level.

6. For cutting the tiles a wet saw is preferable, these can be hired. Please be very careful with the tile edges and chips, they can be deceptively sharp.

7. Once all the tiles have been laid and the adhesive has dried out, the final phase is to grout the joints, this is the best job because it is the last job and pulls the whole project into place. Apply the grout to the joints and thoroughly wipe off the tile surface with a damp cloth or sponge.

That is the basics; if you take each step slowly then you should be having no problems at all.

Source  [DIY Network]

There has probably never been a better or easier time to get started on a bit of interior design on your own property, this can be both very satisfying and of course save quite of money in hiring professionals, this money can then be put towards some other renovation or redecoration project.

Homes today are seeing a whole host of changes, some of which are most defiantly out of the box, and yet because of the attitude to décor and styling, there is a anything goes approach by many people, whereas you would have seen house kept to the style of when they were built, we are now seeing old houses that have an ultra modern interior and visa versa.

This in effect actually helps the design, because there are no conventions you are able to capitalize on your own likes without the fear comment.

But there are a couple of things that you must ask yourself before you start. 1. What do you want to improve? And 2. What is your design budget?

There are many fast and easy ways of simply changing the look and feel of a room, by just adding soft furnishings, mirrors and a coat of paint on one or all of the walls.

What you really need to sort out in your head, is work out exactly what you do not like about the particular room and then work around that, this may be furniture, color, pictures and lighting, then think of a solution to the problem, if it is the sofa, then what are the alternatives and what would the cost be?

As you can see, by doing this job yourself, you can plan around your likes and dislikes, and in most cases it is possible to spruce up a room, with a coat of paint, some soft furnishings and possibly the additions of flowers, candles and books.

The basic approach works best, be simple and effective.

Source  [School of Interior Design]

We all have an idea of what our ideal house would be, but how we get it, is another matter.

Whether you are a first time buyer or looking to downsize now that the kids have left home, you just cannot walk down to the realtor and buy the first house that you see, you need to prepare yourself for the task and it is a task.

First off you need to establish your financial limits, what is your top price? Get this figure and stick to it, going over can take you into a whole world of struggling.

Now is location, you have heard it all before, but location has to be the prime objective for any home buyer, it can make a complete difference to the life that you intend to live, this can take on many issues, such as traveling to work, schools, health and of course shopping, the factors can have bearing on the potential investment value too, so now you have price and location.

The final thing that you need to establish, is size and type, how many bedrooms, house or apartment, you need to work out exactly what your needs are, there is no point in buying a house that it is too big, or in the same manner too small, the same goes with bedrooms you need enough not too many. It is far better to a two bed roomed home in an up market area, than a four bedroom home in a not so good area.

Once you have sat down and established these needs then your search should be easier and straight forward.

Source  [The New Homemaker]

When you decide to have a move around at home, the obvious starting point is to move the furniture around, this ok at first but you can quickly run into problems when the furniture begins to pile up or it has to be moved back.


So in order to avoid this and all the headaches that are associated with this, why not plan your space on paper first, this may sound as though it is going to be technical or challenging, but its not, and there is a lot of help out there for you to get started.

The simple way of room planning is to get some graph paper and measure the room, transfer the measurements to the graph paper and hopefully you should be looking at a scale drawing of you room, you can do this for your whole house is you wish, and now you can measure the what furniture you intend to place in each room and make a scale model, really just a piece of colored paper will do and place these in the room you can now see what space has been taken up and if it all fits in the room.

If you require a more professional looking plan, then it may be worth looking into some of the kits that are available such as the Home Design Tutor, the basic kit from them is only $24.95 which is enough for a property of 2000 sq ft or below. Includes 700 precut, 1/4-inch scale, reusable peel and stick furniture and architectural symbols for every room in the house including living room, dining room, kitchen, den and bedroom furniture, every standard kitchen cabinet and appliance, an extensive assortment of bathroom fixtures, windows, doors, walls, lights, outlets and switches, plus a 5,600 square-foot Floor Plan Grid and design worksheet.

Source  [About]

One way of distressing wood is with the use of Vaseline, crazy I know, but it is an easy way of getting the finish that you are looking for, you will need:

Two colors of latex paint. One will be your peek-a-boo, underneath color and the other will be your primary color.

Vaseline.

Light-colored candle.

Steel wool.

Water-based polyurethane.

Step One – Sand the frame down and paint with a coat of paint that you wish to see come through.

Step Two – When dry, either apply the Vaseline or rub the candle onto the parts of the piece that you wish to look old and worn, corners and edges look best.

Step Three – If you are looking for a old look the piece, you can this stage scratch it up a bit, you can use chains, keys or some other metal objects, but do not over do it. Now paint the frame with your top coat or primary color.

Step four – Take the steel wool, and rub the areas that have been cover with the Vaseline or candle wax, the top coat of paint will just come off very easily and leave a worn looking area, do not over rub.

Step Five – Once you have achieved the look that you are wanting the you will need to apply a few coats of the polyurethane, you can sand between coats, as this will add to the look, by shading the areas differently.

That’s it you’re done!

Source  [Curbly]