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As the saying goes, if a job’s worth doing it’s worth doing well, and that old adage certainly applies when it comes to painting your home.

It’s not simply a question of buying a few tins of paint and slapping it up on the wall. If you want the job done properly and for the end result to look pleasing and professional, you’ll need to give some consideration to a few important things before you go haphazardly applying a few coats of emulsion.

If you do it yourself, not only will you save a considerable sum on painter/decorator bills but you’ll also end up with a great result and that warm and fluffy feeling of doing a job well.

So erase 60 Minute Makeover, Kirsty Allsop and Kevin McCloud from your minds – all you need is yourself, some preparation, a few hours, a bit of hard graft, and the following useful painting pointers.

Preparation

Before you start it’s imperative that you’re adequately prepared. Organise all your paints, brushes and equipment and keep them in the middle of the room you’re painting. Don’t rush things and don’t try to get everything done in a day.

In fact, use the day before to cover any wall cracks or patches, put painter’s tape around doors and window, and cover wall and ceiling fixtures with plastic bags. Clear out all the furniture, take everything off the walls, and remove door knobs, hinges and light covers to avoid any unnecessary drips or splashes during the job.

Brushes And Paints

There’s a myriad of good brushes to choose from – brushes with natural or synthetic bristles, foam brushes and rollers, pad painters and paint rollers. Plus, of course, you’ll need to know which paint type is best for the job – water-based, oil-based or latex.

Most paints jobs work better if you use a primer or base coat, which can potentially eliminate the need for a second coat. If you’re painting a light colour over a dark one, a primer is essential!

Handy Hints And Extras

You also won’t want clean your brushes or rollers every time, so wrap them in a plastic bag if you take a break, or, if you’re going to be away for a while, put the bag of brushes in the freezer (really!) and thaw them out an hour before use.

Painter’s Blue Tape is also very good – it has a waxy coating to prevent paint seeping through, provides perfect straight edges, and doesn’t pull off paint from surfaces.

No matter how careful you are, painting will always involve a certain amount of spillage and dripping, so make sure you’re armed with plenty of rags and wipes for any emergency clean-ups.

Surprisingly, one of the most common mistakes is not stocking up with sufficient or extra paint, so make sure you have a contingency can just in case. There’s nothing worse than running just as you’re about to complete the job.

A Final Word

Painting, decorating and any kind of DIY work doesn’t have to be a chore or an unpleasant experience – in fact, it’s easy to make it a fun and rewarding one just as long as you’re adequately prepared and sufficiently equipped to do the job well. After all, you don’t want to be like Wiggy or Mr Bean and end up in some crazily comic, paint-based catastrophe!

Have you got any useful painting tips you’d like to share?

Estelle Page is an interior designer and DIY addict who’s always redecorating at least one room of her house (and right now three – the landing, bathroom and office!). She blogs for Litecraft Lightbulbs in her spare time.

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Nobody can deny the benefits of sunlight. It can add warmth and brightness into almost any room or area of your home. Whether you’re looking for a way to light up your room (and mood) or you just want to make a statement in certain areas of your house, installing skylights can be the perfect solution.

There are a few distinct advantages of natural light when compared to standard bulbs and tube lights, keep on reading to know these wonderful benefits.

1) Morale Boost

Most people will agree that they are in better spirits when springtime begins to replace the gloominess of winter. But this moral boosting affect is not because of the change in temperature. What many people do not understand is that there is a scientific explanation for this. Many people suffer from a winter condition known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), and the biggest cause of this condition is a lack of exposure to the sun. Sunlight boosts the body’s production of serotonin, which in turn improves our mood. Skylights can allow exposure to the sunlight that most people would never get during the winter month. As a result, it provides the perfect boosts for your mood and morale.

2) Visual Impact

Natural skylights offer so much more than some extra sunshine into the rooms. One of the biggest advantages is that they will make your room or any other area a bit more spacey. By brightening up the corners and reducing shadows throughout the room it will make even small rooms seem a bit more open, airy, and larger than they really are. It’s a great way to make cramped or claustrophobic rooms feel comfortable and spacious—whatever rooms of the home they may be.

3) Save Money

Not only skylights can help cut down the energy cost for lighting the rooms during the daytime, but they can also help save on heating and cooling bills in a big way. In winter, they can help lower energy consumption by making the home feel warmer. Vented skylights can be an amazing help during the hottest months of summer. When heat rises, the skylights can be vented in order to allow the heat to go out. It will get rid of warm air from the home so the cooling units are able to operate more efficiently.

4) Better Resale Value

You’ll get a significant ROI (return on investment) for the money that is spent installing skylights in your home, when you decide to sell or rent your home. It’s one of those inexpensive yet highly effective investments you can make on home improvement that will provide a sufficient return. To make a long story short, almost all people like natural lighting. Large windows and skylights are attractive to potential buyers and it increases the value of the home.

5) Greener Living

People around the world are taking steps to limit their “carbon footprint”. Skylights are one of the many ways for a common home owner to play his/her part for saving energy. Whether it’s reducing the need for gas to heat your home in winter or electricity to light up your rooms, skylights can add a great deal of “green” value to almost any home or office throughout the year. Not only, you are playing your role in protecting the planet, but you’re also saving money on utility bills in the process.

All things considered, it’s hard to disagree with the many benefits skylights can bring to your home or office, from ambiance to energy efficiency, skylights can add so much to your house.

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While we don’t like to think about such sad matters, very young children can drown in less than 2in (6cm) of water. Ponds have become very popular in the last few years, they provide biodiversity, reflections, movement, and sound in our gardens. However if you have young children this may not be the best thing to have outside your home.

Cover your pond
A grille or rigid mesh can be used to secure a pond, however for very young children it should be noted that this must be fitted above the highest water point in order to prevent a water hazard.

Make sure the following further safety precautions are followed:

• Make sure it is must be firmly secured
• Check regularly for signs of deterioration.
• The mesh or grille must to be able to support the full weight of a child
• The mesh should have a grid size of no more than 80mm x 80mm – to prevent a child getting trapped
• The mesh should be heavy duty (i.e. 6-8mm diameter wire) which will make it self-supporting. Thinner wire mesh will require supporting with a frame.
• Over a large pond, a frame may be required to provide stability and anchor points. The frame should clear the maximum height that the water level could  reach and take into consideration any sagging that might occur.
• If this is the case the methods used to secure and lock the frame in place should not allow a child to get trapped in any moving parts.
• Do not remove the cover until the children are old enough to recognise and understand danger.

Source

Fill your pond in
If you want to be absolutely sure that your pond doesn’t present a water hazard, then you should fill it.

Make sure to remove or thoroughly break up any liner. This allows water to drain away, otherwise you could end up with a bog garden which might be just as dangerous. Then you can fill your hole with soil to make a flower bed or more lawn. If it is a small pond it might make a nice sandpit. Some people fit their trampolines into a hole to avoid having such a large structure in the garden, and this might be a better use of an old pond for your family. Care will have to be taken that very young children can’t get trapped or use the trampoline unsupervised.

Another use for a big hole left by a pond is to have a sunken seating area, which can make a great sheltered spot in a windy or overlooked garden. See the example above from the Hmpton Court Flower Show.

Fence off your pond
Fencing off the pond is a partial solution to the dangers of water in the garden. Do not allow yourself to fall into a false sense of security. Fences will need to be panelled, or have vertical railings with bars no more than 100mm apart. They should be at least 1.1m in height to follow the Building Regulations safety principles. If you have a gate it must be a similar design to the fence and be locked shut. You could consider using a swimming pool gate, which have been designed with extended latch mechanisms to be out of children’s reach.

We have lots of fencing projects on our projects pages including:

Fencing – close board
Fencing – concreting fence posts
Fencing – fence panels
Fencing – post hole sizes

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Image by Photomathographer

Shower curtains are easily one of the most neglected interior design elements in your house – and for a good reason. Hung up in a place where most people tend not to linger (or keep them drawn aside when they do), they’re unlikely to attract compliments from your guests.

Your shower curtains can however be a key design element and a great conversation starter – all it takes is a little simple stencilling! Here are the 4 steps to adding a stencil design to your current shower curtain…

1. Check for Mould

Remove the shower curtain from the shower rod (or its rings) and inspect it carefully for any signs of mould and mildew as you’ll need to get rid of them before you carry on decorating.

Wash the curtain in your washing machine (at a low temperature and gentle settings for plastic and vinyl curtains), adding ½ cup baking soda for the wash cycle and ½ cup vinegar for the rinse.

Hang it and leave to dry naturally. You can prevent the build-up of mould and mildew by wiping the curtains off after every use and spraying them with a water/vinegar mixture.

2. Choose Your Design

While the curtain is left drying, you can decide on the pattern. Once you’ve made your choice, make sure to size it right and print it onto regular paper. To make it sturdy, glue it to a sheet of card and use a sharp crafting knife to cut the pattern away and leave a stencil.

If you’re a new to stencilling, don’t opt for designs or motifs that are too complicated not only because simplicity is the ultimate sophistication but also to cut down on the numerous possibilities one may go wrong.

Start with something simple and mono-coloured and don’t be afraid to work some humour into it, too. Some bathers seem to have developed a weird passion for silhouettes of people holding a knife!

3. Prepare the Curtain

Once the curtain has dried, spread it out on a large and flat surface, smoothing out any wrinkles. Pick out waterproof fabric paints and choose a brush for your selected pattern – a smaller one will let you create more elaborate details while the larger brushes or even paint rollers are good for evenly covering large portions of the curtains.

4. Get Painting

Press the stencil firmly to fabric and tape down to avoid it slipping and ruining the design. Carefully work the paint into the curtain from one corner towards the other so that you don’t accidently rest your arm on wet paint as you go!

Once finished, let the curtains dry. Place a clean cloth over the design and run an iron over it to heat-set the paint, and your custom-designed curtain is ready!

If you’re looking to go even further customising your bathroom decor, why not play around with the shower rod, varying with the ring designs or even adding chains to your curtain. There are plenty of ideas out there to make your bathroom look like no other!

What innovative shower curtain designs have you seen lately?

Estelle Page is a blogger and mother as well who’s prepared to go great lengths to make this holiday season truly unforgettable for her family and guests alike. She blogs for Dunster House.

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Organised by The Chartered Institute of Marketing Construction Industry Group (CIMCIG) the Construction Marketing Awards showcase creativity, innovation and effectiveness in marketing and strategy. After being short-listed for two awards, the Natural Sparx brand was announced winner of ‘Best branding and Positioning’ at the awards ceremony in London.

Why Natural Sparx

In a growing renewables market, electrical distributor Rexel saw an opportunity to provide a superior service to renewable energy professionals through an online store that provided flexible delivery, direct to their door.

Offering a complete range of Solar equipment and accessories and now also Biomass products, Rexel branded the new division http://www.naturalsparx.co.uk and developed a range of benefits for installers to enhance the offering, including a flexible delivery service and highly competitive pricing.

The brand identity needed to be easily recognised within a highly competitive market and gain momentum quickly, conveying the benefits of engagement, simply and clearly. The new offering and brand was to be marketed through an integrated approach, combining on and off-line channels, to raise awareness and encourage account registration.

Working with their creative agency ThinkTank, Rexel were able to achieve this aim and the result was a high impact brand identity that stands out within the renewables space, one that usually features a lot of blue and green in brand identities and advertising.

The brand and online store, were launched at Ecobuild in March 2012 and the integrated launch campaign, combining social media, email marketing, trade advertising and point-of-sale continued throughout the year.

The launch of Natural Sparx was a major initiative for Rexel and it required the correct level of impact to quickly gain momentum in a very competitive market. Even though the delivery is visually simple it was a challenge to convey the core benefits, which were complex in nature.

Working with our creative agency, The Think Tank, we were able to develop a brand identity that met the needs of the launch and provided a creative platform for future development. We were able to develop the complex messaging around the brand in a way that was simple, concise and easily understood by the audience, communicating with them in a language they understood.

The simple but eye-catching brand identity has made its mark on the sector, providing considerable standout and recognition whilst also helping to secure considerable levels of sales

Carrie Davis, Digital Marketing Manager, Rexel

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