Naff Made Lovely!

Post makeover shot of our outdoor living area

Often a little handmade loving, be it bought or made is what can make a great home stand out! It is what gives a house character and that "very much loved" look about it. If ever there was a time, we were motivated to "make better" mass produced items by upcycle or revamp (i.e inject some love and character into them) rather than just throw them out, I would think it is now... So I set about finding industrial, slightly naff or just plain unloved areas of my house with the simple challenge of specifically making them better with a little DIY, love and handmade character. I am a firm believer in not everything has to be perfect straight away, we can make do especially with a little handmade know how. Whilst I am a major fan of uncluttered houses sometimes little items, if they have potential can be revamped instead of being thrown out.

Before shot- This was our functional/ slightly drab outdoor balcony area.

After shot- as seen above, our new loved up balcony area.

Here is our balcony looking quite lovely now. The lattice took 4 x massive painting sessions, now that's why the painters avoided it! The paint colour is Dulux quarter duck. It still has that distressed look about it, only more so. On this particular occasion more is definitely more! I zipped up some outdoor bunting made from oilcloth (bonus- no hemming needed) purely so that the fabric would not be weather affected. The bunting is rather whimsical in style with roosters and chickens on it... I do love a little taste of quirkiness here or there! My up-cycled deckchair is in featured chair position at the front of the table. The flowers were from my garden, nothing bought/ expensive. I think the chairs could still do with some cute flat cushions, ah ha another project in waiting!

 Bookend Revamp

Now that my boys are getting a little older and have way too many books on their bookshelf, these bookends were no longer helpful. I didn't want to throw them out because they were a gift from their lovely cousins! Makeover method: I painted them red so there would be a dark undercoat. I wanted to use a distressed painting style and needed a dark base colour to show through. I then distressed these with Dulux quarter duck and simply hung a swing tag over them.

Industrial made lovable. 

We bought these stools mid renovation because they were actually the only stools we could find tall enough to fit the make shift breakfast bar we were eating all of our meals on at the time. I do have a love hate relationship with these stools... Now that I have reupholstered the black vinyl seat covers, I actually quite like them. Method: Unscrew seat base form chair legs. Cut out fabric circle 5" larger than the actual seat size and staple down onto the under seat. Screw back on to the chair legs. They are now allowed to stay... for a little while at least.