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Faking it: cheat's wood burner

We have been yearning after a wood burner (wood burning stove, log burner, whatever you want to call it) for years. One thing we really miss in our 1970s house is that there aren’t any fireplaces whatsoever (a big change coming from period properties) and we’ve always thought that a wood burner would provide our living space with the perfect focal point, as well as being something to cosy up around when it’s cold out. But because we don’t have any chimneys, having a wood burner installed isn’t as straightforward as it might be, and after a couple of super-scary… View Post

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DIY homework desk | Growing Spaces

The area between the living and dining zones in our open-plan ground floor space has been through so many different uses as the twins grow and their needs change. Until a month or so ago, our old dining table lived there. We called it the craft table, but in reality it was a dumping spot and just attracted piles of clutter and paperwork (as evidenced by the cringe-inducing before shot above). I decided that it was time for the craft table to go – this would open up the space and help us in our constant battle against clutter, but I… View Post

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DIY gutter herb planter | Growing Spaces

One thing we’ve been wanting to do since we finished our big modern garden makeover at the end of the summer is to make use of the back of the built-in bench which is right next to our back door. We do have a wall planter on the fencing, but I fancied having a couple of herb planters closer to the door, filled with the herbs I use most often when cooking. I’ve used some offcuts of rain guttering for this DIY project, along with a pot of original Gorilla Glue. This super-strong adhesive will bond a whole host of different materials to each… View Post

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DIY plywood bedroom shelves | Growing Spaces

Since we swapped our old double bed in the guest room for a Hemnes daybed from Ikea to free up some floor space, we’ve needed to come up with a bedside table solution. The drawers pull out to turn the single bed into a double, but once we’ve done that there isn’t space for a bedside table between the bed and doorway, so we decided a wall-mounted option was our best bet. We chose our favourite DIY material, plywood, swapped our usual drill for Gorilla Wood Glue, and got building. I sketched out a super-simple design for a wall-mounted bedside shelf – it… View Post