Rental Home Makeover

Here's a pic of the home when we bought in 2007.  

Here it is after Glen got his hands on it for a week or so late last year.

This is the totally fugalicious kitchen... excuse me while I find a paper bag...

And the after... have I mentioned I'm an advocate of de-cluttering?  We also ripped out the vinyl tiles, polished the floors, and put in a new el cheapo backsplash.  Removing the vinyl tiles was pretty cheap... the only costs were some glue remover and a scraper.  I used an old iron to heat the tiles... you actually literally just iron them... and then within moments they lift right off.  Don't wear your good clothes for this... you'll end up with glue on everything.

OK... An ugly before photo makes for an awesome after photo.  This is the living area before. Notice the crutch in the background.  I think the real estate agent who took the photos must've just given up on the idea of  removing 'personal items' prior to getting photos of this tenanted home.  Gee.... a few minutes of effort could've really improved it.

 Here's the photo after Glen polished the floors, painted and I put up some new blockout curtains. It's not a Vogue cover... but a big improvement.

 OK... here are those disgusting vinyl floor tiles.  I actually began by chipping them up painstakingly with a hammer and chisel.  Some of them came up without much trouble, but then it was like chipping stone.  That's when I decided to try again with my iron.  Like I mentioned... this was RIDICULOUSLY easy and I was kicking myself for trying it any other way.

   Here's the dining area from a different angle.  Goodbye disgusting vinyl!!

 OK.... here we have a before of the rear deck.  How many ways can I say... GROSS.

We would've loved to sand and stain this... but that was quickly kaiboshed... Glen just painted over EVERYTHING with a Colourbond Blue.  Easy... and a vast improvement.

So there you have it.... Glen took this cheap rental home from disgusting to lovely in just a week or so.  Yay for awesome hubbies.  

Bathroom & Loo Makeover

Back in 2007 Glen and I were hunting for a bargain first home for Glens sister and her partner. We ended up getting a little over excited, and dec ided to buy one for ourselves.  Well... you'lll see from the photos I'll show you... it was pretty fugarific.  Here are a couple of pictures of what it looked like before Glen took a week off to retile the toilet and bathroom.  Considering he had never done this before, I have to say I was way impressed.

 
Ugly cracking tiles with grey (What the?)  grout lines.  Soooo groossss.

  

Oh my... what can I say?  

Here's a photo after it's all been tiled.  We put in a new vanity we picked up from an auction place.  The mirror was a $10 score on ebay.  I actually think that's the going price for second hand builders grade mirrors... so don;t go paying more!  OK??

We kept all the existing stuff like tub, shower basin etc.  (As you can see we rent it through Harcourts Daisy Hill... that's where I work :  )

OK...    and this is a little prettier.  A new toilet was needed here.   Yeah... I can hear you asking "Why did we advertise the loo?"  I was a little excited at our makeover... I made 'em do it. Heeheee. 

Glen took a few days to do all of this... and he didn't get any help from me... other than scooting out to the middle of nowhere to collect tiles from some obscure company... they were cheeeeeaaaaap.  I did remove all of the vinyl tiles in the kitchen though, and scrape up a disgusting quantity of glue..... yeeuckkk!  A post for another day.

We ended up renting it our to the first people who saw it, for around $50 a week more than the previous tenants were paying.  YAYEEE!   

Drop Cloth & Velvet Cushions

Here are a couple of things I made a week or so ago now.  They are my very first attempt at making stuff myself, so please don't laugh.    I used drop cloth... which I've recently discovered in Blogland.... and the black is fabric from a velvet skirt which I bought for the fabric for a few bucks.  The rosettes I made using a method I found in a video, after seeing lots of these on the net.  I'll look for it and add the link soon.  Lastly, I'm turning a little bit 'old lady'.... or at least that's what my hubby says.  Apparently making 'fabric tissue box holders' isn't up there in the 'turn on' department for him.. Oh well.... I like it for now... and it was fun to make .

 Glen thinks this rosette looks like I stole a hair band from a schoolgirl and plonked it on the pillow.  Oh well... I love it.

 This is another pillow which I gave to my boss, all wrapped up in natural twine, paper and ribbon, for her birthday.  I hope she liked it.  It was a drop cloth cushion with three drop cloth rosettes, and was actually my favourite cushion that I made.

 Yes.... it's a tad daggy.... don't hate.  It's better than looking at an ugly tissue box.

Moccona Jar Makeover

Here is a project I've just started.  I've been working on my Moccona Jar collection for some time now, and decided it was time to make me some cute labels.  I scoured the internet, and eventually discovered an awesome blog called TheGraphicsFairy run by a lady named Karen.  I chose a Vintage inspired label, saved the image, and then whacked it into 'Paint", added a text box, and then made a stack of labels using "Kunstler Script".  Once I printed them and cut them out, I decided to age them by soaking them in black tea.  Then I just let 'em dry, and pasted them onto my jars using Craft Glue.  Yay.  I'll probably be sick of them in a few months... but for now I'm in lurrrv.

xxx

I think these look super cute.

   

Can you see my cute little metal egg holder? I think it is really meant to make Poffertjes.  I scored it a a thrift store for a dollar or so.  I'm pretty sure it's best to keep eggs in their cardboard containers, as this supposedly  prevents them from drying out and absorbing odours.... but I like this look.

See my "Muesli".  It's Atkins Advantage Muesli... Yummerillo.  Very low carb, very filling... and very pricey.

Dany

Long Time No See

OK... so .... umm... I haven't used this blog for God knows how long.  But thanks to a recent addiction I've formed to thrifty decorating blogs from some of theeee most AMAZING women (mostly from the USA)... I am now deeply excited about thrift shopping, decorating and making do on a dime.  Hopefully I can get some cool projects on here, and ONE DAY have an awesome blog too.