D.I.Y for the win....

In the recent few weeks I found myself sitting in my room at home and looking at the boring bleak walls; something had to be done I decided. Boring white walls and pre-fabricated 1970’s furniture, just doesn’t cut it anymore in today’s high paced society. A revamp was definitely needed. So armed with my credit card I headed down to the nearest D.I.Y shop to blow this month’s wages on an assortment of paints, scrapers and brushes.

Having decided on a Mediterranean-terracotta style colour scheme I duly grabbed some paints and dustsheets and started attacking the walls with ferocity. Several days later and slightly intoxicated from the paint fumes my room was complete. Cup of tea in one hand and cigarette in the other, I sat back and observed my triumphant D.I.Y blitz. However, something was amiss. The white skirting boards didn’t tie in, the blue carpet was a complete no-no and my furniture was definitely 40 years out of date.

As always with D.I.Y one venture often uncovers a new problem that needs to be rectified. With the help of a builder friend of mine I ripped out the skirting, bought some new ones and spent a few days applying a dark varnish to give it that dark wood African feel. As poker players say I was totally pot-committed now, so I ripped up the carpet to reveal the floorboards. A day of arduous sanding was followed by another day of strenuous varnishing and polishing.

Sensing completion I decided to go the whole hog. My sofa was decaying and presumed dead, so being the cheapskate that I am I headed down to the local tip to see if they had any reasonably healthy ones on offer. My luck was in and I managed to pick up a nice 2 settee for £40. A couple of yellow throws later and the sofa looked good as new. I thought about looking for beds but in the end I realised that mine was fairly new and already suited the dark wood interior; all that was really needed was a few new sheets and covers to match the colour scheme.

All in all I spent a lot more than I intended too, but I managed to get the result I was looking for in the end. A few finishing touches including some African masks, new curtains and a tasteful vase of flowers completed the job.