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How to paint a panelled door like a pro

Painted door before and after

 

The doors in my house are crap. I mean, they’re perfectly fine structurally, mostly solid wood, but they’re all different shades of wood, each with a different cheap handle than the next.

 

I’ve recently started making my way around the house painting each and every one so I like to think of myself as a bit of an expert at this stage. I’ve picked up a few hints and tips along the way that should save you a lot of time and effort should you need to give some old doors a new lease of life.

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How to clean brass with homemade cleaner

Brass knobs before and after cleaning

 

I recently got the ultimate bargain on eBay: someone who was doing a house clearance sold 6 pairs of old brass doorknobs. I bought them for £30. Pretty great considering you can normally expect to pay about £20 for a pair. The only slight problem was they were old, stained and had paint on them. Luckily, I found an easy way of cleaning them up to make them look shiny and new again. Read on to find out how easy it is to clean dirty brass using things you probably already have at home.

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How to upcycle an old dressing table

Painted dressing table before and after

 

One of my favourite things about doing up the house is giving an old unloved piece of furniture a bit of TLC and rendering it unrecognisable. My dressing table came from a local seller on eBay. I bought it for £10. It was good and sturdy but nothing special to look at: just plain pine with pine knobs. Over the course of an afternoon I upcycled it to make it bright and pretty. Here’s how…

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How to revamp your front door on a budget

Front Door before and after

Your front door is pretty much the first impression somebody has of your house. When I first moved in, my front door wasn’t exactly making the impression I wanted. It was ugly wood, had random dirt and paint splatters and mismatching attachments. I decided that I needed a new door and asked a well known company around to quote me up. After getting a quote of almost £2,500, I quickly decided that I didn’t really need a new front door!

I then decided that all my front door needed was a facelift. I bought outdoor wood paint and attachments and set to work. Read the steps I took below.

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How to Fit a Laminate Floor

Laminate floor before and after

 

I think when doing up a house, or indeed taking on any big project, it’s easy to assume you can’t do something just because you haven’t done it before or have no experience in doing it. These jobs are normally the ones that you pay over the odds for somebody else to do for you, meanwhile getting no satisfaction from doing it yourself and remaining completely unaware that you could have done it.

I’ve always been overly stubborn and convinced that I can do anything I set my mind to. This is how I ended up fitting a laminate floor for the first time all by myself a few weeks ago. It’s turned out to be one of my favourite jobs I’ve taken on in the house so far.

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How to Turn an Alcove into a Shoe Wardrobe

Alcove show wardrobe before and after

 

If you have an alcove in your bedroom, why not turn it into a makeshift shoe wardrobe/shoe storage space? My bedroom has a small alcove that was going to waste. It was hidden away in the corner and was too small to fit any of my furniture so I decided to turn it into a much needed shoe wardrobe. It was surprisingly cheap and easy to set up and is perfect for keeping my shoes organised so that when I’m rushing in the morning, I can find exactly what I’m looking for.

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How to Revamp an Old Dresser

Upcycled dresser before and after

As well as being a great way of giving old furniture a new lease of life, painting furniture is also a great way to put your own stamp on a rented property (once you own the furniture that is!)

I bought a dresser for my dining room on eBay a couple of years ago and had a go at doing it up at the time. I didn’t do a great job of it and recently decided it was  about time I finally gave it the facelift it so badly needed.

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How to Frost Windows

Before and after frosting windows
As my bedroom faces out onto the street and directly overlooks my neighbours’ houses, one of my first priorities was frosting my bedroom window. There are a few different ways that you can do this but I chose to use window frosting in a can.

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