Do it yourself! It's cheaper

I painted the rest of the kitchen yesterday and was pleased to have this completed, it didn't take that long as a lot of it was tiled and I spray painted them the day before. It took three coats to cover the existing dark colour red, I had the radio on and I really don't mind painting and always do our own but it got me thinking how much would it have cost if we had to get someone in to do it?

The room is a lot brighter in pale blue.

I had a quick look around online to get some ideas and found these prices here, £200 just to paint a small room, I don't understand why any one would pay that, but my next thought was maybe I should do that!  I'm sure there are plenty of ladies who would rather have a female come and paint their house instead of some strange man ( not that male decorators are strange, but you know what I mean from a safety point of view.)
Then again I would probably not enjoy the process any longer if I had to do it day after day.
I think the ideal way of working for me would be to do a collection of things, some alterations one day, dog walking service, a bit of decorating and any other random thing that would bring in a bit of money and mean that I was my own boss.
I really like the idea of not having to answer to anyone else, tricky customers could be a problem I suppose but you could always move on from that. If anyone has that way of working it would be good to hear from you and how you make a go of it.
That said though I would like to encourage anyone thinking of hiring a decorator to paint your room not to! Just have a go yourself, I had not decorated before when we bought our first house 20 years ago but you soon get the hang of it. The good thing about paint is, it washes off, you can go over it and even if you do make mistakes they will be quite easy to fix and still cheaper than hiring some one else.
 Wall papering also just needs a bit of practice, buy cheap paper the first time and try it out in spare room or just one wall, again if it goes wrong it comes off easy enough but don't be put off, plus a few bubbles are normal when it is damp and will go when it is dry, loads of big bubbles and you might need to do that bit again!
I  have a bit more organising to do now in the rest of the house, for some reason when we all at work and school things get shoved in cupboards and drawers just out of the way but now they are full of clutter.  I wonder how it happens so quickly?  When you move house you tend to have a big clear out and think you will never accumulate so much random nonsense again but then you do!
Of course it is harder when you a have a family  as you are battling their stuff every where as well, I'm thinking of having designated boxes in a cupboard in each shared room so that if stuff is left on sides I'm just going to scoop it into there and then into the cupboard (once the cupboards are clear of course!). Then I will take the box out once a week and say get everything out of here that is yours and either put it away properly or it goes in the bin.
I am hoping this will work or at least stop us plonking things down on the work tops or coffee tables. That is what seems to be a problem, you think I will clear an area but then all the stuff belongs to different people and you don't want to be wandering around the house doing it for them all the time.  I hope the box system solves this.
One last thing I need to do is try and get us removed from some mailing lists or all of them! I spend too much time picking up mail from the floor in the hall, tearing it up and walking to the recycling bin!

Kitchen Tiles Upcycle

I have been having a lovely time being off work but yesterday decided it was time to get on with some of the jobs I have around the place which need doing.  I posted a while ago about changing the handles on my kitchen cupboards, well another thing that has bothered me for a while is the colour and pattern of the kitchen tiles.  When we have moved into a house in the past I have changed as much as I can almost immediately, when we moved here 6 years ago everything had been freshly done so while we did put our stamp on it, it would have been foolish and wasteful to change everything.  I have lived with the tiles which wouldn't have been my choice but now it was time for a change.
 I thought about re-tiling but that would create mess and a lot of expense.  The main thing I don't like is the beige colour so I looked at tile paint, now I have done this before with an undercoat and top coat at the old house but to be honest I didn't think the finish was that good up close.   We had a look when we were out at the weekend and found this...

You don't need to undercoat first just give your tiles a really good clean with bleach to remove any dirt or grease.  I have to say if you are going to use this cover everything including your mouth, have every window and door open!  It is really high in fumes and I had to keep doing a bit then going to the back door to breath.

I covered everything with newspaper and masking tape and still found a coating of the dust on the floor behind me nowhere near where I was spraying, so like I said cover your mouth. 

 I also had the annoying matter of running out halfway through, I bought two cans which my husband said would be enough, wrong! It took three so I had to pop out for more, I was glad of the breather though.

This is the before picture, the border tile all the way along is beige that doesn't show clearly in this image. 

Despite the fumes I am really happy with the way they turned out.

I think it has transformed the look and the room looks much brighter, it is not a very quick job as you have to spray it on evenly in a fine mist then re-coat at 15 minute intervals, if you try and get complete coverage all at once you will get runs in it.  I found this out the hard way and had to wipe it quick, and I mean quick as it dries fast.  The coverage is much better than the old paint it on method as you can get right up to it and it is completely smooth.

Today I will paint the remaining untiled walls in the kitchen pale blue, they are a dark red at the moment, I did this room a few years ago and they are ready for a freshen up now.

I had a nice surprise brought home for me yesterday, someone at my husbands work was selling her set of Game of Thrones books so my husband bought them for me at £5 for all of them! I have been watching the show but thought I would like to read the books as they often miss out things in the adaptations for the screen. 

They should keep me busy for a while!

I am also reading another book which is actually about not worrying about stuff, now I have to say I don't really worry that much, (I suppose we all do sometimes) but it was recommended and I have read some of his other books so I thought I would give it a try.

A lot of it is common sense, the things we worry about often don't ever happen, or worrying about them will not make them not happen so what is the point.  Also giving thanks for what you have, there is always someone worse off. 

 The most relevant points I found were about keeping busy and helping someone else, they key thing being don't allow yourself to sit and wallow about things go and do something and really throw yourself into it, that way you will be too pre occupied to think about worries.  Also find some way to help someone else as people who help others are not so inward looking as to be concerned with their own troubles all the time.

Some of the writing is a little dated but the message is good, anyone who has a problem with this ought to take a look.

Children do not need you to spend a fortune!

I have heard again today via the media that apparently parents are spending on average £80 per child per week to keep them entertained during the holidays! What! Who are these people and how come they have so much money to waste in times of so called austerity?
I certainly do not spend that and I don't know of any parents that can afford it, I think the figures may be skewed a bit here, are they factoring in childcare? Actual holiday costs for travel etc.? I think this must be the case as who can afford to spend that amount consistently for six weeks on entertainment alone without ruining the family finances.
The weather this summer in England has been fantastic so far as well so there really is no need for so much excess.  Monday I met up with friends at Endcliffe Park we all took food for a picnic, four adults and five children from five to fifteen, they all got on great.

Its a big park so they kept going off to the play area or kicking the ball around then coming back to us for a rest, we had a whole afternoon there, the only cost being an ice cream for the children.
This park is not our local but we chose it for a change,everyone has a range of parks in their city they can choose from and they are free!  I don't get why people feel that children can only enjoy the day if they have been taken to a costly holiday event.
Yesterday my two went to the local park in the afternoon for a bit, did some drawing, played computer games, we walked the dogs etc. (every day doesn't have to be planned out for them)  Today we have picked up one of their friends in the afternoon he is sleeping here and then we are going to the pool 'dip for a quid' all of us in the morning.  So it will be Thursday tomorrow, everyone is happy,  no one is bored and I have not come anywhere close to spending that ridiculous figure above.
I have a clubcard voucher for £8.50 which is worth more in rewards so that will be going on  cinema tickets for us.  We will wait for a rainy day for that one, I would not be going if not for that as the cinema is so expensive now for a family, you are looking at over £20 usually just for tickets so we usually just wait until they are on DVD.  Movies for juniors in the mornings are cheap but my oldest is too big for many of those films now.

 On a wet day you could let the kids invite friends round, rent a film from the library and buy pop corn and drinks, much cheaper than a day out at the cinema and having their friends there will make it feel like more of an event. (Just a thought, you may spend a fiver tops)
There are lots of things you can do that don't cost a lot or are completely free, libraries and museums always have events, as do parks, there is grass sledging near us this weekend plus football coaching all free.  I think sometimes people think activities are only worthy if they are costing money and some might shy away from the free stuff or less obvious choices, don't! Keep your money for more pressing emergencies or the actual family holiday or day trip if you are having one, but I don't think children should expect this every day of the week and if they do what are we teaching them? That you can only be happy if you can afford it. Bad message that one.