Professional renovators and past The Block NZ winners Alice and Caleb Pearson share their five favourite DIY jobs for adding value and transforming spaces
1 Do your own wallpapering
For a while wallpapering seemed almost a lost art. But with advances in digital printing making any design possible, modern wallpapers now come in an almost infinite range of styles and can make a massive impact in your space. We have become big wallpaper fans and regularly use it in our renovations as it adds warmth, pattern and texture – something paint can’t do.
‘Paste the wall’ wallpaper makes applying and removing wallpaper a far simpler process than it used to be. You don’t need a professional to install wallpaper and you only need a handful of simple tools such as a smoother and a plumb line. This DIY task takes time, patience and planning – if you have those, you can wallpaper. You don’t need a flawless surface as you do with paint, which saves the cost of skim coating.
Use a pigmented sealer before you apply wallpaper, to keep any stains or colours from bleeding/showing through. Next, apply size (a wallpaper primer) to the wall and leave for 24 hours to fully cure. When you’re ready to hang, start with a plumb line to make sure the wallpaper will be straight. Apply one drop of wallpaper at a time, abutting the first one to the plumb line; if there is a pattern, take your time to make sure it lines up from one drop to the next. At the end, use a metal ruler and a sharp knife to trim the edges.
2 Tile your own splashbacks
Esta historia es de la edición September 2019 de Your Home and Garden.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición September 2019 de Your Home and Garden.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
FAMILY TREES
Creating a child-friendly backyard was a priority for an Auckland couple
Go with the flow
Flow Studio’s Staci Coble shapes her clay using the gentle currents of the ocean as her muse
Magic of mushrooms
Follow gardening editor Mary Lovell-Smith’s fun guide and conjure up your own edible delights
The flip SIDE
Real estate agents might say it’s all about the location, but how do you know when you’ve found the right house to do up?
MOVING ON
Leaving a tiny apartment in Auckland for a big house in Blenheim came with so many blessings
How to beat the MID-AFTERNOON SLUMP
It’s 3pm and you can’t stop yawning or concentrate on the job at hand. If this scenario sounds familiar consider these fatigue fighters
Gardening for all budgets
Whether you have $10, $100, $1000 or more to spend on your garden, consider this cash-savvy advice
The constant gardener
Winter is a dormant time for plants, so snuggle down and enjoy some gardening inspo while planning for spring
CURTAIN CALL
Dress your windows to impress with the latest trends in curtains and blinds
LIVING THE FAIRY TALE
An abandoned cottage in Dunedin was this family’s dream come true