Don't you just love them!!! Well since I am renting, I didnt want the hassle of making the wall a chalk board directly, so I decided to turn a ply wood sheet lying around my house that is a great size into a chalk board...

To do so, I mixed acrylic paint( black) with baking soda- 

No measurements, just eyeballed it and made sure to mix the baking soda properly with the paint; then I painted it on the wood board( got recipe from google, where else? :)

Turned out very well and I cant wait to hang it on the wall I made it for and put cheeky messages on it...well that's all for now...it was quite therapeutic getting this done....if you like stuff like this then get ready for more updates as I refurbish the store completely!!!

Xxx,

Dabs

NEW POST-ACCENT DINNING WALL.

Hiya, I'm back on this page to update another home improvement feature I made at our home. Its the ACCENT WALL we have at the dinning section.

 Well first I have to share the inspiration for that wall;




I saw the above picture before we moved and I just loved how bold and different that wall with the shelves and plates was, so when we moved and had a open plan living room that flowed into the dinning area, I thought a wall like that will be great to demarcate the sections...so without much ado, the dinning area section of our home went from;




TO;





CLOSER LOOK;







So basically what I did was get the carpenter that made my pantry shelves to smooth out the left over wood to the best of his ability, then seal  and stain it with wood sealant to prevent chipping, then I painted it this copper color from the Martha Stewart living metallic glaze collection;

Love these because they are so easy to carry around and a little goes a long way... all I did was simply use a paint brush across it, three coats later, the paint has a grainy copper color that glitters under the light(the camera didn't pick that up).

To hold the wood planks, I thought outside of the box and used these decorative curtain holders;
Simply hot glued them to the wall and glued the planks on top of them. On the top of the shelves, I hung an old painting I got from Park n Shop in 2011 of a bowl of rice, chopsticks and a flower vase(how apt), then adorned the shelves with decorative ornaments, candles and pictures.

With that, my accent wall is complete...what I like about the wall is that I can switch things up whenever I want, I can create a theme during holidays and just keep that wall fresh. So you see, an accent wall doesn't have to be a different color, you can just decide to do it this way and leave the paint the same.

So here's an up and down comparison for ya;
 I think I did pretty good! Now all I need is a chandelier to complete the area :)

ANYONE HAVE IDEAS FOR AN ACCENT WALL BESIDES CHANGING THE COLOR?
FEEL FREE TO SPILL.


Xxx
Dabs



NEW POST- MY EXTERIOR DECOR(BACK YARD REDO)

Hiya,
Its been AGES since I updated this page and I have been meaning to since I made changes to my back yard but time oh time!!!


Without further ado let me share the before, the during and the after (for now)

THE BEFORE;


This massive bush was what we met when we first viewed the house and unlike some people that will shy away from this, I instantly fell in love because I saw the potential of turning it to a garden for the kids to play around in plus there'd be space to throw parties etc.

Once we moved and had settled, I got to work. First we cleared all the grass away (thankfully there were no snakes hiding in there, I was so scared we'll find one!) Then I decided to cordon off an area where I would lay fake carpet grass so the kids could safely play around in there...I wanted to use the grass on the entire area but that was going to cost an arm and a leg!lol


We used good ole interlock stones bought from brick layers...just laid them firmly on the ground

Then I added these solar garden lights around the tree and at the corners (they light up when its dark, really pretty). These are from America but I saw some at Game...

Next, we had to sprinkle salt all around the backyard to stop the weeds and unwanted grass from growing...it has worked so far, the weeds crop up now and then but not to the extent they did before.

Then I decided to pour some gravel on the entrance area...we pour a lot of water around that area and the gravel is a great way to absorb the water and keep the ground looking neat.



I put up my Mum's Garden sign and other cute signs I got from a store in America called Garden Ridge for those that care to know :)

When we were done, the back yard looked like this,





The After;

My son's dedication day.

Let's have a quick comparison shall we;

I still have a few plans for the back. I want to carve out a section at the back to grow stuff like water leaf, Ugwu, corn, Aloe Vera etc. Then I'd like the rest of the garden to be covered with the natural carpet grass that was meant to be growing there(you can see I preserved the grass in the picture. Then of course, I need to get one of those pools so we can all play in the water (White Picket fence dreams- LOL)

That's all for this post, thanks for reading!!

P.S Any suggestions on what I should grow in the Garden? Please share :)

Xxx
Dabs




IT'S TIME TO RE-PURPOSE!!



 I simply cut the shelf liner after measuring it to fit the area I wanted covered;