New handles on a dime
New handles, new look.
You can find handles anywhere. At a garage sale, at your local hardware ormY favorite, on eBay. Remember what you see doesn’t have to be what you finih with. Want black handles and found the perfect shape? Buy some spray paint, put some newspaper on the found outside and go for gold, or well, black in this example.
We got our new handles from bunnings. For about $8 a pair our new stainless steel-look-handles were set to add some contemper-ism to our now only partially outdated kitchen.
I personally couldn’t see the point in Paying top dollar for real stainless steel when I could get all of the stainless-steel-look-a-like handles I needed (13 in total) for the same price as what 1 pair pair would have cost me. The only telling difference between the plastic and the stainless steel is the lacking of that coldness you get when you touch steel. So unless you are a total stickler for the real thing then why not save yourself a dollar or two.
New holes in your cupboard or drawer are needed so it is important to measure your holes, preferably with a spirit level (see post on spirit levels) and a measuring tape. Once you have your two holes for each handle marked you will also need to drill a pilot hole.
This is much easier than it sounds. You are simply drilling a hole first before you drill in with your screws.
Now that’s done; Method:
1.Open your drawer
2.press the handle up against the outside of the drawer, lined up with the pilot hole
3. Place your screw on the end of your drill (that part is called a drill bit) the magnetic pull of your drill bit should lightly hold onto your screw.
4. Line your drill with the screw on it up with the inside of the drawer
5. Slowly start to drill the screw through the pilot hole into your handle
-You should now have one half of your handle attached to the cupboard!-
6. Repeat the same for the other screw hole and viola! You should now have one handle attached.
Inside of a cupboard after drilling both ends of handle in:
Finished product
Sunshine on Wintery days
Ahhhh bright yellow. Canary yellow, sunshine yellow and just plain yellow. It brightens up a room without being overbearing and really is delightful. Colour in inescapable. It is all around us at all times. Go on, look away from the screen and look around yourself. Colour is everything. So slip some mellow-yellow in your room and give yourself something bright and cheery to come home to.
Ready for Summer? Brighten up your home with a summery hue!
Yellow is a stimulating colour however. So in other words, keep it to a minimum!
How much is too much? Do you paint your walls or administer a peek-a-boo approach?
Yellow is the most difficult colour for the eye to take in creating a very fine balance between just enough and too much.
Even Josh & Jenna got in on the Yellow act on The Block ( http://www.ninemsn.com/theblock ) .
Personally I think bright yellow is best kept to those items that are easily changable.
Want to add just a bit of this great colour to your home?
Lamps, Lampshades, Mirrors and artwork. Easy, non-committal ways of adding this pep up.
Still want more inspiration? Head over to: http://yellow-paint.com for all things yellow!!
To update-new Cupboards for less
One of the quickest and cheapest ways to update a house even if you don’t have much home handyman skill is painting!
Buhbye Mint green, buhbye blue suede and CERTAINLY bidding adieu to the apricot cabinetry.
What to do when you are itching to renovate but have a brand new mortgage and not a huge amount of $ to spend? PAINT.
Painting over laminated cupboards is simple-> Just use a paint primer specifically meant for laminate surfaces, allow it to dry and paint with your desired colour.
You will need:
1Litre will do approximately 12sq. metres. We purchased 3 litres for about $50 from Bunnings. This was intended for our entire Kitchen cabinetry, the 1 tile high splash back (about 15 tiles in total) and the two cupboard doors in the bathroom vanity.
Painters Blue Scotch tape. Don’t skimp on your tape! Yes it is definitely more expensive than your regular 99c masking tape. However, THIS tape will minimize paint leakage which is worth spending less than you would on a cup of coffee on this stuff. Trust me, just buy it. approx. $3 per roll.
Paint Brush (duh) and a tray. The paint brush part is easy. you will spend around $5-$15 on one of these depending on what size you get. It does make things a little easier if you buy a nice little skinny one for all of those corners and a bigger, wider one for just getting the paint on the wall!!
The trays you will generally find in most hardwares with a roller included. Your cheap ones are easy because they can just be thrown out after each paint colour change. However, the rollers have the same throw-out quality. $3-$5 per set. The more quality trays will of course cost you more but the rollers won’t drive you (as) crazy. Make your own decision.
Annnddd last but not least: Paint. We went with White but the decision of course is up to you. A quick note on white however, white makes things bigger and goes with everything.
GET STARTED!
Step 1. Firstly all of the plastic 45degree handles were removed, and the nail holes were filled in (also known as ‘bogged up’ I will post a step by step for this later)
- Now, the directions do state to thoroughly clean surfaces and sand them a bit to roughen. I did clean but did not sand. Simply painted.
Step 2. Blue tape all of the benches where the tiles were butting up against the bench top. Lay the entire floor with old towels and/or newspaper.Open your primer paint, stir it and pour into your paint tray.
Step 3. PAINT YOUR CUPBOARDS and your tiles too. The best part of the job at the very beginning. Like all painting you will start to dispise it halfway through and then you will fall in love again once you finish.
Step 4. Now, walk away. Wash out your brushes and tray. Shower, change and go out for lunch
- We waited for the bare minimum of 1 hour for the primer to dry (Please note:Follow the directions properly, which I believe said to wait 24 hours. But I do struggle to follow some directions)
Step 5. Once you get back from lunch, or quite possibly a trip to Bunnings, Ikea or any other local furniture store as you are by now quite possibly ready to take on the interior designing world go and check on your painting.
As stated above please follow the directions and if it says wait 24 hours then do so.
Step 6. Repeat your towel and paper laying process from Step 2. Open your painting paint, or otherwise known as top coat. Stir, pour into your tray and once again paint.
Step 7. Clean up after yourself now, not later as later is a bit hard to motivate. Once your paint has been drying for an hour or so it should be ready for you to start peeling off your blue tape. Allow everything to dry properly and tomorrow I shall post about adding on your new/previous handles.
But in the mean time TAA DAAA new cupboards!
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