One Girl and A Hammer

Thanks for stopping by again. I hope you have had a great week.

I haven’t been as busy this week, but have been seeing a lot more of my friends lately which is always nice. We are 11 days away from the New Year. It has been a wonderful year for me, God has been so faithful. I haven’t set any resolutions for next year, but have a list goals that I will achieve. I have 16 so far, and I’m sure there will be more added along the way. For some insight into my goals, one of them is staying up all night and watching the sunrise.

Enough about my goals. I took a pallet crate, dismantled it with a hammer; and recycled the wood for a breakfast bar. As you can image thousands of pallet crates go to waste, ending up in skips and landfills. The Waste & Resources Action Programme reported in 2010 4.3 million tonnes of timber were wasted. Can you imagine how much wood that is and the number of things that could have been made? Its saddening how much we waste.

The story of how I got this palette crate is bit shameful, but I got what I was looking for the end. On my drive to work, I always take the route down Northumberland road, if you’ve ever been down Northumberland road it is beautiful; think big grand houses. So one of the houses are having work done and I had spotted a palette crate for a few days but was rather embarrassed to pull up and take it. One morning courage struck me and I parked trying to fit the crate into my baby sized car, but the crate was too large. I then spotted builders working at the house next door and they had crates scattered all over the drive. I started walking over but was hesitant, looked in and then walked back. I then turned around, peering into the drive and when I was spotted I asked for one of the crates. I’m sure they must have thought I was crazy. They said ‘yeah, but it’s heavy.’ That was fine by me. I hobbled back to my car with the crate hoisted against my waist. As you can imagine they watched me go all the way back to my car to try and fit this life-size crate of nearly my height back into my baby car. Thank God it fit otherwise I would have been too embarrassed to take it back.

I thought it was going to be an easy process to work with this crate and that I could just dismantle it simply. When I went on Youtube people were recommending all these fancy tools to dismantle the crate. 1. I didn’t want to buy a tool that I would never use again and 2. We’re working on a budget here. In the end, I took my strength, my foot, a hammer and dismantle the crate by force.

I then chose 3 planks of wood with the most detailed veneering, sanded them by hand to take away the splinters and rounded the corners. Cut shorter planks to the three main slates together. I reused the nails that I took out hen dismantling the crate. I stained the wood with balsamic vinegar. For the first coat, I mixed the vinegar with water, but then decided against it for future coats; and just applied it directly to the wood. I couldn’t tell you how many coats I did, but when I got to a good shade of brown I sponged red watercolour paint onto the wood. I left it to dry for a day or two then oiled the wood down.

I haven’t assembled the wood onto the wall as yet but thought I would give you a visual of what it would look like. I’m nearly done with my kitchen now. I just have to change the taps and the lighting. It won’t be ready by the end of December like I had planned, but some progress is better than none.

Join me next time when I’ll reveal the Surprise DIY artwork. Have a great weekend!

Nik-Cre – ‘Making life-less rooms into living rooms.’

Fresh Coated Mid Century Stools

Welcome back. I hope you’re all wrapped up warm, and cosy at home. This morning I woke up to frost, and mist at -1. The fields and meadows had an extra ambience of stillness with the settling of delicate ice, on my drive to work today. Anyway, enough about the weather…

I’ve been working on these beautiful Mid Century stools which you previously saw in Kitchen Ideas. I bought these Cast Iron Rattan Stools on Facebook MarketPlace for £60. The legs were previously coated in white paint, which were quite scuffed from daily use. The Rattan seats were in pretty good condition but rather dusty and cob wedded.

It didn’t take much to bring these beauties back to a good standard. I started by dismantling everything. To take the seats of the iron legs, I removed the bolts from under the seat. The good thing about these frames is that you could potentially interchange seats if you didn’t like them or vice versa in terms of seats to frame. As the seats where dusty, I washed them down under the shower and scrubbed them with a toothbrush to get through the small cracks and curves. I didn’t use a scrubbing brush as I didn’t want something too rough that would cause damage. I then left these to dry for a week.

The frames were sanded by hand to remove the white paint. I used turpentine to remove any excess dust after sanding and to ensure the surface was clean. I mixed a tester tub of Grey paint with Silver tile paint to pretty these legs up, it took around 6 coats to create an even finish. Once dry, I assembled everything again.

My only dilemma now is which wall to build the Breakfast Bar on? Below is a birds-eye view of the kitchen please excuse the scales, I am not a technical drawer. The wiggly lines represent where the Breakfast bar could be mounted. Either along the Pantry wall or between the door and cupboard space. Both have pros and cons. For the pantry wall, it would be quite snug fitting both bar stools in that space. With the other, one person could sit comfortably but the other’s legs might get a little squashed against the radiator (don’t worry I’m not going to try to burn anyone.) I guess they could sit back a little. I’ll let you guys help me decide, Pantry wall or above the radiator? I look forward to seeing your comments.

Thanks for stopping by today, next time I’ll be making ‘Jute Plant Hangers.’See you next time, and have a great week!

Nik-Cre – ‘Making life-less rooms into living rooms.’

Dyeing Light Shade

Hey, how are you doing? Thanks for stopping by again.

I have to apologise, I haven’t posted in a few weeks as I travelled to Africa. I was intending to publish this post before I left but wasn’t able to fit everything in before flying out. I’m back now after a wonderful trip. It’s so amazing how each country has it’s own personality, in terms of culture, climate, landscape and more. I was really moved by my visit to Ghana, and hope to travel there again in the coming year.

So, this week we have Dyeing Light Shades. Dyeing these Light Shades has been a painful process. I have been doing so for several weeks now, let’s say it took longer than expected.

I saw a post on Pinterest about dying wood with Tea bags, so I decided to try it out with a few extra ingredients. As you know, Wood already has a natural beige tone to it. My experience was unlike school days when you stain paper with tea bags, a few dabs here and there; job done. No…it took around 6+ coats to bring this to the desired shade.

What ingredients did I use? Well, these changed throughout the course of dyeing. I made the 3 batches of dye with 2 teabags, hot water, soy sauce, and malt vinegar. By the fourth batch, I varied it slightly by adding red, yellow and brown watercolour paint to the mixture to get a stronger solid colour. This is not to say that the dye wasn’t brown, it was a rich colour, but the water was still rather translucent. When I added paint it thickened the mixture. I wasn’t looking for a dark brown colour but a nice Tawny shade of Brown. Here is the end product, with a more tanned look.

On another note, I had a workman come and assess my kitchen to change the lighting. I’m not going to be able to have the two pendant lights as you saw in my Pins, due to access issue of checking the wiring from the floor above. This is my fault as I put down flooring in my bedroom so we can’t lift the floorboards to alter the wiring. I’ve been advised to do some research in terms of different types of lighting, that will still incorporate the kitchen lights in a different form.

I’ll be putting a combination of these idea’s together with wood, spotlights, and pendant lights when I draw out my design. The images can be viewed better at my Pinterest.

If you’ve tried dying wood or anything else with household items let me know how it went. I’ll see you next time with ‘Fresh Coated Mid Century Stools.’

Nik-Cre – ‘Making life-less rooms into living rooms.’

Watercolour Baby

Hey, welcome back to Nik-Cre. I hope you’ve had a great week so far…

This weeks project isn’t for my home, but instead for my friend’s. I promised a gentler theme this time around, and I think I have delivered.

‘It’s their first child, I want to give them something meaningful.‘ My beautiful married friends, Francis and Luisa were pregnant and I didn’t want to buy them the typical things. I wanted something that would remain a memory forever and not get thrown away.

I’ve known Luisa since Secondary school. She is one of my dearest friends. Whenever I was in one of my states crying in the school toilets, she was always there to ask if I was ok. We went on our first holiday together, without parents; cycling the streets of Palma. I watched her fall in love and marry her sweetheart Francis. I’m so proud of her. She is confident and brave, unafraid and unashamed to speak her mind. She is a wonderful Mother to her baby girl and a beautiful Wife to her husband.

Initially, I wanted to paint something similar to the gifts you see on Etsy. My colleague came across it when buying gifts for her expectant sister. I thought it was great but, it wasn’t personal enough. I checked out Luisa’s Facebook to see if I could get ideas. She had posted a picture of her scan, and also of her baby bump at third trimester. I decided I would paint a colour version of the scan, with her baby bump. My medium was watercolours, painted quite thickly.

I started with a basic sketch and began painting the baby as I wanted to start with lighter colours. Then followed by the darker tones.

When I gave Luisa and Francis this painting, I have to say I was rather nervous. I had mainly positive reviews from friends and colleagues saying that they would love something like this when they have a baby. As always there is the negative/ strange. One of my friends said it looked like a burnt baby, and another said it looked like a chicken. Well, it’s Art so we all perceive it differently, but Francis and Luisa loved it. They even hung it on their wall.

If you like the painting, feel free to comment and let me know what you think of it. If not, I welcome the criticism; it is one of the ways we are able to make improvements in life. Join me next time for ‘Pinterest Tile Painting.’

Nik-Cre – ‘Making life-less rooms into living rooms.’

Lebus Furniture Revamp

Welcome back to Nik-Cre. I’m so glad you stopped by again.

This week we’re working with retro antiques, teak wood, sandpaper, turpentine and danish oil. Yes, you may be a little bit confused; but these are the ingredients of my upcycling project.

“It’s nice, but I really want one with legs.” This is the sentence I voiced over and over in my mind as I browsed the thrifts shops of Coventry. I didn’t want a standard Chest of Drawers, the big rectangular block sitting snug against the floor. I wanted one with leg, that would stand up off the floor. Six months later I found my match and for a good price too.

The British Heart Foundation Furniture and Electrical store are brilliant. If you’re looking for something old or new, affordable, vintage, modern, retro, antique; you name it they have it. £15 was the price of this Teak 5 Drawer Chest, on splay bracket feet. It came in great condition, no cracks or restoration work. All that needed doing was the sanding away of that hideous red varnish. I found the same Chest, with 6 drawers on Harrison Antique Furniture for £250. I’m sure you’ll agree that I found a bargain with this one.

The Chest I purchased is an original antique piece, as you can see from the plaque in the image. I did a little research and Lebus Furniture was set up by Louis Lebus in the 1800’s. His business began in a small shop in Hull, and as it expanded he later moved to London. After Louis Lebas died, his son Harris took over the business. Their pieces are largely recognised as being part of the Arts and Crafts movement. One of the reasons I feel so connected to this piece is because Lebus opened a factory in Tottenham, North London. Tottenham is my birth town, but it is also where I went to church for seven years before returning to Coventry. This is a piece that ties together both of my homes.

Upcycling this was a pretty simple project. I began by sanding the body of the Chest, working with sandpaper on a sanding block to firmly hold the paper in place. You can use a power Sander if you want too, I found mine left circular etching in the wood which I didn’t like. Sand until the wooden surface is smooth and has removed all traces of varnish.

I then took out the drawers and removed the knobs so that I could also sand these down. After sanding, I wiped all the surfaces down with Turpentine, to remove excess dust. If you have White spirit you can use that as well. Initially, I wanted to paint patterns on the Chest like the images you see on Pinterest. I was a little worried that I wouldn’t like it and it would be ruined. A colleague recommended that I oil the Chest down with Teak oil, but I couldn’t find this so I purchased a tin of Danish oil from Wilko. The Danish oil brought out the natural colour of the Teak and helped to restore warmth to the Chest. It also highlights the grain in the wood showing the contrasts of light and dark brown.

As you can see the Chest came with its original Brass circular knobs. I changed these out with white and gold porcelain knobs, I got these on eBay from Knobbles and Bobbles. These new knobs really add a touch of royal elegance to the piece. This Chest lives in my bedroom, I’ve gone for a natural wood theme up there so the Chest matches the blinds, the cork flooring, and a lovely structural beam.

Lebus Sanded

Lebus In Red Varnish

Lebus Revamped

Lebus Revamped Side View

I hope you like how I’ve upcycled this Lebus Chest and brought it back to life. Let me know what you think in the comments, and to receive regular updates please follow me. Join me next time for a gentler project, as I ‘make life- rooms, into living rooms.

Nik-Cre

Laying Down Floors

Floor view

Welcome Back to Nik-Cre, for my first project!

There is nothing like walking on a concrete floor! I say this because my Living room was concrete when I moved in, and it was not practical.

Research

I began researching flooring months before I moved in. I too, like most wanted hardwood floors, but they are costly. As I searched website upon website, Homebase, B&Q, and Wickes; eventually I came across Cork flooring. Back then when Cork came to mind, I would think of a topping for wine bottles; but I was rather impressed with what I saw. Unvarnished tile

Cork is a naturally sustainable material made from tree bark, harvested in Spain and Portugal. It is also a great insulator and Hyperallergic. Cork became my alternative to hardwood flooring due to how environmentally friendly it is, affordable, and that I could install it myself.

Sourcing materials

I decided to go with a rich dark Mocca Cork (brand Nicoline.) I purchased these from Amazon £8.99 for a pack of 9 tiles, 300mm by 300mm; 3mm thick. Read the packet instructions before installing the Cork, as explains clearly how to prep the Cork. I ordered 17 packs for my living room, but I didn’t use all of them. In terms of adhesive, I went for 6 tubs of Parquet and Cork Adhesive by Wickes, £9.99 per tub. For the perfect sheen, I chose a basic varnish from Wilko; clear gloss £9.00 per tin. I bought my first power tool from B&Q, which is the beautiful multi-purpose Mac Allister Sander £30.00. If you’re going to try this at home, I would also advise you purchase a steel rule, Stanley knife, pencil, dishcloth, wood filler and a rubber mallet.

Installation

To prepare the concrete, I started by sanding to make sure the floor was even and filled any cracks or gaps with wood filler. Most people would recommend that you sub-floor with plywood, but I decided not to as I found a recommendation that said you can use concrete as a sub-floor as well. Once the floor is levelled and filled, you’ll need to vacuum until all the dust is gone. As you can see my room got pretty dusty.

Sub-floor

Early stages

Once all the dust has been extracted, you can start laying down the tiles. With tiling, it is always said to start in the middle of the room ( don’t tell anyone but I didn’t measure to check the centre of my room.) Use the spatula that comes with the Parquet to apply the adhesive to the floor. You’ll want to use the damp dishcloth to clean adhesive, where it bleeds through the joins. Where tiles are stubborn and won’t sit flat, use the mallet to apply pressure. The Stanley knife and steel rule become handy when you get to the edges of the room and you need to cut tiles down. Don’t be too rough when cutting the Cork as it will tear or break.

When you have tiled the whole room leave it for 24 hours so the adhesive dries well. When dry, the Cork will need to be sanded, sand until you have a smooth even surface. Again all the dust will need to be vacuumed before varnishing the floor. I used 2.5 tins to varnish my floor. It is recommended that you give the floor 7 days to dry before laying down furniture.

I’m not sure if I have converted you to love Cork flooring, but I sure do. Check out the close ups of my Cork work. I look forward to seeing you next time, on my Upcycling project. Join me on this journey as I ‘make life- rooms, into living rooms.’

Nik-Cre

The stairs used to have a beige lino

I pulled the lino up, to prep before laying with Cork

My new stair case

View from the top of staircase

Welcome

This is the beginning of a new journey, but it will not be the last…

Hi, I’m Nikita.

I’ve been wanting to start a Blog for a while, and here I am. I purchased my first apartment in June 2017, one of my biggest milestones. I thought it would be great to document the journey from bare rooms to my dream living space.

I was born in London, England and spent my most of my childhood there until the age of 18. In 2009, I had a beautiful encounter with the City of Coventry. This is where I studied for 3 years. It took a dear place in my heart, as a home from home. I left Coventry in 2013, after completing my Degree but always felt that I would end up staying in the City for longer than intended.

We all have dreams and aspirations that we keep a mental checklist of, and buying a home was on mine. As I began my career I started saving with this intention in mind. After 4 years of saving the time was right, and I had my eye on Coventry again. The apartment where I live now was the first and only property that I viewed within the City.

To give you a taste of what it looks like, check out the visuals. I look forward to seeing you again on my first project, which will be laying down floors. Join me as I ‘make life-less rooms, into living rooms…’