How to make a shelf out of a scaffold board

We love reusing in this household so when we acquired some old scaffold boards I knew I wanted to reuse them to make some shelves.

I am no expert so if you want a beginners guide on how to clean up a scaffold board to make a shelf, this blog post is for you.

What you need:

• Scaffold board

• Hand sander

• 60/80/120 grit sand paper

• Brush

• Special homemade wood cleaner (recipe below)

• Microfibre cloth x3

• Beeswax paste in the colour of your choice

• Toothbrush

Method:

Step 1 - Brush down the board with a small brush

If your board has been outside for a while it may have mud on it so give it a quick brush to get any excess dirt off.

Step 2 - Get the sander out

Begin sanding with the grittiest sand paper that you have. We had 60 so I started with that. Sand all over. I then got 80 grit sand paper out and did the same. I finally used 120 grit sand paper to give the board a nice smooth finish.

Step 3 - Give your wood a clean

Add 1 cup vinegar, 1 cup water and one tablespoon of olive oil to a spray bottle and spray the special wood potion all over your scaffold board and give it a wipe down with a microfibre cloth.

Step 4 - Grab your wax

Before you do this step you need to decide what colour you want your scaffold board to be. If you want a natural colour then I recommend Colron Beeswax paste in natural. It does also come in different colours. You need to add the beeswax to your board with a microfibre cloth and then after about 15 minutes go over it with a clean microfibre cloth. Use a toothbrush to get in to all the cracks of the wood. Highly recommend using a toothbrush, it makes such a difference. You can then do another coat if you want but I usually just do one.

Step 5 - Put up your shelf and decorate

We used brackets from Yr Hen Gof Forge to attach our board to the wall. Check the measurements before you order. Once the shelf is attached it is time for the fun bit..decorate your shelf.

And there you have it, one new shelf. I hope if you are planning to make a scaffold board shelf you have found this useful.

Kath x

Nature inspired Master bedroom makeover - where to start?

Here are 5 top tips that you can use to get ready to makeover a room in your home, especially if you are thinking about adding colour to your walls.

1. Read ‘The little book of colour: How to Use the Psychology of Colour to Transform Your Life’

I thought a good place to start would be to find out a bit more about colours and what they represent. It was such an interesting read and one I would recommend this book. The book helps you to figure out your colour tone and what suits you and your personality. It also provides lots of information about each colour and how the colour can make you feel.

2. Discuss colour with your household

I decided quite early on that I wanted our bedroom to be green. To me, green reminds me of nature and I find it quite calming. It’s also important to talk to your household though to make sure you are on the same page. If one of you doesn’t like it maybe you need to explore a different tone or maybe even a different colour. That’s what we did and we eventually found a green we were both happy with. It was an expensive journey because we did buy a lot of sample pots!

3. Buy paint samples

Which leads me nicely on to my next tip. Buy sample pots. If you ever need a pale green sample pot give me a call because I have about 8. We painted the wall behind on of our chest of drawers so it wasn’t an eye sore (I knew I’d take ages to decide on a colour). Once you have decided on a potential colour you could then paint other walls and always check the colour at different times of the day and with the light on and off. Lick have peel on and stick samples which can be moved around the room and don’t make any mess. I loved this!

4. Put together a Pinterest board

Gather all your inspo and create a Pinterest board for your room. It’s good to visually see your ideas coming together. Include everything, the big things like colour choices but also extra details like ornaments and plants. I thought about what I wanted to keep in the room too and added images of those items to the Pinterest board. Add your inspiration too, a huge inspo for me was this images that I saw on Pinterest from This 1870 House. I then went on to read their blog post which has inspired me to write this one because it was so helpful to me.

Here is my pinboard for our bedroom inspired by nature.

5. Create a mood board

Not necessarily the last step but once you have some ideas on colours, create a mood board. I’m sure there are some fancy tools out there to create mood boards but I just use Microsoft Word to create mine. I start off with adding images of all the items I wanted to keep in the room. For us this was the curtains and the chest of drawers. I also added the flooring that we have as we don’t plan to change that either. I then began to add main items such as bedding and shelving and then extra details such as plant ideas and lighting. I used the colour picker on Word to pick out my colour scheme. I just created 3 circles and filled the circles with my colour scheme. These colours changed a few times as I changed my mind frequently during this process. But it was good to see the colours close together to check they work well together.

Below is our mood board for our bedroom. At the time of writing this post I am still very nervous to start this project but as my pals keep telling me “If you don’t like it you can just paint over it.” Which is so very true.

Stay tuned to see more progress over the next few weeks.

Kath

DIY Easter Tree

Today is the official start of Spring but I've been vibing it ever since the first daffodil bloomed.

I'm fully embracing Spring this year and have created our very own Spring/Easter tree.

Here is what you will need:

1. Branches/Twigs (8-10)

2. Vase/Jug - I think a coloured vase looks better than a clear one for this

3. Water

4. Decorative Easter eggs

5. Moss

6. Secateurs

7. Sellotape

Here is what you need to do:

Step 1: Go out foraging for twigs/branches

Using your secateurs, get out in the garden and forage some nice looking twigs and branches. Aim to get a few different shapes, some swirly ones are nice if you are find them. I always get 2 of each.

Step 2: Fill your jug quarter full of water

Step 3: Add sellotape to the top of your jug

This will help position your twigs and make sure they don't flop around.

Step 4: Cut your branches/twigs

I put the twigs up against the jug to check the height before I cut. Add the twigs to the vase one at a time in between the sellotape. Cut the branches on a diagonal too.

Step 5: Add your Easter decorations

I got these ones on the sale in Wilkinsons last year. They were about 50p for the pack. I have found these utterly beautiful Easter chicks in White stuff though which I love but are much more expensive!

Step 6: Cover the sellotape with moss

Just add a light layer of moss above the sellotape to cover it.

Step 7: Place in the centre of your dining table so it can be viewed from all angels

Happy Spring!

Update: Here is the 2022 version of the Easter/Spring Tree with the addition of cool chicks from White Stuff and multicoloured wool from Poundland.