DIY PLANTER MAKEOVER WITH WAYFAIR HOME EXPERTS

When Wayfair asked if I wanted to be part of their latest home expert challenge I jumped at the chance.  Celebrating the start of spring and all things greenery,  this month's challenge is all about plant pots, and creating your dream planter of choice by giving one a bit of a makeover. As you might know already I blooming love a house plant so I couldn't wait to create my own pot for one, in my home style. 

I decided immediately that I wanted it to be dark and have touches of metallic so first I chose the Gem Round planter by Sfeer Voor Jou (£27.99) from Wayfair's huge planter range for its gorgeous hexagonal shape. 

And then this is exactly what I did, encase you want to do it too.....

1. To begin, clean your pot encase it has any dirt or grease. Mine was brand new so it didn't need a clean, but I'd recommend doing this if you were pimping up an old planter. 

2. I then sprayed the entire pot black (inside and out). It's important to do this in a ventilated area, so I did it in my garden with a bit of cardboard to protect the table. You can see the difference below from wet to dry and how lovely the matt finish is! 

3. I then used gold foil leaf along with some Mixton relief (a special glue) to start layering up the glue and the gold leaf gradually, spreading the glue in different directions with a small paint brush. **Top Tip** make sure the glue is almost dry and tacky before applying the gold leaf, otherwise it won't stick, and worst case can take off the black paint underneath. 

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After I'd finished layering up the gold foil, I primed the vase with a PVA glue to give the foil a protective shield, but you can also use a clear varnish if you have any around the house.  You can layer as much or as little of the gold foil as you like. **Top Tip** be messy with the glue (Mixiton relief) so you achieve a more random look. 

This DIY plant pot might not be to everyone's taste, but with the right colour combinations you can make something look more unique and more you.  Go on, give it a go. 

To achieve a similar look all you need is...

• 1 x plant pot

• 1 x small paint brush to spread the glue

• 1 x Can of acrylic spray paint in black (or any colour of your choice)

• 1 pack of metallic gold foil

• 1 tube Mixton relief (glue for the gold foil)

• PVA glue or clear varnish to seal the foil.

This post was sponsored by Wayfair. I wouldn't post anything I didn't agree with or personally like. 

WHY MAINTAINING YOUR GARDEN DOESN'T HAVE TO COST THE EARTH

The wonders of nature, relaxation, and fitness – these things sound like a dream vacation in an obscure pricey resort, but they are also some of the things your garden can offer. The Telegraph reports that home gardens of all shapes and sizes have plenty of benefits for the everyday gardener – from alleviating stress and promoting self-esteem, to encouraging creativity and helping you burn extra calories. Gardens are a wonderful place to enjoy nature and relax, but they don’t have to cost a lot of money nor your sanity.

In truth, great gardens don't necessarily demand a big financial investment. Here are some reasons why maintaining your garden doesn’t have to cost the earth.

Your plants aren’t asking you to.

For starters, your plants don’t really need expensive bags of fertiliser. The Guardian recommends using common kitchen waste, along with grass clippings, chopped up stems, cardboard, and newspapers for a free, excellent compost. You can even use second-hand pallets or recycled materials to create your own compost bin.
 

In terms of your water bill, you can save up by using cooled cooking water used after boiling vegetables or old fish tank water, which are both free and nutrient-rich. You can even have a water tank to collect roof runoff and rainwater to use for watering plants.

Make sure to mulch your garden to prevent evaporation on hot days as well. This process is especially important for newly planted seeds, both as a way to reduce water loss from the soil and to stifle weed growth.

If you’re just starting out, it’s also a good idea to match your plants with the kind of environment you have and the amount of money and effort you can give. For instance, House Beautiful Magazine shares that the most cost-effective way to fill up flower beds is by investing in perennials that you can divide. Areas with water and drought problems would do well with plants such as red valerians, artemisia, and viburnums. Those that are susceptible to soil erosion would also benefit from cover crops like vetch, rye, and clover, or even ground covers like periwinkle and creeping junipers.

The right tools go a long way

When it comes to gardening tools, it makes sense to spend a little bit more on the stuff you need. It might be hard to pass up on a cheap shovel or spade, but those are also the ones most likely to break when you’re digging in rocky soil or after a winter of disuse. A great trick is to think about the cost per use – not per unit – of each tool you are getting.
 

If you’re going to use power tools rarely, it might be good to simply borrow from a friend or rent with a neighbour. However, for tools that you will use regularly, it pays to find the kinds of tools that suit you for the long run. Take lawn mowers for instance, which have multiple types that match specific dimensions of a garden like size, shape and terrain. Screwfix lists an array of lawn mowers with different features like engine, or battery power and cutting height in order to suit gardeners of every style and budget. Generally, it’s more cost-effective to buy a large and powerful mower that can help clear a big garden faster. Although, it’s also worth considering that smaller ones can fit into tight spaces, and this is where the shape of your garden comes into play.

Whichever tools you choose, adding a reasonable amount to invest in quality items that will last for years is better than having to purchase new, inexpensive ones relatively often.

There’s lots of character in everyday things

Adding character to your garden on the cheap is entirely possible with salvaged materials, too. Better Homes and Gardens shares that salvaged objects and found materials are a great way to add both a unique look and an interesting story to your garden landscape.

Image credit: Colin Poole

Things like old doors and windows look great as accent pieces, while salvaged drawers, milk crates, and even old mixing bowls can all be repurposed as planters or window boxes. Old mirrors can also bring out the best in small gardens and help redistribute natural light. These offer a great way to save money and recycle while also adding beauty and charm to your backyard.

With all of these budget garden tips and tools at your disposal, there’s really no need to break the bank on your backyard. Do you have other tips for gardening on a budget?

MY NURSERY PLANS

With just 7 weeks to go until the babe arrives, I thought it was time I shared our nursery plans.

We found out at our 20-week scan that we were expecting a little boy, so with that in mind I decided to have a bit of a think of what the little man’s nursery could look like.

I didn’t want to go for anything too childlike  (I know that sounds ridiculous), but I knew I wanted it to be colourful and stimulating, mainly so the colourful plastic will go in the long run.  

As much as I want to be one of those wooden toy mothers, I know the inevitable will happen, so just best to not be defeated in the end and embrace the colour. Or otherwise that stuff would just mess with my Feng shiu. So, colour was a priority above anything else. 

I took inspiration from the usual Pinterest (link to my nursery moodboard), instagram and my love of indoor foliage, but also our little trip to Graceland last year. Did you know that Elvis had a jungle room? Yep a grown man had a room full of soft animal toys (and guitars).

We decided on a gorgeous jungle palm print wallpaper from Milton and King to be the backdrop of the room which is very Beverly Hills hotel. If you don’t know of Milton and King, then be sure you check them out as I found it so difficult to find something fun like this that wasn’t a full wall mural and that delivers to the UK. They have an exciting range of wallpapers which are all easy to install too by pasting straight onto the wall! 

As the room has lovely panelling and a dado rail already, we're keeping this and just adding the wallpaper to the top. Below is a before a pic of the room, when it was a boring grown up bedroom. 

I've also added a video of the wallpaper going up. I'll keep you posted with the progress. But for now, here's my moodboard. I hope it inspires you if your currently decorating a nursery, or preparing for a baby room.  

1. Jungle palm wallpaper £198 per roll, Milton and King

2. Stokke sleepi bed in Grey £575, Stokke

3. Numero 91 Mustard canopy £91, Smallable

4. Grey ball pit £114,  Scandiborn

5. Fox and cactus mobile £75.99,  Etsy

6. Afaw berber style rug £269,  La Redoute

7. Pirate bunny £19.50, Scandiborn

8. Riceberry luxe toy £25, Kidly

9. Lazy bear soft toy £19.50, Scandiborn

10. Noah the giraffe £45, Scandiborn

11. Melissa and Doug Large giraffe soft toy £79.99, Argos

12. Sleepy head of sweden £170 euro, Sleepy head

13. Grey cotton ball lights £32, Cotton ball lights

14. Toy storage sack with personalised letter £32 Clouds and currents

15. Stokke changing table in grey £349 for unit plus £169 for changing unit Stokke

CONVERSATION CHAIRS AT HOMESENSE

Yay! We have finally moved into our new loft space, which means we can start cracking on with baby C’s nursery (moodboard entry coming soon). We still need to put pictures up and get new side tables, but it’s starting to feel like a bedroom.

We’ve gone for dark walls again and my love of the colour green against the dark grey hasn’t stopped at just the lounge.

As the wardrobes are in a separate dressing room, it means there’s more space to fill with a statement chair to add that little zing of colour.

I’d been looking for a chair for a while which didn’t cost the earth and then a few weeks ago whilst browsing in my local homesense, I found this little emerald beauty.

Priced at £179.99 it was a lot more affordable than the similar ones I’d been admiring on the internet, and did I mention that it’s covered in Green velvet! It’s a like a match made in emerald heaven and fits into the little snug of our bedroom perfectly.

If you’re looking to add a little chair into your lounge/ bedroom/ nursery or just have a corner in your kitchen to fill, then make sure you get down to homesense. And if my little chair hasn’t persuaded you, then hopefully these images of the other chairs on offer this week will.

Prices for chairs start at £49.99

To find your local homesense UK store click here.

Links to the items in the main picture 

1. Velvet chair £179.99, Homesense

2. Walls-Railings,  Farrow and Ball (Prices vary) 

3. Mustard print cushion- Peonenden £90 House of Hackney

4. Cast iron radiator, cast iron radiator centre  prices start at £9.99 per section. 

5. Brass and iron planter stand, £12 Matalan