Category: DIY

DIY

How to Cover Ugly Floors in a Rental on a Budget

If you’ve ever rented an apartment, chances are you’ve seen the floors. They’re usually a little on the dingy side. But there’s good news: even if your rental has ugly floors (or any type of flooring), it can be covered up when you get a little creative. Agree? In this post, I’ll show you how to cover up those ugly floors in a rental apartment on a budget! The choice / approach totally depends on what type of flooring you have: carpet, tile, hardwood, mosaic or natural stone. Determine if you can paint your floors. If you can, it’s a good option. You’ll have to check with your landlord / owner painting is allowed. Just a word of caution: it is almost permanent, messy and…

DIY

DIY: Indu Upholstered a Bench for $15 in under 2 Hours

In this post, Indu Bheri, a regular reader of this blog, shares step-by-step instructions how she reupholstered a bench. She generously details the makeover. May I add she makes it sound easy to undertake one of our own. If you have been looking for some motivation to upholster your dining chairs ( I know I have) or bench, then grab this chance. If I may admit I have always dreaded fabric projects. Over to Indu now.. We have a dining table comprising four chairs and a bench. The table, bench and chairs are strong and in good condition but the faux leather on the seats started giving away. We used this for almost 10 years and I was contemplating if we needed a new dining…

DIY

Before and After: I Painted This 15-year-old cabinet To Give It a Vintage Touch

We bought this wooden cabinet as a multipurpose storage unit to store footwear, newspaper, and odd hardware tools. This was one of our first purchases after we moved into our first home. To be honest, I had zero understanding of decorating, interior styling, or what to buy for what. If there was a dire need, we bought that piece of furniture so long it fulfilled its function and our not-so-deep pockets. Form had not entered our lexicon. So, yes, our home was a concoction of disparate elements from tan sofa to geometric tiles. But, you hold some things dear, when they are reminiscent of good ole memories of your first home. So, this piece came with us despite our best efforts to sell it on…

DIY

7 Insta-worthy Easter eggs

Easter is a reminder of how soon time flies. It marks the end of another school year, and the beginning of summer break. With kids home, Easter is a harbinger of a prolonged period of messy homes, and DIY craft and science experiments all around the home. Some gone awry, of course. If you haven’t given Easter decorations much thought, don’t fret. I’ve rounded up seven, super-easy, fun DIY projects that you can do with materials around the house. You don’t have to run errands for craft supplies. But, you know what the biggest motivator is: these project promise to keep your kids busy for a while. 1. Pink brush stroke easter eggs: this project redefines easy. Boil white eggs, or take a couple of plastic eggs.…

DIY

The Best Way to Germinate Vegetable Seeds Quickly Indoors (Hint: Without soil)

You know what the hardest part of gardening is? Atleast, it is for me. Getting the seeds to germinate, and of course, dealing with pests the organic way. Germinating seeds might seem like a no-brainer, but it’s a game of patience. One that I never seem to crack for seeds like peppers/capsicum. Have you ever wandered into a nursery and looked with awe at those neatly lined seedlings in a tray? I would wonder either they have magic fingers, or there is a trick behind this 100% germination rate. I haven’t cracked the code yet, but I guess it’s the perfect greenhouse environment + fertilizer for that kinda success rate. My success with germinating seeds these past two months have been appalling. Tomato,…

DIY

A Plastic Planter Gets a Fancy Makeover

The DIY bug has bit me. The itch to do something around the house lies dormant in action with ideas just swarming in the head all the time. But, when it gets active, there’s no stopping. I like it this way because projects that should have got done months ago are all done in a week’s time. Presenting to you today, a fancy makeover to a humble plastic planter that had clearly seen better days. My mom gave me this planter; exposed to the outdoors I started noticing some cracks along the edges. I didn’t want to give it away which is usually my first instinct. I tried to revive it with a few things found around the house and bought it indoors as a…

DIY

The Story of a Customized Bookshelf

This is not a sponsored post. If there is one piece in our home that has our signatures stamped in its design, then it has to be the bookshelf. The piece sits majestically in the first floor living. This post is a story of how the bookshelf got crafted. My husband was particular he wanted something different and what he wanted. I couldn’t do justice to the design he wished for in entirety, but this is half-way there. We used many free tools along the way to convey our ideas in 3D. The one we used for the bookshelf was from Hem. Idea modular boxes that can be moved around any which way you liked. NOT to have a standard floor to wall cupboard sorta…

DIY

DIY: How to make a rope hanging planter

Today I have a super easy DIY post for you. Remember in the rope shelves post, I promised to show you how to make a hanging planter with rope. Ready?

I had been scouting for good balcony railing planters to hold the rectangular planters but yet to find one that doesn’t cost a fortune. I am not too fond of the custom made welded ones. So until then here is a stop gap solution to save floor space and give the plants extra sunlight.

Things you’ll need:

a plastic rectangular planter of any size
screw driver
two ropes of equal length
two S hooks – the kind you use in the kitchen. You’ll get it in any hardware shop for Rs.20-25 a piece
soil/potting medium like cocopeat
newspaper

Steps:

1. Spread a newspaper on the floor and if you have soil in the planter, empty the contents.

DIY

How to make mason jar soap dispenser

There is a phase in my life when I am obsessed about something. For now, it is ceramic and glass jars. Anything but plastic. Love the Organica pickle bottles. Wish they were square. I find myself buying those pickles for the bottles. Do you have glass jars lying around the house? If yes, then this DIY will be a breeze. I picked up four of these glass jars with a hole in the lid from Home Town for Rs. 150 a piece. These make cute containers for serving juices at parties. But, I saw huge potential in these to be used for potpourri or as soap dispensers in the bathroom. The hole in the lid makes it a lot easier to push the dispenser through. Things required:…

DIY

DIY: How to make newspaper seedling planters

The credit for today’s DIY goes to my 9-year old Pranav who has been a HUGE origami buff for over four years now. There was a time when his days were filled with only paper planes, transforming ninja stars, and dragons. During that time if there was something called persistence, I was learning it from him. It all started with a F-16 fighter jet model that he couldn’t get past after the 30th step – some squash fold. Tadashi Mori is his hero when it comes to origami. For two years in a row, we made Origami birthday invites. It was awesome. Can’t kids be kids forever/why do they have to grow up? I wanted to have a gallery wall exclusively for his origami creations…