Our tiler laid the last sheet of black hex mosaics on our splash back late last year. It was a long awaited process for our brown and cream 1960's kitchen. I am a lover of all things retro, however the functionality and lack of generous cupboard space was non-existent and triggered the idea of a full Kitchen reno. We started the process in September 2016 and we bought our black tap and deep sink that collected dust for over a year. During this time we (by we i mean my partner and builder)  knocked down the wall and door into our kitchen and demo'ed the old school overhead cupboards which blocked so much light.

We lived from a trestle table and boxes with our pots and pans stacked up to the nines whilst our kitchen was custom made. We choose laminate carrara marble bench top and arctic ice cabinets in gloss; I later realized the arctic ice is not the same as appliance white. 

 With two kids we needed a breakfast bar so we got one that could fit two seats comfortably and had the bench top coming down the side as a waterfall effect which made it look more luxurious without costing a bomb.  

 When it came time to choose tiles for the splash back I was super indecisive.  You would think choosing a splash back would be easy for me since I work in a shop with tiles but that was not the case! I came back and forth with samples for weeks as there were so many options and colours to choose from. 

After a lot of contemplating we decided on black hexagon mosaics in a satin finish (which our tiler was not that impressed by). Because the tiles came in sheets they were quite fiddly to lay. oops. I weighed up whether to go charcoal or mid grey grout and went with the latter as an impulsive decision. 

   We originally were meant to re-use the beautiful       rimu shelving that was in our previous kitchen     pantry but we couldn't find two decent pieces in     the right size. We settled for macrocapa shelves      instead. I blonded them with an oil based wood       blonding (we sell in the shop) and then put a satin     finish water based clear coat over the top. 

We were on a tight budget and with my partner being a plumber and his friend a builder we were able to do the whole kitchen for quite reasonable. Because we had some tight spaces and angled walls it was better for us to go custom made rather than a kit set from mitre 10, it also allowed me to get a spice and wine racks to get maximum functionality. 

Here's some quick tips i would recommend to other kitchen reno DIYers

* Allow an extra (20-40mm) when measuring out cupboard and drawer unit space as you can lose a lot more drawer space if you assume like me that the drawer and cabinets go right next to each other with only 10mm to allow. 

* If you are keen on a white kitchen compare the samples to a white piece of paper and you can see what type of white it as it may be hard with little samples. 

* With your current utensils, cookware and small appliances plan out exactly where they would go and an approximation of the space you would need. Although it is always good to have extra space, for maximum practicality it enabled me to have the right depth of drawer space for what i needed to put in there.

* I came across the Triangle concept in google and we planned our kitchen around this before we decided where our drawers and cabinets would go. In short, you should plan your kitchen around the 3 main used appliances/areas in the kitchen which are the cook top, fridge and sink. For maximum functionality it is suggested that these should be in a triangle to form a "work triangle". 

* Have a Sink insert made out of the bench top. It is so handy and allows you to more bench space (and hides unwashed dishes in the sink).

* Try not to rush the process even if you are living out of boxes. 

The only part of the kitchen reno i would change would probably be:

* Drawers under our sink instead of doors to have clean lines and you can utilize the space at the back. 

* Stainless steel dishwasher and fridge as the arctic ice cabinets look cream compared to the appliances. 

 Steph x 

One of 2018s hottest trend is Terrazzo. Inspired by Venetian Terrazzo from the 18th century, Tile space has a highly durable, long lasting and extremely compact Terrazzo range from tile space. 

Terrazzo is traditionally large marble chips embedded into cement and then polished. It is a time consuming and expensive product that needs have ongoing maintenance. Marvel Terrazzo by Tilespace is a gorgeous flooring option with character. 

The tile adds a bespoke elegance to an interior and can be used in numerous rooms around the home on both walls and floors. Porcelain is a durable, non-porous and resilient material making it the perfect option for wet areas. 

This stylish tile is available in polished and matt finish and has a wide range of colours and sizes (pictured is ATC126 Polished 60).   The matt finish terazzo range are suitable for heavy, commercial use and the polished and satin versions are suitable for domestic and light commercial environments.

View the full collection here. We have the complete selection in store. 

Christmas and birthday presents can be freaking hard to get for children. I hate buying toys because they rarely get played with and/or kids grow out of them quickly because the next fad has come in. When Christmas was nearing last year, I had to rack my brain on what to get two special girls to me. I came up with the idea to do up some old furniture for their rooms. Since i already love trawling the op shops and trade me to up cycle old furniture i thought i'd get some pieces for their room. 

After driving to fielding to collect the bentwood chair from a trademe win, I scrolled pinterest for some inspiration. Keeping in mind the girls room had accents of pastel pinks I thought I'd make a pop with a bright pink. I came across an image of a two toned chair (colbolt blue with unpainted wood legs) which was exactly what I was looking for. I thought I would do something similar to give the chair a subtle point of difference than pink all over. I started by sanding the chair with 100 grit sandpaper, since it wasn't in bad condition then finished all over with 180grit. I then sprayed the chair with Colourpak Primer Surfacer waited for 40minutes to dry, then masked the legs where the gold was going to give a clean and straight edge. I sprayed the chair in Rustoleum bubblegum pink trying not to get past the tape to where the gold was going. I applied the second coat after an hour. When the pink was dry- approximately 30minutes I sprayed the legs in Plastikote metallic gold. 

When I came across this queen anne dresser featured above on trademe it took me back to my childhood. I had drawer handles just like this one and I was sold. Ironically,the handles were going to be the stand out feature and the dresser was going to be neutral. I firstly sanded the dresser with 80grit then finished with 180grit. I filled in small holes and cracks with bostik tradesman filler then primed with APCO aqua prep. I then rolled on two coats of white semi-gloss enamel. I  spruced the handles up with Colourpak etch primer and then top coated in Colourpak satin black.

This Queen Anne low boy had been within my partners family for years. It had stickers all over it and a few cob webs. After removing the tweety bird and "girl power" stickers I sanded with 80grit then 180grit. I primed with Colourpak primer surfacer then rolled on APCO colour pink 8715 satin water-based enamel. I sourced the handles which are a tan leather from interior motives in aus. 

I stewed for a couple of months of what colours to use for the little rocking chair and whether to keep it wood. Because I had some left over paint from the dresser and lowboy i thought i'd use the two in a different way. It worked out perfectly as the rocker matched the girls low boy. I sanded with 80grit then 180grit. Primed with colourpak primer surfacer then brushed on APCO colour pink 8715 and white semi-gloss enamel.

Tips:

- Use semi-gloss/gloss sheen instead of satin for a more wipeable surface (have learnt now). 

- Water based enamels are best used for furniture as it is harder wearing for practical living. 

- Wipe down surfaces with a damp cloth to remove all dust before priming.

- The more you prep to ensure a smooth surface- the better your finished product will look.

- When you are using spray cans, wear a mask, spray in a well ventilated area with not too much wind (as your house or fence might get an unwanted spray of paint).

- Using spray cans are so much easier for painting chairs and small furniture with lots of difficult nooks and crannys to avoid brush marks or paint runs. 

Photos cred- Nicki Brady. 

 Steph x

The Paint Pot 

We are currently changing the store up a bit to be more open and light. I love black but the whole building was black inside and out- just a bit too much black for my liking. We decided to paint the walls APCO colour 'silver queen' which made a huge difference, however one of the walls needed something to give it a lift. I grabbed a bunch of old school beer crates from my parents shed to crate (excuse the pun) some interest on the wall. A wallpaper sample from aspiring walls ashford tropics collection inspired the colour palette for the crates and sparked the idea to use them as a shelf to display all of our wallpaper accessories.  

So I started off by giving the crates a water blast because wholey heck they stunk- I would hate to know what had been living in them, then left them to dry for a few days outside.

Using a mask (safety first) I sanded them with 100 grit sand paper then finished with 180 grit.  I wasn't to fussy about making the crates to be baby bum smooth as i wanted to leave them a bit rustic without being too shabby chic rustic if that makes sense? I then primed them all over with APCO AQUAprep using a paint brush. I then masked the crates so i could paint the inside first- which proved to be quite time consuming. I painted the inside with two coats (allowing to dry in between) then painted the outside. I then cut the wallpaper to fit the not so straight crate, and stuck it down with some wallpaper paste.

It cost me next to nothing to do the crates up and was really rewarding to see the end product. I think the crates are more useful now than what their original purpose was for- sorry beer drinkers. 

If you have a crate lying around i highly recommend you give this a go!

Colours used: APCO colour 'dusk blue' and APCO pink 8715. Other crate colours- APCO olive green and APCO pink 8715. Wall colour is deep sea blue.

steph x 

The Paint Pot