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Home Made Easy – Urban Suburban

 

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In this week’s episode of Home Made Easy, we look at making the most of an urban theme. From contained gardening, to wallpapering

Part 1 – Tanya – Urban Gardening

Stacked Pot DIY (Full sun) [6]

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  • Material:
    • 2 x wide shaped pots (in two sizes)
    • 1 x plastic pot (large enough to lift the smaller featured pot above the larger pot)
    • drainage pebbles
  • Soil (mix together):
    • Potting soil
    • Coconut husk / Palm Peat
    • Bone meal
    • Organic fertilizer pellets
  • Plants:
    • Nemesia
    • Brachyscome
    • Bacopa
    • Lobelia
    • Parsley (for texture)
    • Gazanias
    • Geranium

Steps:

  1. Start by mixing together your potting soil mixture.
  2. Place a plastic pot (upside down) inside your bigger pot. This is to elevate the smaller pot you will be displaying.
  3. Add your drainage pebbles to the bottom of the bigger pot once the plastic pot is in place.
  4. Fill up with potting soil mixture.
  5. Start planting your selected plants!
  6. Once you have planted the first tier, plant up the smaller pot and place on top of the bottom tier.
  7. Give a good watering!
Succulent Pot [6]

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  • Material:
    • Medium sized Pot
    • Stones for finishing around plants
  • Plants:
    • Echeveria or a selection of your favourite succulents
  • Succulent Soil Mixture:
    • 1/3rd River sand
    • 1/3rd Potting soil
    • 1/3rd Fine gravel

Steps:

  1. Start by mixing your succulent potting soil.
  2. Cover the base of your pot with drainage pebbles and fill ¾ to the top with your special succulent potting soil.
  3. Position the succulents where you want them and fill the gaps with potting soil mixture.
  4. To finish off the potted succulents, add some black pebbles around them!
Watch the video [6]

Part 2 – Workshop (Ryan)

Industrial Shelf Unit [6]

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Materials

Tools

Metal pipes Drill
Wooden shelves Painters tray
Metal flanges Cardboard
Wood screws: 4.0 x 20mm
Spray paint – Black
Paint or stain


Steps:

  1. Choose a suitable location and determine the dimensions of the book rack
  2. e.g. 1700mm (H) x 1000mm (W) x 200mm (D)
  3. Using the height of the upright pipes, determine how many shelves you desire within the dimensions determined in step 1.
  4. Start assembling the upright pipes by attaching a flange to each end, which will secure it to each shelf.
  5. To prevent the tall structure from swaying, 2x crisscross braces are secured to each corner of the structure; this can be made up from tensile metal or wire cabling.
  6. Once all the pipes have been assembled, use a matt black spray paint to create an industrial look which will contrast well against the wooden shelves.
  7. Prepare the wooden shelves by either painting or staining to the desired colour to match your decor. As an option, you may choose to router the edges of each shelf if desired.
  8. To assemble the pipes to the shelves, use a cardboard template in order to keep alignment consistent. Secure using short wood screws.
  9. Once the shelves are in place, secure the crisscross braces by either using pop-rivets or securing hooks.
  10. To ensure safety, secure the structure to a sturdy wall to avoid the risk of being pulled over.
  11. Style up as desired to match your decor scheme and enjoy.
Watch the video [6]

Part 3 – Décor (Elle)

DIY Wall paper [6]

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Tool & Material List

  • Wallpaper adhesive
  • Paste Brush or roller
  • Stanley Knife
  • Level
  • Sponge, rag & bucket of clean water
  • plastic smoother
  • Tape Measure
  • Putty knife and or scrapper
  • A pencil
  • Step ladder
  • Drop Cloth

Steps:

  1. Remove old wallpaper if applicable; use a scraper/ putty knife to scrape off the old wallpaper. You can also use a damp rag to moisten the paper which will loosen the adhesive and make the wall paper easier to peel off the wall.
  2. Prep and clean the walls – wipe away dust or dirt and inspect the wall to see if there are any holes to fill. Wallpaper can only be applied to a smooth flat surface.
  3. To mix the wallpaper adhesive, read the instructions on the product you are using. To avoid lumps, slowly start adding the adhesive powder while stirring the water continuously.
  4. Determine which side of the wall you are going to start from, it is advisable to start on the left hand side if you are right-handed, and work your way across. Draw markings on the wall using the spirit-level to make sure that the lines are straight and level, this will help you to see if the wallpaper is being applied straight.
  5. Before you mix the glue there are two ways to apply adhesive when hanging wallpaper. The one method is to apply wall paper directly to the back of the wallpaper and then apply that wallpaper strip to the wall. The other method is to brush/apply adhesive directly to the section of the wall and then apply the strip of wall paper on top of that.
  6. Start with the first piece of wallpaper. Note that it’s cut slightly longer then the height of the wall, as you can always trim off the excess once applied to the wall. Hold the paper up-right and hover over where it is to be places on the wall, and then gently press it down with your hands working your way down, from top to bottom, taking care when stepping on the ladder.
  7. Use the plastic smoother and go over the wallpaper again, to smooth the glue out and move it around to any dry patches that might be under the paper. Always smooth out the glue to the side of the wallpaper that is adjacent to the area where the next strip will be placed. Once you are happy with the adhesion, position and smoothing out of the wall paper, take a craft knife and remove the excess wall paper at the ceiling and floor in a straight neat cut.
  8. Apply glue onto the next section of the bare wall to be covered and hang the next strip of wallpaper. Hover, place, smooth and trim in the same way until the whole wall is covered. To trim around light switches and plug sockets, or corners of walls, make use of the craft knife
DIY Industrial picture display hanging bar [6]

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Materials

Tools

Wood stain Power Drill
Pine timber Jigsaw
Eye-hooks Measuring tape
Wall plugs Pencil
Metallic spray-paint Paint brush
Metal Rod Drill bits for wood and walls
Masonite boards
Printed Images

Steps:

  1. Cut the wood into 6 equal sizes, 2 per picture and only a little wider than the A4 picture/ board width. Once for the top and one for the bottom, as these pieces will hold the picture
  2. Stain the wood and allow to fully dry.
  3. Place the dry, stained wood pieces on their sides and make a marking at both ends. Once the markings are made drill a pilot hole using an 8mm drill bit, which is a mm smaller than the size of our eye hooks, this will allow screwing of the eye hooks into the wood easier. Screw in a hook on either side of the top wood piece. Leave the bottom piece of wood as is.
  4. Next, take your A4 boards and lay them flat over some scrap wood, then place your chosen image over the board. Take the top piece of wood with the two hooks and place it over the top of the image and then place the other piece of wood with no hooks at the bottom of the picture.
  5. To secure the wood to the A4 boards, drill small pilot holes and drive in wood screws that isn’t too long when securing the wood and board together. A bit of the screw tip sticking out on the other end is acceptable.
  6. Mark out holes and level the positioning of the wall hooks to hang the metal rod on. Drill holes in the wall using a drill bit for the relevant wall and insert the wall plugs before securing the wall hooks. Hang each of the images from the eye-hooks onto the metal rod and then hang the complete industrial-look hanging picture rail on the wall.
Watch the video [6]