"Launched in 2005, Home-Dzine was created to realise a dream; to express my love of home DIY and decor and share with other South Africans. As a non-commercial website I am free to express my own opinions and pass on valuable information to readers.
I feel that more people can benefit by being able to DIY home improvement and home repairs. And we're not talking about major DIY home repairs, but those that anyone with a bit of DIY savvy can do themselves."
Create a cool bedroom
It's summer, and we are all going to be looking for ways to stay cool - without turning up the air conditioner. One homeowner takes it to the next level by transforming her bedroom into a cool, serene retreat.
If you're serious about making eco changes in your home - don't turn up the air conditioner, but don't let the heat get you down.
The furniture in the room were all hand me downs and were very, very, dark.
With new lightweight curtains, a wall paint colour that is reminiscent of a clear - cool - blue sky, and a few other touches, the room really does feel much cooler.
After making a canopy frame with pine planks and crown moulding, crisp, white cotton fabric was pleated and stapled around the outside of the pine frame to create the canopy frill.
The frill also hides the ugly pine board underneath.
Obviously you don't want to have the staples visible, so you can use a thin trim or strip of fabric to cover them up. Glue the fabric over the staples with fabric glue or a hot glue gun.
For the side panels, two small lengths of fabric were hemmed and I sewed little ribbon hooks onto the top, so that the curtains could be hung on the inside of the pine frame.
To paint dark furniture in a lighter, and cooler, colour, Rust-Oleum Distressed Ivory kit has everything you need in one, easy kit.
Finish off by replacing heavy curtains with lightweight sheers, draped over the top of the window and gently flowing down the side.
Measure up 200mm from each corner of the window and then 200mm out from the sides of the window. Place a picture hanger in the wall at this mark.
The fabric for your drape\valance should be the width of the window PLUS and extra 1,5 to 2 metres.
Tie ribbon onto each side that is slightly longer than the width of the window and then hook the ribbon onto each picture hanger. Make sure sides fall to the side of the window at equal length. Adjust if necessary. Gently pull down centre and arrange folds with hands until you get evenly placed folds across the window.
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