New Year – New Home: 3 Weekend DIY Projects To Breathe New Life Into Your Space
It’s the start of a new year and with the burst of fresh optimism that 2022 brings, it might be easy to whip out a few new year’s resolutions. The problem is that they may seem like a tiny hill in the moment but could become a giant, looming mountain by the end of January. We all know how difficult it is to stick to that new exercise routine or to say no to an extra tjoppie (yum!). Let us help you set 3 obtainable home DIY resolutions so that you can at least transform your space, if not your waist.
Make a Big Statement in The Smallest Room
Photo by Kimberly Gavin
The guest loo is possibly the only place that most of your visitors will have time alone to really take in your design language. No matter how cohesive and inspired the rest of your space is, this humble but impactful room should not be forgotten. Since the guest bathroom is usually small, you can make a splash without overwhelming the senses.
Don’t be intimidated, wallpaper is easy to apply and easy to remove if you change your mind.
Follow this step-by-step guide or watch a true master at work. You’ll see how quick, easy and memorable this project can be.
Here are a few of our favourite dramatic but tasteful wallpaper suggestions. The best part is that they are all supplied by proudly South African companies!
Switch It Up!
arteor by legrand
With the popularity of SMART home integration systems, it is common to become a bit overwhelmed with trying to keep up with each new WIFI lightbulb and Alexa-ready LED light switch. You certainly don’t need to jump on that bandwagon to update your reception and entertainment areas.
It’s a matter of minutes to swap out your old, boring, white switch covers for something that suits your style better. All you need is a screwdriver (and someone willing to catch any sneaky screws you might drop) and you’re on your way to updated switches! You’d be surprised to see how much something as small and unobtrusive as a light switch cover can change your space.
Take a few minutes to check out these gorgeous switch covers to find a style that is perfect for your design language.
Here’s a video to reference if you’ve no idea where to start.
Let Life Enter
Your house’s entryway is a preview of what to expect in the rest of your home. It is almost like reading the blurb on the back of a book before diving into the text. Wouldn’t it be lovely if the introduction to your space could be a serene sanctuary brimming with life?
Nothing brings vitality into a home like a lovingly maintained terrarium. It’s even more special if you created it yourself by choosing the perfect glass container and planting your succulents with your own hands.
Click here for some steps to creating your succulent sanctuary or follow this inspiring video.
Ready for More?
If you are rearing for more DIY and home improvement ideas, jump on into HOMEMAKER for all the inspiration you need in the new year!
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Here’s to Home with Builders
Builders Warehouse has been around long enough for homeowners to know that whatever they need, they will find it at Builders. Munier Solomon, Marketing Operations Manager at Builders chats to us about their latest campaigns with a bonus feature on how to approach your latest renovation the Builders way.
Tell us a little bit about the Builders Brand?
Massmart acquired five Builders Warehouse stores operating in Johannesburg and Pretoria in 2003. They bought and rebranded three De La Rey stores in the Western Cape in 2005 and now operate in South Africa, Botswana, and Mozambique. Builders follows the big-box or warehouse retail format – offering homeowners, DIY enthusiasts and contractors a comprehensive range of competitively priced products under one roof. With a large garden centre display and builders’ supplies yard, the brand is unique in that it is the only home improvement warehouse in South Africa.
We adore your latest campaign #herestohome. How did the team come up with the concept?
Our Homes have essentially become our World. Today we are all looking at them differently and we wanted a campaign to help us bring that messaging to life. And many can agree that our homes have become our nests: a nest of refuge, safety, family, learning, work, pleasure and comfort.
How has the pandemic life changed the Builders brand for the better?
DIY became the most searched word on Google during the pandemic and Builders being pioneers for home improvement and DIY projects in South Africa, could assist people with the easy options that our stores provide and give them great ideas on the Builders Blog. Our customers are more and more becoming hobbyists and creators, resorting to the internet to inspire their creativity. And with all this help, they can easily and cost-effectively do it themselves. People are redefining their homebody experience and building their own home sanctuaries.
What new initiatives have you been working on? Can you share them with us?
We will be launching the Builders Super App soon.
How many Builders retail stores do you currently have nationwide? Are you planning to grow even further?
We opened our 110th store in Midrand in March 2021 and are looking to open a few new stores in the near future.
Let’s Renovate
The success of a home improvement project is the result of expert planning. As much as home renovation comes with costs and lots of decisions to make, it is a phenomenal way to breathe new life into any home or living environment. It is an opportunity to put your mark on the property and add to its value.
Whether you are planning something big or small, to take control of your home renovation budget you need a plan. One factor, amongst others, is to plan how much product is needed to complete your project on time and cost effectively.
Three Factors to Consider when Assessing the Cost of Your Project
Understanding the design and planning requirements: whether you are updating the look and feel of your bedroom with a new headboard, adding a laminated glass partition to add an extra room or space or privacy in your home, or simply just painting your wall – you must be clear on the job and the requirements. For example, glass for interior use will be different from that used for exterior applications. It’s vital to understand the application and the correct product required for the project.
Calculate Material Costs: now put together a list of materials you’ll need to do the home improvement job. There are a variety of ways to calculate how much materials you’ll need. One method is to use online product calculators such as the recently launched Builders Products Calculators. The Builders product calculators cover paint, blinds and curtains, headboards and glass cutting, including mirrors and doors.
Write a schedule of works: it’s crucial to define your home renovation process before you start the work – a project plan of what needs to be done and by when. Be clear on the steps you will need to take to renovate the property. You might find that work in one room impacts on those in another, so have a clear vision and prepare a work schedule, listing the order of jobs.
Save Renovation Costs
One of the best ways to lower your renovation costs is to tackle home projects yourself. You could cut the first part of labour costs by painting all your walls yourself, ripping out old flooring, tearing down drywall or removing cabinetry before the work requiring a skilled person starts.
Time is essential when planning for renovation. Making a cohesive and functional design can be overwhelming. Taking more time, even when you have all your money ready, is crucial. You may regret the choices you make in a rush.
It is important that once you start on a project, you keep changes to a minimum to avoid extra costs. Put a budget in place against your project using the estimates from the online product calculators and keep a running tally so you can stay on track.
Explore more articles here.
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A Royal Affair with Concrete
Decorative concrete treatments for your home is now more popular than ever. With its cool and contemporary look, it is a great option for homes in South Africa to add a touch of class. Coming to the fore as a top design trend this year, concrete is a versatile and sophisticated product to use for your home’s exterior and interior. The joy of concrete’s versatility lies in the fact that it is no longer only welcome in industrial spaces. It creates a beautiful texture and acts as a neutral grounding for any style.
Royal Coat Africa Cement Counter Tops
Royal Coat Africa
We recently checked in with Royal Coat Africa who shares the inside scoop on the latest concrete trends for your home. Royal Coat was established in 1987 and is an industry leader in a wide range of specialised, cementitious and protective coatings in the commercial and residential sectors. “Our infrastructure, management and approach allow us to tackle projects of any size – delivering the results time after time! Our status as preferred applicators among a range of major suppliers ensures that clients receive only the best quality products.
Timeless and Stylish
Concrete is timeless. Concrete treatments go well with many interior styles and tend to last for a very long time. Interior concrete trends for 2021 create interesting and unique surface finishes that are as unique as you. Concrete works particularly well when used in flooring or walls due to its sturdy and long-lasting nature. Thanks to its heat and scratch-resistant characteristics, it poses as the best option for kitchen islands and countertops.
Worthy Investment
Experts confirm that concrete is one of the most cost-effective ways to decorate the interior and exterior of a home or office. It allows you to be innovative in your design approach and perhaps create something no one else has in their residence or commercial.
Royal Coat Africa shares “Cement floors have a naturally hard-wearing nature making them a popular choice for heavy foot and vehicle traffic. The application of cement floor finishes is a popular choice and annual demand for this type of finish is growing rapidly. We apply a range of cementitious wall coatings as well which are popular contemporary choices in terms of wall finishes”.
Create the perfect contemporary space with concrete.
Read more about Royal Coat Africa here.
Royal Coat Africa Cement Floors
Good Looking Barrier Walls
Barrier walls are an essential element in every South African’s home. It keeps us safe and adds tremendous value to our homes if they are designed and built beautifully. Precast walling is a common perimeter wall choice due to its strength, affordability, and low maintenance. For all its practicality, precast walling does tend to lack aesthetics, especially when it comes to curb appeal.
We share a few creative ways to make your walls not only look good from the outside, but also compliment the architecture of your home and landscape.
Recreate Nature
Recreating nature when considering your walls is a naturalistic way to give you more curb appeal. Gabion walls melt seamlessly with the landscape. Gabion is derived from the Italian word “cage” and is a wire container that holds inorganic material. They can form flexible, permeable structures that work well in many environments. Combining rock with metals and even wood in a Gabion-type design will emphasize your home and garden’s features cleverly.
Exposed Brick
Brick may seem like a boring option, but homeowners can get quite creative with the types of brick they use, by combining colours that complement each other and their home. Pairing assorted colours of brick can challenge your creativity, not to mention, look very cool. Architects and designers have been incorporating beautiful brick walls whenever they need a touch of texture, traditional character, and timelessness.
Plant a Garden
Designing boundary walls with garden features are always a showstopper. Homeowners can consider using elements of nature as inspiration. Walls with water features or rock and plant gardens built into them look fresh and contemporary. You can even create vertical gardens to grow on your boundary walls that will look stylish and lush.
A Good Paint Job
Give your barrier walls a new life with a coat of paint in the colour of your choice. It is vital to prepare your walls to make sure the paint lasts. Start with a fungicidal to kill any spores and limit fungal growth. Next, check for moisture by covering your wall in plastic sheeting for a full day. If there is condensation on the plastic, you will need to seal your wall before painting.
Once that is done, apply one coat of masonry or water-based primer to your wall followed by two coats of acrylic exterior paint. Remember to buy more paint than you think you will need to avoid colour differences in different batches.
Find the right company to give your walls a makeover on HOMEMAKERS.
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Different Paints for Different Places
Paint has a magical way of making your home look well-kept. A small job like covering up cracks and holes in walls can easily be transformed with a bit of crack filler and a dash of paint. Homeowners are sometimes caught off guard by not knowing where the paint goes and whether it could lead to early peeling or just not the right type of paint for the surface. There are many different paints for different places.
We share some advice on where you should be painting what, where.
Interiors
An eggshell finish has a subtle shine and is a good choice for a first-time painter. It is not too matte (flat) and not too shiny, making it easy to clean. Eggshell paint is a good choice for living rooms and bedrooms.
Satin paint has some sheen to it, and is an excellent choice for hardworking rooms, like kitchens and bathroom walls. It is easy to clean, but the gloss effect can highlight wall imperfections like cracks and poorly patched areas.
Exterior Walls
Acrylic water-based paint is one of the best choices for outside and barrier walls. Acrylic paint also waterproofs your walls, making it a top choice among homeowners. Textured paint also works well for outdoor walls – especially if your walls are naturally textured already. If your walls have been immaculately sealed with concrete, a smooth paint will do it wonders. Exterior walls also need a primer for extra protection. It is important to match your primer and paint, as some are oil-based and others are water-based.
Ceilings
Ceiling paint is specially made to cover edges and to hide any imperfections. The paint is also created to eliminate dripping, making it easier to paint on. Traditionally ceilings are painted white, but you can create illusions with paint, especially in dark colours or even pastels.
Wood and Appliances
Semi-gloss paint works wonders on wood. It also works well on skirting boards and any other wood trimmings you may have in your home. The semi-gloss sets the wood apart from the walls, which is important if you’re not distinguishing it by colour. It is also easy to care for with soap and water or dust cloth.
Paints for appliances can vary. It will be determined by the type of appliance and whether or not your appliance heats up. Epoxy paints work great for appliances and are great for unifying the colour of your appliances. Applying this self-priming paint is easy with options to either brush or spray, and comes in all of the standard appliance colours available.
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The Story of Tjhoko Paint
HOMEMAKERS and Tjhoko Paint have walked quite a mile together. From seeing them on our magazine covers to enjoying their workshops at our Expos, we can’t help but think it is a blossoming friendship, indeed.
We have come to know them as a passionate and caring team that gives their all in every project that they tackle in their hardworking, honest way. We had a chat with owners Jaco and Nadine Vosloo to find out more about their mother brand Paint Master and how Tjhoko Paint fits into the grand scheme of things.
Let’s Talk Differences
Paint Master is a uniquely formulated household brand based on family values and great service, created specifically to fulfil your every painting need.
Tjhoko Paint, again is a proudly South African chalk paint with no chalky residue, is easy to work with and can be applied to most surfaces. “Tjhoko Paint gives you a beautifully rich, matt surface,” says Nadine. For extra UV and steam resistance in bathrooms, kitchens and outdoors – apply one of their two glaze options. Both paint and sealants are water-based and eco-friendly.
Tjhoko Paint is formulated from a family recipe that has created high-quality decorative paint products for more than 18 years. With a focus on incomparable quality and family values, many of the carefully crafted colours are named after one of our team members. Tjhoko Paint is a brand of passion and inspiration, try it once and you will love it forever!
Small Beginnings
Jaco Vosloo had a dream to assist his father in the Paint Master business which resulted in it becoming a third-generation family business. Job creation is high on this family’s priority list and they now have the privilege of being able to employ the children of their employees and hope that their children will want to continue with the dream one day and become a fourth generation.
The Paint Master offering is versatile, and you will not only be able to purchase your interior and exterior paints from them, but so much more. They are expert paint contractors and provide a quality service in that regard. Being suppliers of all the stages of paint from primers to roof and waterproofing, they offer excellent advice, support and guarantees.
Tjhoko Paint was created after identifying the need for a unique chalk-based paint and as a result, the brand has been able to empower and employ many people.
Versatility is Success
As many know, Tjhoko Paint is an extremely versatile product and there are so many ways to use it. You will never look at the world the same way after trying Tjhoko Paint. You will see possibilities and new life for everything. If you can imagine it, you can Tjhoko it – furniture pieces, kitchen cupboards, stationery, clothing, fabric, metal items, pieces of paper or even plastic!
Going Virtual
Tjhoko recently participated in the Cape Town HOMEMAKERS Virtual Event and transformed Liz Meiring’s kitchen into a Micky and Minnie Mouse revamp which came with its own challenges and rewards. Nadine explained that the challenge with every brief is always the same. Pure, emotional angst. Because they are so passionate about the project, they feared that Liz may not have liked it as much as they did. But they were wrong! The most rewarding part was to create something exciting and playful but still sophisticated and, of course, the fact that she did love it as much as they had hoped.
Expecting nothing less than an out-of-the-ordinary theme from Liz and with high expectations from the Tjhoko Team, the audience was in awe!
Tjhoko It
Paint Master and Tjhoko Paint is opening a new concept store in Vereeniging and feels blessed to be able to create job opportunities as well as create a space that inspires and uplifts the mood. Not close to a Paint Master or Tjhoko Paint supplier? Find everything you need right here!
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Painting Tips for Beginners
Taking on the daunting task of painting is a big deal. Depending on how much you need to paint, the colours used, techniques attempted and how many hands that will help you, will make a big difference in the outcome. (more…)
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Painters on call
A good paint job will instantly transform your home from looking old and dilapidated to new and modern by adding real character and personality. Painting your home is not only for enhancement purposes, but it also acts as a defence against weather, insects and other potential threats. Regular painting is an important aspect of home maintenance to keep your property protected and to retain its market value.
When the time comes to repair and paint your home, many homeowners tend to go for the cheapest quotation which many times result in disaster and end up to be more expensive than what it should be. Painting a home is not just about attractive colours and a few paint rollers. All paint projects require knowledge, experience and skills to ensure a long-lasting finish.
It’s all in the preparation
To guarantee a long-lasting paint job, certain steps need to be taken. If these steps are not taken correctly, paint manufacturers will simply void the paint guarantee.
It is common for interior and exterior walls and ceilings to crack due to certain weather conditions. There are many types of cracks caused by various reasons and it is therefore important to investigate the source of the problem first. Once the source has been established, be it through water damage, dampness or structural fault – only then can the damage be properly fixed with the correct material and in the correct manner. Therefore intense water and damp proofing should be carried out followed by painting. If any of these steps are missed, the same or more cracks will surface not long after the completed project, leaving the project in a poorer condition, which will also be more costly.
It is also very important to use specific paints on certain textures and structures. Using the incorrect paint will shorten the length of time in which you need to renovate again. Using the correct, high- quality paint will ultimately cost you less over a period of time.
Following Precautions
It’s been a while since we could just pick up our phones and make a quick call to our local handyman. Not just because of COVID restrictions, but also because we are afraid to let people into our homes.
You can be assured that all the 0861NUTSMAN employees are equipped with the necessary personal protective equipment. Their staff have been thoroughly trained to sanitize and wash their hands frequently on the job. Team leaders ensure that all staff are monitored for COVID-19 symptoms and make sure their staff do not use public transport. You can also rest assured that all their equipment and tools are also disinfected after every job.
Did you know that 0861NUTSMAN is a vetted HOMEMAKERS supplier?
Keep an eye out for vetted clients in our directory!
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