I’m talking interiors here folks, so if the headline has grabbed you for the wrong reasons, then I apologise (or maybe not – I’m happy to try any cheap attempt to get readers).

Kitchen renovations are never stress free and as I write this I would like to say I’m nearing the end of mine, but to be honest (and someone told me that’s a very brummie thing to say), I think I still have a few weeks to go judging by the pace my ever depleting building team are moving at.

However, whilst I’m not quite there yet, I would like to share with you how easy it is to add texture and a wow feature with a fake brick wall.

I’ve been posting pictures on Instagram Stories of my kitchen development and the stories that get the most questions are my brick wall. Brick slips are not a new phenomenon and I’ve been adding them to developments, particularly kitchen ones for the past 2 years.

This first set of pictures is from a full house renovation in Richmond, South West London.

Before picture (nice bike) – but please focus on the chimney breast.

Ta – da Look at the transformation from the simple brick slips (sorry – ignore lady getting in the way of my shot!)

These next pictures are from a kitchen extension (which was also part of a full house renovation) in Clapham.

You can see here the brick slips starting to go on the wall.

The finished wall (not finished kitchen though)

When I started my kitchen development the introduction of a faux brick wall was a feature that both myself and my partner agreed on. However, when I came to research buying the slips, my starting point was the same place I sourced them from for my clients.  However, when I added up how many I needed I came to the horrific conclusion that we couldn’t afford to have them on our development. Over a £1000 on brick tiles – and that’s not including the labour for a very time consuming jobby.

Matter of factly I told Brenden (said partner) that it was not happening, or if it did then maybe it could be to a lesser degree – maybe on the teeny tiny wall space either side of the patio doors. It’s only a small wall, so the cost would be less – right? Mr Grumpy (yes he’s been renamed 3 times now) was not happy and was not keen to budge. We had to have those brick tiles and something else in the budget would have to make room!!

So I set about researching cheaper alternatives.

Many samples later, eBay came up trumps. Click here to be directed to the eBay seller who saved my bacon. Delivery of samples was super quick. Then, when I ordered by 35 Square Metres – they arrived in a matter of days. Great for a last minute planner like me.

By the way, I tried cheap imitations like the concrete ones, but, urgh! they looked really cheap. I only sourced them from eBay so I’m not sure if there are credible ones out there. But they weren’t for me I’m afraid.

Anyway, the upshot is that my partner, Brenden, Mr Grumpy is now Mr Happy (for the moment), that’s when he’s not Mr Dust freak or Mr ‘haven’t they finished yet?’.

My new eBay sourced tiles are less than a third of the cost of my original source and for me the quality has not been compromised. Yippee, win win.

So, if you’re thinking of faking it yourself, then here are my top tips.

1. Shop around and bag yourself an eBay bargain.
2. When ordering, think about corner detail. I didn’t have any, but if you do have corners, you can get corner bricks slips too.
3. Estimate wall coverage and then add at least 10%. I added 15% because I expected breakages and because my measuring is usually very inaccurate. Also if you end up short (not in stature terms), then you end up paying extra for delivery and all your hard earned savings start to disappear.
4. Use a strong tile adhesive to stick them to the wall – but remember that the space between should emulate a real brick wall. Industry standard is 10mm – so we used left over 10mm thick ply as our spacers. Nothing like a bit of recycling rubbish for the building works.
5. Make sure the rows are level. We used a laser line, but a spirit level works just as well. Keep checking each row to make sure it stays level though.
6. Think about the colour of your pointing. Ask your builders if time permits, to mix a sample of the pointing. I didn’t have time, so I showed my builders the colour I wanted and I let them get on with it. Risky!! The pointing is the most time consuming part of the project. It has to be done properly. No holes allowed or else you’ll get problems later on.
7. Don’t forget you can use these brick tiles externally too, but make sure you use the right adhesive and grouting mix.

As I said before, my kitchen is not yet finished, but here are the progress pictures.

Please ignore the curtains in the background. They were left from the previous owners, plus that room has not been touched yet!! Focus on the wall……..

Here it is, complete with fake beam also. I just love faking it – don’t you?

Please pop back in a couple of weeks (hopefully not months) to see the final pics of the whole kitchen. Any questions, please comment or email me. Feel free to subscribe, so that my kitchen update just pops in nicely to your (already crammed with spam) email inbox.

cheerio me lovelies.

This blog post sets out my bedroom challenge. But first, let me give you an introduction to my current predicament.

I’ve recently moved into a house in the country. I moved from my cosy little house in South West London to a sprawling country home (well it is compared to my last place) in West Sussex which is a Victorian stables and Coach house and was turned into Residential accommodation 40 years ago by the previous owner.

When Brenden and I came to view the house in the Summer, it’s true to say we were blown away by the large garden and views over the South Downs, especially as we’d moved from a tiny house with a postage stamp garden and view of our neighbour’s side wall.

Even with my building and project management experience and armed with a full structural survey, we were literally blind to the amount of money we needed to spend on the house in order to bring it up to 21^st Century standards. To say we wore rose coloured specs is a massive under statement.

We are spending money at the moment like there is no tomorrow, but the house has come on leaps and bounds already. However, we do not have a bottomless pit of savings. We will not have enough to do everything. By a long stretch.

We still have a list as long as my arm on what NEEDS doing to the house, let alone what we’d LIKE to do to it.

I love seeing blog posts on how to revamp your rooms on next to no money at all. However I let out a small whimper. No one hears me.

I have a master bedroom with a permanent damp wall, which I know I have to hack all the plaster off and render and skim the wall before I tackle any painting. I have a utility room, with a structural crack down it which I could hide the family savings in (if of course we had any after this money pit). On the outside patio, indoor tiles have been used and it’s super slippy out there, my daughter has already gone flying after a rather zealous 2 footed jump onto the slightly damped and inappropriately tiled area. Then there’s the flat roof extension (which is not flat on the inside. I think I have painted a picture.

In my current financial predicament I would love to upgrade my rooms for next to nothing, but that can’t be done! Can it?

I have decided to set myself a challenge for the first quarter of this year. Don’t they say that you should write your challenges down and share them in order to make them happen.

I want to try and renovate my Master Bedroom for no money at all. Bearing in mind, the renovation costs for my other two bedrooms was around £1000 each (including labour, new carpets, cast iron radiator splurge, skirting board). I do not want to spend a penny on it.

So now it comes to how to do it for nothing. I don’t want it to look cheap. It’s got to look the dogs b@£%$*ks. I’ve come up with this 6 point approach to pimp out my bedroom.

1. I’ll be upcycling any freebies I can find or convince people to give me. I’m pretty good at painting furniture, but I want to be more like my instagram buddy in Bristol Marcie or lovely SE London furniture transformers Muck n Brass. Check them both out for inspo or purchases. Sorry guys – I’m mentioning you all over the place at the moment, but I’m totally in awe of what you do.
2. I will be making things myself – including curtains/ blinds/ decorations (ok, maybe not curtains. I’ve been on a curtain making course many years ago. The results are not HIGH END!).
3. Using free art wherever I can find it. (commission my 5 year old daughter maybe)
4. Of course making use of what I already have in the house (and stored in the garage, summer house, in boxes – you get the gist)
5. Enter competitions. Instagram is full of fabulous ones. I have won a couple of things on there in the last year. Sadly nothing for my bedroom, unless a Christmas wreath is the next bedroom accessory trend!
6. Lastly, and most excitingly I will approach companies/ PRs to be a part of the makeover. Of course, they will get something in return. This is the bit I’m most nervous about. What if they say NO (which most of them will of that I’m pretty sure). To be honest with you, half the time I’m afraid to ask random people for directions, so what’s the chances I’m going to approach anyone else. We’ll see. This is my biggest challenge.

The only thing I won’t be doing myself is plastering walls. But I’ll see if my current builders will do it as a favour to me, especially if I hack the plaster off myself.

If you want to see if I can do it, or watch me fail magnificently then please subscribe and I’ll give you regular updates on my progress. Of course, if you’re into Instagram stories, some bits will be featured on there too.

But for now, let me leave you with some of the images of my bedroom to wet your appetite, and see what I’m up against.

This was the bedroom when we viewed the house. Complete with built in wardrobes. Cute teddy – hey. That’s what sold us this house.

Here’s the bedroom with the built in wardrobes removed. I’ve de-spidered the walls here. Please don’t look under the bed (oh – no). And look at that delightful light fitting. Plus there are some worrying damp patches!

Bedroom is East facing, so lots of early morning light in here. But this laminate flooring squeaks – and even farts in some places! I would love a patio door to go where the window is, leading out to our hot tub! Yes of course, I am dreaming. A hot tub, for free – haha.

Here’s a pic including the original wooden beams from it’s previous life as a stable. I’ve started to take off the wallpaper already. Plus this bed has GOT TO go. It takes up way too much space with that footboard.

The room size is 4m x 3.5. So it’s not huge, but it’s much bigger with those fitted wardrobes removed.

Wish me luck on my challenge. Plus if you want to play along too, then let me know. I will feature your progress on my blog too if you want me to.

See you soon.

p.s. If you’ve managed to blag freebies. Please let me know your secrets. Everything helps.