Before & After: Turning My Tired Balcony Into My Own Kitsch Rooftop Botanical Bar For Under £250

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When we moved into our current home last year, one of the great things about it was a balcony you accessed from the living room. As we live on a hill it has great views (especially on Fireworks night.) It is also a total suntrap, so I want to utilise it this summer.

Yet before it could become my evening wine drinking haven, this balcony needed some proper DIY love. Its decking was worn and faded, the paint on the balcony doors weathered, but the worst problem was something I couldn't do anything about - wood-rot and damage to the neighbours property that was clearly visible. The balcony needed a tart up, and I needed to cover the neighbours wall damage from view....

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Using Faux-Marble Contact Paper On My Drinks Trolley

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You can't move for brass drinks trolleys in interiors right now. They are all over interior magazines and the blogs. I decided that I would make like Zayn Malik (who apparently has his own pub in his garden) and have a drinks trolley as part of my balcony re-vamp (although, unlike Zayn, this was more to do with having a child and never getting out anymore, as opposed to being a millionaire popstar). I managed to win this gold number on Ebay (top tip: if you are also after a drinks cart, type in 'tea trolley' and you are more likely to get a bargain)...

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Before & After: How I Created This Wall Panelling Look For Under £35

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When we moved into our house last year there was a problem with some damp on the lower floor. We called in the damp proofing people but we had real trouble with one interior wall in the hallway. The damp guys came back 3 times to try and fix the issue, with the final result being that the damp was eradicated but the hallway wall was left a total mess. Most of the wall had been drilled away numerous times to inject anti-damp treatment and even though I used a range of plaster repair tools and fillers, when the wall got a new coat of paint it still looked shoddy. What made it worse was that this wall was by the back door so the light shined on it all day highlighting all its imperfections..

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