Sunday 22 February 2015

My Bargain (of the home improvements variety!)

So I normally share my clothes shopping habit however my shopping habit doesn't stop there.  You could put me in a supermarket (especially foreign ones, I love foreign ones) if there were no other shops and I would still be happy!  The hunt for a bargain mainly drives the habit.  Winter months I do tend to hibernate a little, especially after Christmas so I've been focusing on lots of little homely updates.  This post is just a little idea a friend had for my fireplace that has cost me minimal yet made me love it - when I previously did not.  I've never had a fireplace and have wanted to rip my gas fire out since we moved in 4 years ago.  Several different logistical reasons stopped us and after painting the surround when we first moved in, I still kept looking at it in disgust.  

The sample
I looked at fully opening up our chimney and putting a log burner in - my end goal, but a costly one.  At well over £1500, this was not the house we wanted to spend that kind of money on.  So my friend suggested tiling over the marble surround.  Back in December I found a tile I loved but as always, you've guessed it, I wasn't happy with the £70 price tag to do it.  I searched and searched and waited a little longer.  £30 later, they were mine!


My husband and I are no DIY experts, we avoid it if at all possible but when it saves us a fair bob or two, we are always willing to try.  This wasn't the easiest thing to do (and only my hubbies second ever attempt at tiling - the week prior was the bathroom!) and required all our hands to keep them in place whilst placing the next ones up etc (they slid a little!).  There was a reason my girls didn't play in the playroom that day - that marble run came in great use!  We used normal tile adhesive after scouring the marble and left the first lot to set over night. 



The jug was £1.70 from Homebase and the pot from Ikea £1.90 - not sure what I'm doing with this yet, it's just very similar to my wall colour so I had to buy it!
By night my candles are lit and lights twinkling
There were a few other samples I had ordered to try, this one being one of them.  My husband came up with the idea of backing this with some felt/padding......hey presto, some new coasters!  So yes, at 45p a tile, I've ordered a few more!


A little random post from me but if you have a fireplace and you don't like, for minimal spends there are ways to change it.  I also ordered some more fake pebbles from ebay (mainly due to my youngest nibbling them as a baby) which were £10.  The cream grout was £5 so for £45 my fireplace is now a lot more pleasing on my eye.

16 comments:

  1. Wow that looks amazing. Just goes to show if you have the eye, you don't need to spend a small fortune x

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    1. Thanks Donna. Don't get me wrong, I would love to use the chimney and put a real one in there, just can't justify on this house :( x

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  2. Replies
    1. Thank you Jane, am very pleased with the end results considering what I've spent!x

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  3. Love this post Natalie! I've done all my homes on a budget (too busy spending the money on clothes previously and now the boys cost a fortune - so I have to be thrifty).

    I love the tiles on the fireplace - they have a touch of the Moroccan about them. Very cool.

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    1. Yep, thrifty all the way! Thank you, they do don't they?! x

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  4. it looks so pretty, you have had the cold bug too haven't you? it does seem to make to everyone 'nest', mine's lasted 3 weeks and the house has never looked better (although I look like death warmed up).

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    1. Yes, tonsillitis but think it's more the darker months and I've actually used the fire more than ever this Winter. x

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  5. That's sensational! I'm hugely impressed because the true DIYers say that tiliing is the hardest job of all to get right. Hats off to you!

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  6. What a transformation. Huge pats on the back for you and Hubby. xx

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  7. Love it, but I always loved it beforehand too xx

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  8. What an ingenious idea and so professionally done (I especially like the use of the marble run!) It looks fab! x

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    1. Hats off to the husband - he has had some praise for it, must stop now! Don't tell my girls about their marble run.......x

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