First you should decide whether you want to frame your picture/ image as it is or want to add a border. Borders are useful if your artwork is small or if you want to frame an image in order to create a focal point. Use a mount that complements or contrasts the artwork. You can either buy a suitable ready-cut mount or make your own by cutting piece of  mounting card to the required size and cutting out a window to fit your image. Attach the image to the mount with masking tape..

Making the picture frame is an easy DIY job. Choose a suitable piece of wood and, using a mitre saw, cut it to sections to fit around your (mounted or not) picture. Allow for external mitres at the end of each piece in your calculations. Then glue and pin the four pieces together - use special corner-angled staples.

Now decorate your frame - use some filler at the corners if your cut isn’t perfect, then paint or varnish the frame to the desired finish.

Get a piece of glass cut - this should be slightly wider than the "window" in the frame. Then cut a piece of hardboard of the same size for the backing. Position the glass, the mounted (or not) image and the backing in place. Hold them there using strong tape or frame clips. Then attach two eyelets about two thirds up the sides of the back of the frame and connect a piece of wire or string through them and tie firmly.

You are now ready to hang your picture! If your picture is not too heavy, just use a picture hook which can be easily tapped into the wall with a hammer.

Tips for Interesting picture frames

Instead of the 45 degree mitre corners go for plain right-angles
Make a frame from raw or irregular pieces of wood
Play with proportions - add a thick frame or wide mounts to small images
Use unusual shapes - frame many images into one long, horizontal frame
Decorate your frame with objects that complement your image (for example a picture of the sea - decorate with some shells)
Give some glamour to your artwork - add some mirror pieces to the frame or paint it with pearly, glittery or metallic paint
Make your frames look timeless - limewash, age or gild them

You can also make funky picture frames out of paper. Read more about it!

Having made the picture frame you’ll need to make a strut for it to stand upright.

Cut the strut out of a piece of thick card - the length of it should be about half of the length of the frame.

The strut should be in the shape of a tie, like this:..

Cut a piece of your covering paper 3/8 in (1cm) larger at the sides and pointed end - on the top allow 1 1/4 in (3cm). Glue the strut into place with adhesive, then turn in the sides and the pointed end - leave the top extension free.

Cover the other side with some decorative paper - this will be the “wrong” side of the strut, so the extension will bend in this direction.

Cut a small piece of the covering paper 1 1/4 x 2 1/4 in (3×6cm) for the strut strap.  Fold this three times into a strip and glue. The strip should be 3/8 x 2 1/4 in (1×6cm). Fold this in half, crease the ends a little and apply some adhesive.  Glue the strap to the wrong side of the strut - about 2in (5cm) from the pointed end.

Now position the strut to the back of the frame. The pointed end of the strut should point towards the right corner of the frame. Do make sure that the strut does not overlap the corner of the frame - it should be a fraction in from it. First glue the extension bit of the strut to the frame, then the other end of the strap.

Your picture frame is now ready to stand.

Tips for decorating your frame

Buy some interesting covering paper: go to a specialist paper shop and look for hand made, textured, raw or vegetable paper. You can also utilize wrapping paper and wallpaper.

Instead of using a ready decorated paper for the frame, make your own decorative paper: use some tissue or lining paper and decorate it with pearls, glitter, collage, feather, stickers etc.

Recycle old magazines, newspaper, photos & wallpaper and make a collage on the front frame. 

Good Luck!

Read more about how to make your own picture frame - of paper or wood.

This is an easy paper craft project offering unlimited possibilities. You can use any type of paper - already decorated or ready to be customised. It’s an ideal gift if you want to give someone something that is made by you especially for them..

You’ll need the following materials and tools:

• Thick card for frame
• Paper for covering - printed, decorated or textured
• Plain lining paper
• Thin card  - for spacers
• Adhesive  - PVA is best
• Craft knife or scissors
• Ruler
• Cutting mat

1,Cut two pieces of thick card to the required size and cut a window in one of them. This will be the frame front. The size of the window should be a little less than one of the standard dimensions of photographs - 6×4 , 7×5, 9×6 in - or the size of the image you intend to put inside.  Make sure that the window is precisely in the middle of the card and that the remaining border is not too narrow.

Tip: allowing a larger border creates an interesting visual effect

2, Cut a piece of the lining paper to the same width as the frame but 3/4in (2cm) longer. Stick this to the other piece of the thick card (the frame back) turning & gluing the excess lining paper over the other side.

3, Cut spacers out of the thin card - this should be about ½ in (1.5cm). Cut two pieces of the same length as the frame and stick these onto the lined side of the frame-back, along the edges of the card. Cut a third piece of spacer - this should fit between the two other spacers and be positioned across the top of the frame.

4, Cut a piece of the covering paper - this should be 1 1/4in wider and longer than the frame front. Put the frame front onto the paper (that is, up-side-down) and draw around the window. Remove the frame and draw another window about 3/8in (1cm) inwards from the other window. Cut out this smaller window with a craft knife.

5, Cover the frame front with adhesive and put it back carefully onto the covering paper. Use your window drawing as a guide and smooth over. Cut into the corners of the window with a craft knife, the fold and glue the wings turned back onto the wrong side of the frame. Then cut off the corners of the decorative paper, allowing for the thickness of both the front & back frame. Glue only the bottom wing back to the front.

6, Apply adhesive to the spacers on the frame-back and glue this to the frame front. Make sure that you put them together the right way (the bottom of the frame back does not have a spacer). Then, using adhesive, stick the remaining turnings in place. This will hide the joins on three sides, the forth side (the bottom) will be used to slip the picture into place. Finally, cut another piece of the decorative paper, which should be about 3/8in (1cm) less in length & width than the overall size of the frame. Glue it neatly to the back side of the frame.

The next article will tell you how to make a strut for a paper picture frame.

Kitchen Furniture

Your kitchen furniture should complement the rest of the scheme. - for example,  a retro kitchen table will not fit within a Tuscan style kitchen! It’s always good to have a table in your kitchen - even if you prefer a separate dining room. If your kitchen is too small, try to incorporate a breakfast bar with stools or a small caf? table with two chairs. If you have the space, it’s useful to have a kitchen island or a bar which can also be used as extra work surface, a breakfast bar or for others to sit around chatting to you whilst you cook. Use Chrome bar stools for modern kitchens and wooden ones for rustic or ethnic styles… If you don’t want to get a new dining set, buy unfinished kitchen cabinets and paint / varnish them to suit your existing tables & chairs!

Kitchen lighting

Lighting is often overlooked, yet it’s a very important element of a successful kitchen. Make sure you have good under-cabinet lighting, cabinet lighting and a main lighting. The most important place is the counter-top where you prepare food - the work surface, the sink & cooktop (or hob). These areas should have directional lighting - low voltage recessed or tracked light are ideal. The lighting above a kitchen island is also important - consider track lighting or a row of pendant lights.  Don’t forget to think about moods. If you use your kitchen as your dining room or your family room - the lighting system should be dimmable. If your kitchen is purely used for cooking - choose at least one light (perhaps in the cabinets) to have a dimmer switch.  Find kitchen lighting stores in our DIY Stores section.

To add extra WOW  - you could put a colored rope light on top of the cabinets to create the right atmosphere for evening entertainment…

Kitchen Decor

A successful kitchen is one that is well designed and where the details work together. I have seen many kitchens ruined by the d?cor details - the color scheme, the window treatment, the kitchenware etc… The kitchen wall decor must complement or contrast the color of cabinets & other furniture  -  remember,  it’s the tone of the color, not the hue, that matters  ( read more about how to decorate with color). The kitchen window treatment must also complement the colors of cabinets or walls - for example, an aluminium Venetian blind is not suitable for a country style. Think about other details - the splash-back, the switches & sockets, the handles & other fittings. If you have a brushed aluminium switch - your door handles should not be brass. Finally, don’t put the wrong kitchenware & small kitchen appliances on display - rustic style objects should only be used in a country kitchen, whilst high-tech gadgets only work well with modern kitchen d?cor.

If you need help as to what color to paint your kitchen, why don’t you ask our interior designers or other DIY Together members in our forum?  Or read other articles about kitchen remodeling, kitchen supply, small kitchen design.

I have talked about the basic principles of kitchen design and the factors that determine the final result - just to remind you: budget, space & time. However, when you have a small kitchen, remodeling is mainly space determined, which means you have to be clever with design.

Small kitchens are actually more time-consuming than big kitchens -not just on a conceptual level - but on a practical level too. Everything has to match, fit and work out spatially - whilst bigger layouts are more forgiving of mistakes and inaccuracies..

Designing small kitchens

Forget magazines, forget trends, forget ads. Your driving force must be practicality. Having said that, most people design a small kitchen with low and upper cabinets  - in a U or L shape. I have a different approach -  which creates an illusion of space as well providing plenty of storage and work surface.

1, First zone your kitchen and the way you use the kitchen. Then you translate this zoning into a spatial format i.e. cabinets and activity areas (juicing, cooking, washing, coffee-making and so on) Obviously the activity zones should have the appropriate kitchen appliance together with a cabinet for the required kitchenware.
 
2, Get a piece of paper and start drawing these cabinets and areas on top of each other. Most kitchen design companies show plan drawings to clients - which most people can’t visualise. It’s best to draw elevations (front views). Even better,  use your kid’s lego (or jenga, or match-boxes or CD / DVD cases) and start building a 3D wall of cabinets according to your zones. Scale doesn’t matter at this point - just use your imagination and organise things around it. Then measure up your kitchen space and try to fit your arrangement into the scaled version (cut out scaled card-board pieces). You’ll have to compromise, you’ll probably have to move things around. But you’ll get there…

Small Kitchen layout

Instead of the usual L or U shapes try the corridor kitchen. If possible, try to create one streamlined wall of units - from floor to ceiling. To save space (or if you are short of space), build your streamlined wall of just upper cabinets. Most small kitchen appliances fit in these cabinets, as do plates, glasses and groceries. Deep cabinets are only needed for or next to appliances - such as refrigerators, dishwashers and ranges - so try to locate these on the opposite wall.  However, if you can build a deep wall of cabinets - install some wall ovens, built-in refrigerators and other appliances. Consider having a couple of recesses or rolled-up units within this wall of cabinets - these can provide extra work-surface or/end have your toaster, coffeemaker, kettle, breadmaker, juicer etc plugged in and ready to use.

On the opposite wall you should not have any wall cabinets - only base units & under-counter appliances - the range (or cooker), dishwasher, cooktop (or hob) etc. Leave the wall alone - just have a range (cooker) hood and a few cooking tools to hang on a rail. Why? Because this will create the illusion of space. If you put upper cabinets there, the kitchen will seem small and cluttered. The other side, the "wall of units" should provide enough storage space. Make sure your worktop is clear of clutter -  do not have any gadgets or jars on display - have these on the other side within their own zones.

Remodeling a small kitchen takes more time and effort. The next article will tell you have to use colors and materials to maximise space. In the meantime read about kitchen decor.

In my experience, the most successful kitchens I’ve designed have been those where I’ve used the concept of "zoning"..

What is zoning?

I investigate my clients’ lifestyle and design a kitchen accordingly by creating zones for certain activities & storage. For example, those who do juicing daily get a juicing zone - an area where the juicer fits easily and is near to the sink & waste-disposal. Those who drink tea & coffee a lot get a "coffee zone" - an area where the kettle / coffeemaker sits, with a cabinet next or above for mugs & cups, tea & coffee. I like to fit these areas into a roll-up cabinet - or make a feature out of them by leaving them open (doorless) and cover the sides and back with contrasting materials, such as hardwood, glass or aluminium. They become a sort of window - see examples below.

The next stage is to zone storage: how many pans and cookware you have? More importantly, how many do you need? Anything you don’t need, give away or put them on the top shelves. Depending on what sort of lifestyle you lead, zone your grocery into groups  - biscuits & treats, breakfast stuff, pulses,  pasta, baking etc… then think of them as cabinets. Then do the same with pots, plates, glasses, utensils, cutlery etc. By now you’ll have a pretty good idea how many cabinets you’ll need.

Then you have to zone the activity areas. Think about where you need the spices most, where you use plates the most, where you prepare food, where you make coffee. Also, do you bake cakes, do you juice, do you use a bread-maker? If you do any of these regularly, these small appliances will need to have their own permanent areas. 

When you’ve considered all the above, you’ll need to translate it into a spatial format.  Get a piece of paper and draw elevations of your walls - not a plan!  Elevations are front, vertical views of walls - as opposed to a floor plan. Then cut out the cabinets from another piece of paper  (obviously the drawing scale and cabinet scale should be the same - i.e. if your elevation is 1:10, so should be your cabinets) - and start arranging them with your zoning in mind.  Make sure your zones are as near as possible to the kitchen appliance they require - i.e. a juicing zone should be next to the sink, the tea & coffee cabinet next to the coffee making machine and so on… Eventually things will fit together, like a puzzle, and you’ll get to a pretty good arrangement  - although sometimes you’ll have to compromise, but that’s part of the game.

When you remodel a small kitchen, zoning is even more important - you might need to have double-functioning zones, but only do this if it’s not too much of a hassle to change from one activity to the other  - otherwise you’ll give up on one of them, for sure!

Go back to article about kitchen remodeling ideas, or kitchen remodeling space!

Examples::

(more to come…) 

When you decide to remodel your kitchen, the three most important elements you should consider are space, time & budget. Only having thought about these should you start thinking about style & d?cor. So don’t get the brochures just yet - first examine these issues. The three elements are correlated but let’s examine them separately - staring with the last..

Budget

Your money is your driving force - with an unlimited budget anything is possible, but unfortunately not many of us are that lucky! Be realistic with your budget. Always remember the golden rule of property development: you should not spend more than 10% of the value of your house on remodeling (and the kitchen is just one room in the house!) The good news is that good kitchens add the most value to a property, so it’s worth spending the money on quality fittings & appliances. Having said that, don’t go overboard. If you’re planning to use your new kitchen for less than ten years don’t buy the 
most expensive products - there are always cheaper or "compromise" alternatives!

Save money. You can economise in several ways - you can do lot’s of the work yourself; reuse existing cabinets & fittings; use natural (yet hard-wearing) materials. Balance is the keyword - mix expensive-looking details (that are on display) with cheaper products that will be invisible. For example, buy flat-pack cabinets from home improvement stores or IKEA and make customised doors for them - or if you like their door range, just get some interesting-looking handles elsewhere to spice them up. A good thing about this solution is that base-units or carcasses very rarely get damaged - yet, if your doors get damaged over the years, they’ll be easy and cheap to replace! Then add a granite, glass or hardwood worktop - and you have a kitchen with the wow-factor. Even tiles can be utilised on worktops (this is even cheaper) - but do not use a melamine worktop - that just oozes cheapness and tackiness.

Choosing kitchen appliances can be very daunting - they are now getting "intelligent", which actually means the are testing our intelligence… A year ago I specified one of those intelligent fridge-freezers for a project -  the clients still haven’t figured out how these extra amazing functions work. When it comes to appliances, always go for medium range stuff, things that are "good value". Good value is not necessarily the best - nor the most expensive. It’s tempting to get seduced by all those buttons and functions - but you will find you only use the basic ones! Do research and find out how reliable they are, how ecological & economical they are - and how much they cost at various suppliers. 

The second most important element of remodeling a kitchen or creating a good kitchen is space. Consider the idea of relocating your kitchen to another part of the house or into an extension. If these are not possibilities - then design itself can be your magic weapon. With good design you can create an excellently functioning & looking kitchen. The next article explains how to do this.

laying reclaimed flooring

Here are the pictures of the parquet floor as it was left by the floor layers. The floor-laying was almost completed. They worked on it for ten days and did a good job. I don’t understand why they decided to leave after ten days of work!

I have found another guy who is coming on Monday and will finish laying the edges.

Then the floor will be sanded at least twice, the gaps between the tiles will have to be filled (the parquet bits are old and some are uneven), then sanded again lightly. This will be followed by two coats of polyurethane varnish.

I don’t know how long this will take - but I really want a proper floor and a proper kitchen! I think I  had enough take-aways

It’s a total mess, isn’t it? The pictures above show the kitchen - the picture below will be the lounge or sitting room…

I’ve written many times before about the basic rules of successful interior design - but when it comes to decorating a child’s room, it’s another ball-park. This is the place where you can let your creativity go wild and experimental. This is the room for themes, colors and extremes..

However, this doesn’t mean that there no rules. Obviously different criteria apply when your children have a separate bedroom and playroom or if they have only one room in which they play & sleep. Whichever way it is, the two most important issues to consider when decorating a room for kids are practicality and storage. Everything else should be built on these - even the themes, finishes and details. What I mean is - if you want a certain theme for the room - first think about the space, then furniture, storage and furnishing. Only then should you start thinking about decoration. Most people seem to do it the other way round.

Also, consider your children. Most of us decorate our children’s room the way we like it or the way our childhood room used to look - or we wished it to have looked. This is not the right start. Talk to your children and zoom in on their imagination. Together come up with a theme -  but do avoid movie & story themes like Spiderman, Harry Potter, Starwars etc. These are popular now - two years on you’ll have to redecorate! So try to have a general theme - like jungle, seaside or the universe (so all those Starwars ornaments & freebies will fit in for now). 

Decorating kids bedrooms

If your kids play and sleep in the same room, storage & flexibility must be your priority. Invest in good quality furniture - untreated pine or even MDF that you can decorate and later redecorate. Buy a bed that either has draws or an extra bed underneath, or at least enough space for some under-bed storage. Bunk beds are ideal for multi-functioning kids rooms.

Instead of individual wardrobes or cupboards you should create a streamlined wall-to-ceiling storage/wardrobe system along one of the walls. This can accommodate storage for toys, cloths and could even include a pull-out desk. The doors can be decorated to fit with your chosen theme.
 
Then add some seating area - either some soft big cushions or chests that can also be used for toys. Make sure you use easy-maintenance materials i.e. wipe-able & machine washable. Have plenty of hooks for children to hang their stuff and magnetic areas for displaying their artwork. Use open shelves sparingly - the more shelves you provide for them the more junk they will collect (and the more dusting for you)  .  Here is a list of online kids furniture stores.

Decorating kids playrooms

The same basic rules apply as for bedrooms - except the bed is not a necessary part of the furniture here - although you might consider getting a sofabed for when your children’s friends stay over.  In a playroom, organisation and zoning are the most important issues. Create a good storage system for different types of toys & games and make sure they are in easy reach. Instead of a theme I recommend creating a feature or interactive wall where kids can add or create their own artwork or play games on. You can use and combine blackboard paint with magnetic paint to achieve this. Then maybe add a dartboard, basketball hoop or punch-bag.  Although having a computer or telly is a must these days for  a playroom, don’t let them be the focus points of the room - encourage your kids to create their own TV or games on their interactive wall. Put the TV/PC into a foldaway cabinet - out of sight… out of mind (hopefully).

Being a designer myself, when I hear the label "designer" attached to a product I get excited yet suspicious at the same time. When it comes to rugs - what is difference between a designer rug and a contemporary rug or traditional rug? Is a designer rug actually unique and of better quality - or just more expensive because of its label?

Having searched on the net, it seems that designer rugs either have a famous artist or designer’s name attached to them or have some strong bold patterns to justify the word "design". Indeed some of them look like they have been designed, but rather badly - in fact some of them verge on the edge of vulgarity.

Proper designs don’t need the word designer attached to them, because good design speaks for itself. Nor does it require a famous name or a fashion house label.

When you choose an area rug the important thing to consider is practicality - is it for a busy area or a relatively unused space? Most people spend more money on a rug for a heavy-trafficked area, because they assume more expensive means better quality and therefore less prone to wear and tear. Well, not always - particularly as far as rugs are concerned.

For everyday rooms just get a cheap and cheerful area rug - something that can be chucked away after a couple of years. Because you’re not buying something to last long, you do not need superior quality. And you can get something fashionable and trendy  - in couple of years the interior design trend will have changed so you’ll be able (and perhaps have to) update your room accordingly with a new rug! If you don’t spend too much on your rug now, you won’t feel guilty about having to chuck it away.

However, when it comes to formal or occasional rooms, do invest in something more expensive. It’s best to choose a rug that has a timeless design. Look at antique oriental rugs - or even contemporary designs.  The most important criterion is quality - don’t pay a premium because it has a designer label on it - you just be paying for the name, not necessarily the quality.

As to bold patterns, stripes and themes - these can be suitable for kids’ & teens’ rooms. I’ll put together a list of best value rugs for kids in the near future.  Do be careful about rugs that have too many colors, patterns & shapes - not only are these rather contrived but they do overpower a space and they can make your eyes restless.

I have checked out hundreds of designer rugs that are available online. These are what I consider the best buy  designer rugs.