A bit of make do and mend

[Moopmoop]

Who has been watching Kirstie Allsopp's fill your house for free? I've quite enjoyed watching it as it has reminded me that we should make do and mend more. Stupidly I used to be quite frivolous when it came to money but a while back when my partner was made redundant from his well paid job I had to come back down to reality with a thud. My partner then got a job working for a skip hire firm and things are the total opposite of how we used to live, he brings lots of things home that has been thrown out when they are still in good condition.

Anyway, waste not want not, he came home a few weeks ago with 4 tins of magnolia emulsion, none of my walls currently need/can be painted so at a loss as to what to do with the paint I came up with an idea. Instead of buying a new stair carpet (which we did need) I bought a few brown tester pots of paint and mixed them with the magnolia, I'm now in the process of painting the wooden stairs a lovely mocha colour at a total cost of £2.20. I did splash out £20 and buy some brown carpet treads which should make the stairs safer to walk on and complete the look. I've saved at least £100 minimum which makes me a happy bunny.

[Nannysally99]

Well, I work in a charity shop, we get given all sorts of stuff and much to my husbands despair, I buy lots of it.

[arpoet]

I have been banned from looking in other peoples skips. Mind you, I have my eye of 2 huge pallets that had plasterboards on.... ideal for a fence.

[Nicos]

I noticed it on the TV a few nights ago and have watched 3 of the programmes....and really enjoyed them!
There are a few things I really liked the idea of...and some I thought were a bit rough.

I adore car boot sales for picking up old stuff and using them in my craft work!

I hate the disposable society which seems to exist...such a waste of money and resources .

[veggiechicken]

Well done Moop - that's a brilliant idea for your stairs. Bet it looks fantastic.
My idea of heaven would be to free-range around skips and council dumps. So much useful stuff to be re-purposed instead of being added to landfill.

[ButternutSquash]

I restore old furniture from the sixties and seventies, thus far only Ercol. It looks like new once done. Local auctions are the best source. Once furniture is used, it plummets in value. Some old stuff is very well made. I hope to start on an elm chest of drawers from ~1960 today.

If you do DIY, ultimatehandyman.co.uk and diynot.co.uk are very good.

[veggiechicken]

Ercol, G-Plan etc, all the old "teak" furniture is much better made than some of the modern stuff. Looks good too.

[Jeanied]

My latest make do and mend is to re-make some feather pillows with new down proof cambric - at the moment I have washed the old feathers and have had them dry out on the washing line in batches in a pillow case. I will soon be ready for the messy job of stuffing the new covers Good feather pillows are expensive new, and they last for ages - much longer than the synthetic ones.

[Nannysally99]

My latest make do and mend is to re-make some feather pillows with new down proof cambric - at the moment I have washed the old feathers and have had them dry out on the washing line in batches in a pillow case. I will soon be ready for the messy job of stuffing the new covers Good feather pillows are expensive new, and they last for ages - much longer than the synthetic ones.

Flipping heck Jeanied, you are brave lol. I would get into such a mess with test, feathers everywhere. Mind you, Rosie will have fun

[Jeanied]

The trick is to get them wet and wash them well, NS - then they don't fly everywhere. Dry in batches in pillowcases on the line, then insert the neck of the pillowcase into the new pillow cover, shake the dry feathers in. It helps if Rosie is asleep in her crate

[Alison]

The idea of using old stuff with a twist is great and can look brilliant however the stuff that they've done on the KA series is almost all terrible, at least 90% of it looked better before they started. Not seen them all so may have missed the odd gem but was amused to see chairs identical to our dining chairs turn up. Apparently they've very dated and nobody would want them. We're very happy with them and the only change I'd made was to recover the seats a couple of years ago. Maybe we're old and dated too

[mothhawk]

My mum was married in 1940, so she and my dad eventually set up home with Utility furniture. For those too young to remember, during and after the war new furniture was rationed and was restricted to newly-weds and people who had been bombed out. Wood was scarce, so the designs were severe and plain to use scarce timber efficiently. It was made of solid oak.



Seventy years later, it's been painted white and has different handles, but Mum still uses it. Definitely built to last

[greenishfing]

I daren't watch. I definitely daren't let my husband watch. We live in a small flat and I am constantly trying to get rid of hoarded "rubbish". I need to get through the front door.

I've nearly got his "symptoms" book to the charity shop. A hypochondriacs daydream!!!! It's in a carrier bag with some other old books at the moment.

[Moopmoop]

I daren't watch. I definitely daren't let my husband watch. We live in a small flat and I am constantly trying to get rid of hoarded "rubbish". I need to get through the front door.

I've nearly got his "symptoms" book to the charity shop. A hypochondriacs daydream!!!! It's in a carrier bag with some other old books at the moment.

You know the saying, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Everything that we get rid of will be wanted by someone else in the world. As long as it goes to a charity shop and not the bin it's all good getting rid of what you don't want.

We do live in a very wasteful world, my brother used to work for a recycling company and they were responsible for sorting out he rubbish that came from our council recycling bins. He used to have a field day too, he came home with full bottles of aftershave, watches, dvd's and many other things I can't remember.

[ButternutSquash]

Ercol, G-Plan etc, all the old "teak" furniture is much better made than some of the modern stuff. Looks good too.

Old G-Plan is very good. Modern furniture tends to be chipboard, with veneers.