How To Tackle A Major Renovation Job

The idea of taking on a project and moulding a home to my tastes


has always appealed, so when I first visited  our future home on a bright spring morning  , I


knew that beyond the embossed wallcovering, it had tons of potential  . After seeing lots of pokey flats, I was also


excited about the prospect of being able to afford a house with a garden  . As my sister, Helena, and I had decided to buy


a place  together  , it was great to finally be on the


property ladder after years of us both renting in London . Although my


sister and I were keen to begin the transformation, there was a bewildering


sense of what shall we do first?  As I stood in our empty house, the realisation


dawned that it was going to take a Herculean DIY effort . With every weekend devoted to DIY, the bedrock


renovations took us about a year  . It was a relief to get to the


stage where  we could tackle some pleasant jobs  – and for the next few months we focused on the bedrooms so we had


somewhere serene to retreat . We kept the paint tones earthy and had the floors fitted with seagrass  for a natural feel . I went for a


calming Eastern theme inspired by my habitat cherry tree wall lights and Japanese prints I found in a junk


shop . We even managed  to carry this eastern


inspired theme through with our accessories. We have always been great fans of scented candles, so we chose some by


our favourite brands such as


Voluspa, Yankee candles and True Grace candles. However our friend then introduced


us to a safer, more


convenient alternative to candles, namely the reed diffuser. There is something


very oriental about the way these look, with their thin


rattan reeds soaring upwards out of an ornate glass or pottery bottle, that


fitted perfectly with the look we were aiming for .There are lots of other ways to emphasise this slightly oriental look. Perhaps the most obvious would be to invest in some small bonsai trees which are so typically Japanese. Another good thing to choose is an Orchid. Although these are now grown all around the world they still have that eastern look about them that many people finds so appealing. Chinese prints or calenders are also a cheap but effective way to convey thart hint of eastern mysticism.










































The author owns the Scented Candle Store, specialising in candles as well as other home fragrance products like the reed diffuser.