When I recall school-dinners three things come to mind. First, searching through the pile of plastic trays to try and find one free of baked-on food remnants. Second, the dinner ladies’ signature cheese-flan, and third, the little glass tumblers for our juice. I...
The Grundtal kitchen organiser series is one of Ikea’s classic lines, a simple, modern and practical storage system with a ‘professional kitchen’ look. We’ve already got a couple of rails for pots and pans – see blurry background in photo above – and I...
Since moving into our house I have been steadily building up a ‘stable’ of power tools. My approach has been to save up for good quality tools and buy them when I can, though borrowing (on permanent loan) from a generous dad has also proven fruitful. I’ve...
If I have to live with stair gates for most of the next decade I’d rather they looked good, so I’ve gone in search of some more attractive DIY solutions – turns out plenty of parents feel the same way and have taken matters into their own hands: 1. DIY...
I wondered the other day what our area might have looked like around the time our house was built 124 years ago. I thought to myself wouldn’t it be cool if there was a website where I could tap in our postcode and instantly be presented with a high-resolution, colour,...
Filling up the entire bay in our front room with a window seat felt like quite a committing project, but the arguments have been stacking up: 1) Every time my wife encounters a window seat – in a house we are visiting, on the telly, or in a magazine – she...
The days of Gregor’s cot acting as effective containment are numbered. Given his ability to scale a step-ladder, open the front door, and use a stool to grab that just-out-of-reach bit of cake on the kitchen sideboard, it is only a matter of days before he vaults the...
Show me a toddler that doesn’t love a sandpit. They’ve got to be up there with paddling pools at the pinnacle of garden entertainment. Plus they have the added bonus of not requiring constant supervision. So you can send your toddler forth, armed with bucket and...
This sandpit with fold out benches is an absolute gem of a DIY project. It’s a brilliant yet remarkably simple design that can be done start to finish in a couple of evenings – and all for less than £80. The catalyst for this particular job was my wife’s threat to buy...
No house that is been standing for 100+ years is going to be in perfect nick, so when viewing a period property there is always an element of judgment about what you are happy to live with, how much you want to take on, and how much making the necessary changes will...
