Decorating Your Ceilings

The ceiling. It’s something we don’t tend to think much about unless we’ve got a crack in it or the water from the bathroom is suddenly spilling through. However, it’s one of the best places in the house to flex your creative muscle! We’ve talked about what to do with your floors, so let’s turn our attention upwards. It’s time to focus a little on the ceiling, and how decorating it can really bring a room together. You might feel like your space is a little empty if you have minimal possessions to your name (don’t worry, you can easily build on this!), and thus filling a room with a little more life is a must!

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Try Hand Painting

If you’ve got enough confidence in your ability with a paint brush, it’d be a good idea to take to painting any designs on yourself. Just imagine being able to look up at your ceiling and seeing an entire constellation there, or a misty woods full of flowers and sprites! Just like the Sistine Chapel, it can be a real work of art when you set your mind to it!

So if you’ve got the paint and a ladder that’s tall enough to get you within head height of the upper floor, try this idea out. Whatever you choose to do with your hand painted masterpiece, try to blend its colours in with the rest of the room. Darker shades work well for bedrooms, and neutral colours in the kitchen are always going to be popular with your marble or hardwood countertops.

Hang Up Some Curtains

If you hang up blackout curtains from the ceiling, you can easily separate one half of a room out from the other. This works particularly well in the bedroom, and can give your bed a little more privacy when you’re in it. Yet, you can hang curtains up anywhere in your house, and you don’t even need to use nails to do so.

It can be a great way to get some of your own space when it comes to other rooms as well, especially if you share a house. If the curtain is done, no one is allowed to enter! Then you can get on with whatever work needs doing.

Get into the Loft

Most houses and flats have some sort of loft to them, and if yours is big enough to stand up in, it doesn’t just have to be storeroom anymore. Maybe it’s a place where all your grandmother’s old dolls are kept, but they can be stacked neatly in boxes off to the side. It’s time for you to convert the rest of the space into a sitting room.

Whatever you choose to do with your new room will work wonders when you know you can be safe there. Look into Loft Panel Next Day Delivery to keep any essential wires (electricity) out of your face immediately.

Your ceiling doesn’t have to be left white or bumpy; try out these ideas!

Review: Jileon Wide Calf Boots

A few months ago I was afforded the opportunity to review a pair of wide calf wellington boots from Jileon

Now as any dog owner knows, wellington boots are not something that are not confined to the winter months, especially in the UK where weather can range from sunshine in the morning to pouring rain in the afternoon, with of course the snow we are experiencing at present.  They are of course also perfect for festivals where the mud is an ever present feature.

For me however, wellington boots are an essential to walk this little snow angel.

Now I said that I received these boots a few months ago and you may wonder why it has taken me so long to review.  The thing is with wellington boots is that you need time to make sure that they are right for you.  Are they comfortable?  Are they going to rub?  Do they support your ankles? Do they help you walk in mud, snow etc?

None of these questions can be answered with a single wearing. 

What I would recommend with these wellington boots from Jileon is to size down.  I am a size 6 and they were too big for me, even with wellington boot socks.  So for an accurate review I gifted these boots to my sister who is a size 7; and they fitted her perfectly.

 This was probably a bonus to this review to be honest as I can be a little "tippy toes" in adverse weather conditions whereas my sister takes her dogs out every day, tracking through mud, snow, streams; everywhere basically.

I asked her to wear the boots and give me an accurate reflection of what she experienced while wearing them.  Her thoughts were that they were supremely comfortable, a good fit on the ankle and had great traction.   All basically that you can ask from a wellington boot.

These are wide calf boots but there is also a belt buckle facility at the top which allows you to tighten/loosen depending on the clothing that you are wearing.  

Jileon offer boots at both the standard and wide fitting.  They also offer different wide fittings at the calf, from below calf. wide and extra wide.  They also offer usage options whether you want occasional use, to regular and hard wearing.

From both my trying them on and my sister using them on a regular basis I can confirm that the wide on the calf fitting is very accurate and the adjustable buckle at the top comes in very handy.  

I would not hesitate to recommend these wellington boots to someone else, just with the advice to size down in your shoe size in order to get the perfect fit.

*This item was gifted to me but all opinions are my own

5 Tips To Sort Out Your Finances

I used to be a couple and utter scatter brain when it came to money.  If I wanted something, I usually bought it, without thinking of the consequences to my bank account, or credit rating for that matter.

This lead to credit cards, loans and ended up in a situation where I could barely keep my head above the water; but my head was buried in the sand.  After getting paid one month and realising the day after that there was barely anything left, I realised that something needed to be done.

I was getting to a stage where I needed help paying bills, my credit card bill was sky high and the dollars coming in did not match what was going out.  I managed to remedy the issue and my debts over the next few years and picked up some tips along the way which I thought I would share with you today.

Find out just how bad it is

When you realise that you had gotten yourself into a situation, everything has to come out.  Find out exactly what you owe, just how many credit cards you actually have, what you are spending your money on every month.

The first thing that I did was to look over my bank statements and credit card bills for the past six months to look at what I had been buying.  I made a chart with my justifiable expenses on one side, and the extravagances on the other.  I bet that you can guess which side had more entries.

Make A Budget

Sounds basic, but when I say make a budget, I mean for everything.  Break down every cent that is coming in and list everything that has to come out and on what date.  Make a 30 day planner and write down when bills are coming out and how much for.  If you are buying your lunches, make them instead.  STOP BUYING EXPENSIVE COFFEE SHOP COFFEES!

Be honest with your credit providers

When I realised just how much I owed to my credit card providers and loan company, I started to look at debt management companies.  Many seemed to offer the same sort of service, for a fee of course, which involved going to your credit providers and negotiating a lower monthly payment and a halt on interest.  I decided to cut out the middle man and go to them direct.

I managed to get my credit card company to freeze my account and stop any more interest going on.  I was completely honest about what I could afford and made a payment plan with them which was management.  Remember, they want their money back, what they don't want is you to stop paying completely.

I managed to make a payment arrangement with all of my debtors, with varying degrees of helpfulness from them.  But it did ease the situation and enabled me to pay them back faster and without the worry of demand letters and Court judgments.

Save

If you are trying to pay off your debts, can you really save?  Yes, but start small.  I was given a large piggy bank styled as a fashion boots many years ago and decided to put it into action.  I only put the smallest denominations into the boot, pennies, cents etc whenever I had them in my purse.  It took around 6 months to fill the boot and I was presently surprised just how much it added up to.

I would like to say that I used the money to pay more off a bill, but I didn't.  I did use it to buy someone a birthday present so that still counts, right??

What I also tend to do is take advantage of discount opportunities and vouchers codes from places like Dealsdaddy and Dealsqueen.  There are always going to be things you need to buy at some point, so why not take advantage of a discount!

Sell

If you have been throwing your money around for the good few years, the chances are that you own more stuff that even thought.  Go through everything and be brutal.  Sell what you do not need or had forgotten that you had bought.  Stuff will only ever be stuff and does not enrich your life, or your bank account!

Finally, don't beat yourself up about it.  It does not help.

You got yourself into that situation and you will get yourself out.  It will take time, effort, concentration and a stranglehold on your finances for a while, but you will get there.

Fast forward a few years and my finances back in order and I am saving for the first holiday abroad in 8 years.   Time for a long awaited cocktail by the beach.  I think I have earned one.

*Collaborative piece