We just got back from a long weekend in the south west that ended up being unintentionally unplugged when I discovered our accommodation didn’t have reception. Well. That was alarming. How am I supposed to relax without watching Tiktoks of animals who think they are humans? I should have paid more attention when our accommodation’s
Happier Home
Making Home Safer: Swann Security Review
This post was sponsor-supported by Swann Security. All views and opinions expressed in this piece are my own and unaltered. Thanks for supporting my blog and sponsors. It wasn’t all that long ago when home video security systems were thought of as something that only wealthy people could afford; protecting mansions in ritzy areas. But
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DIY
Painting a Frozen-Inspired, Rosemaling Wardrobe
The idea of painting Miss Nerd’s built-in wardrobe to make it look like a Frozen-inspired cupboard had been lurking in my head for a while. So when Dulux approached me earlier this year to see if I’d be keen to work with them to create some social media content to help showcase their Dulux Colour
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Advice
How to Choose the Perfect Cabinet Handles and Hardware (and a Giveaway!)
This post was sponsored by Manovella. Thanks for supporting my blog’s wonderful sponsors. There are so many decisions to be made when you are renovating an older home or building a new house – if you’ve ever felt a little conflicted or stuck, you won’t be alone! Choosing colours, materials and things for your home
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Happier Home
How We Made Our Old House Warmer
Who’s feeling the cold right now? Yes, I know the whole running joke about people in winter in Perth, where it gets to 16 degrees (60 Fahrenheit for those of you overseas) and people start squawking and moaning that they’re freezing to death. To give people overseas an idea, it never snows in Western Australia.
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Advice
8 Expert Tips to Film a Great Home Tour Video
This post was sponsored by Ted’s Camera Stores. Thank you for supporting my blog’s wonderful sponsors. Wow, Perth – what a crazy time to sell a house! The real estate market in WA – well really, the real estate market in most of Australia – is going nuts at the moment. In some parts, homes
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DIY
How to Stencil Paint an Old Concrete or Tiled Floor
Sometimes I think of a renovating or DIY project and then I become weirdly obsessed with the idea until I get to carry it out. And something I’ve always wanted to try is stencil painting an old concrete or tile floor. I always thought that stenciling looked like fun. (My idea of fun might be
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DIY
How to Paint an Old Concrete Driveway
Guys, don’t think that just because I have a house blog that I’m always super gung-ho about getting started on our long list of things we want to fix up here. That is definitely not the case. I procrastinate a lot, sometimes because I’m scared of making the wrong choice, because I just can’t make
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Before & After
A Resourceful Makeover for my Mum’s Guest Bed (my old teen bedroom!)
For much of my adult life, I’ve had the same recurring dream; I’m in a big house and I discover a secret passage or a secret room. It’s always quite thrilling and I always wake up feeling vaguely disappointed that there is absolutely no chance that my 1970s brick 3 x 2 in Perth suburbia
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Home Projects
Our Cubbyhouse Makeover
Pass me that mother of the year baton, guys. I don’t get to have it too often, but I totally deserve to hold it for a good minute or two. I won a cubbyhouse! I won it late last year through an Instagram competition held by a local Perth cubbyhouse company called Kidzshack. To enter,
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Home Projects
Spray Painting Our Old Colorbond Sheds
Recently I tackled a DIY project at our place that had been on my to-do list for a LONG time – spray painting our old Colorbond sheds black. Woohoo! I know they are just sheds, but they look SO much better now that it legitimately thrills me. I had it in my head for months
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Home Projects
How to Make An Amazing Succulent Bowl
If you have ever admired a pretty succulent bowl but thought they looked too tricky to make one at home (or that you’d kill it anyway) I have good news! Succulent bowls are super-easy to put together; and even if you’re a total black thumb with plants, you can keep one alive and thriving, I
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DIY
How To Make DIY Wallpaper from An Old Book
This post was first published on my original blog format on November 17, 2014. Today I’m going to share a very easy DIY project – one that I think is maybe my favourite DIY project ever. I feel like everyone should do this to their home, partly because it is so easy, but mostly because
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Home Projects
Our Budget Nursery Makeover: Miss Nerd’s Room
Not everything about writing a blog is fun and roses. But one of the things I love most about blogging being a part of my life is that it gives me so many kicks up the butt – deadlines and incentives to finally get my act together and do something. I need these kicks up
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Home Projects
How To: DIY Beautiful Shampoo and Bathroom Bottles
There’s nothing like stepping into your beautiful, blissful bathroom renovation, carefully designed in a minimalist colour palette of tasteful neutrals… only for your eye to be immediately drawn to the stash of colourful, garishly labelled shampoo and conditioner bottles in your shower. Am I being a little OCD? Yeah, I know it’s a first world
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Advice
How to Clad Over a Double Brick House
Since we have started our project to rejuvenate the exterior of our house using Scyon Walls™cladding, I have been blown away by the number of people interested in these products and asking me questions about it. I’m not blown away because I’m surprised – I think the products are fantastic – but blown away by
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Happier Home
How to Minimise External Noise Coming Into Your Home
Hi House Nerd, I live in an old home in Fremantle that I am renovating and would love some tips on how to reduce road noise in my house. Being close to the street and constructed of weatherboard I hear every car that passes and it is getting quite frustrating especially when trying to sleep.
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Home Renovations
How We Turned Our 70s Bar into a Walk-In Pantry
So I have exciting news – our new walk-in pantry/scullery renovation is finished! I think this may actually be my favourite renovated room in the house now (although I think I say that about every room once we finish it, even the toilet). But I AM in love with our new pantry. I first learned about
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Happier Home
A Mother of Three’s Completely Edible Suburban Garden
Can you be self-sufficient from the average-sized suburban garden? I don’t know, but the owner of this one is definitely trying – and she has such an awesome garden that I think half of you will be itching to plant sweet potatoes or peaches this weekend. I was introduced to home owner Kate Reading by
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DIY
How to Paint Tiles: Our Budget Kitchen Makeover
If you are looking for an inexpensive, easy way to update your kitchen or bathroom, tile paint could be the way to go. Today I’m going to share how we used it to give our dated, 1970s tile a mini-makeover for less than $100. Yesterday I showed you guys the before photos of our kitchen when we
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DIY
DIY: How to Make a Pressed Tin Bedhead
Today’s post is about how we made this bedhead out of pressed tin panels for our main suite – a nice way of adding impact and charm into our rather small bedroom. When we gave our bedroom a makeover, one of the major things Mr Nerd and I knew we had to do was upgrade
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Home Projects
How to Make Shelves from Reclaimed Wood: DIY
Check out my new shelves in our toilet! Yes, you read that right. Today, while the house is filled with the noise of Mr Nerd drilling away on our bathroom renovation, I am going to blog about our toilet. I aim to thrill. But seriously, I love how we improved the toilet with the addition
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Furniture
A Roadside Find: Thonet Chair Makeover
Don’t you just love an exciting email out the blue? When a design-savvy House Nerd reader dropped me an email a little while ago to tell me that it was verge collection time in East Fremantle, I was out the door and driving thataway before you could say let’s-drag-home-some-more-junk (thank you, Deb!) Hey, I can
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Before & After
My ‘Monica’s Closet’ – My Junk Room Turned Studio
Hands up if you have a junk room in your house. Or a junk cupboard? Come on – at least a junk drawer? If you have none of these, and your entire house is as organised as Martha Stewart’s pantry, I envy you. But if you have that messy part of your house that has
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Happier Home
10 Tips for Styling a Home on a Budget
When it comes to creating a beautiful and comfortable home, you really don’t need a ton of spare cash. No, really! I’m often awed by people who pull off a gorgeous home given only a tight budget. Of all the designers and decorators I know, one of those who is very, very good at styling
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Advice
Renovating a Rental… As A Tenant
“Dear Nelly and Sam, I just wanted to say thank you for being such wonderful tenants, looking after the house so well and particularly for all the improvements you made. The bathroom looks particularly wonderful. I love the photos on the blog site… from that I got the impression you enjoyed living there as much
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DIY
Our Budget Sunroom Makeover – & How to Spray Paint Aluminium Windows
If you grew up in our sun-bleached country, like me, you will be familiar with one of the great Australian home features – the ubiquitous sunroom, or sleepout. When I was a kid so many of my friends’ houses had a sleepout – and so many still do. Commonly tacked onto the back of 60s