Series: Furnishing and decorating your place for as little as possible « Oola Moola

The Big Move

by StylishMoola on 14th May 09 at 2:29 pm

Challenge: Part 1 of 4 in Furnishing and decorating your place for as little as possible
I’m moving! The credit crunch is finally working to my advantage. It is definitely a renter’s market at the time and by moving I’m making a huge savings in rent - £2400 per year! Council tax is also less, which adds around another £360 to my annual savings. You might think I’m sacrificing space for this deal, but I’ve been very lucky. By moving just slightly out of the posh area I’ve been in the last few years, I found a place three times as big as my old one, and with a lovely back garden!

Too good to be true? Well, yes, there’s a hitch. It’s unfurnished. All I’ve managed to accumulate in my adult life is … uh-um, a dog, heaps of books, handbags, dresses and shoes, a teen glued to a PC, and some very, very precious wine glasses. That’s about it, I think…

So what do I do? My family lives overseas, which means no leftover stuff from mum and aunties this time over…

Some of you have already tweeted me some good advice:@rachwarwick, @mattwilliams, @beckyportsmouth and @planbstudio all swear by Freecycle as a great source of free stuff. @beckyportsmouth also had a great idea - set up a Facebook page with a list of what you need and get your friends and family to contribute or sell stuff to you for cheap. @love_little suggested having a look at what people toss out, hunt in junk yards and antique places.

I’m going to try all of that (well, maybe I’ll give the junk yards a miss..). Getting the keys to the place this weekend so stay tuned for a video tour and my facebook page. In the meantime, if you’ve got any advice, have a great blog for furniture or design tips I should follow, catch me on twitter or leave me a comment - much appreciated.

Posted in Bargains & Markets, Decor, Gifts, furniture

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Patience is a virtue..

by StylishMoola on 27th May 09 at 5:01 pm

Challenge: Part 2 of 4 in Furnishing and decorating your place for as little as possible
I’ve finally moved! I guess now is when the real work begins… everything is a mess. I can’t even find socks to wear and my favorite trousers have vanished. I’ve got no iron so I wear my wrinkled shirts with pride. I wasn’t quick enough in getting photos of the empty place before all my stuff got moved in by two very, helpful and affordable helpers (my parents!) who took complete control and moved all my stuff over to my new place while I was at work but here’s what the living room looks like:

As you can see, there’s plenty of room in my new place. That’s Flint the Wheaten at the window, by the way, checking out the tasty (but speedy) cats in the neighborhood. Much trouble ahead.

A lot of you suggested Freecycle, so I spent some time watching the message threads there for unwanted sofas, bed frames and shelves. Timing is key - you might want to hold off on Freecycle until you’ve actually moved as the listed items go fast and you probably don’t want to move them twice - the owners are reluctant to hold anything for you as they worry you won’t pick up if too much time passes by.

There are also a lot of people watching the threads so you’ve really got to be quick, as many (although not all) offer their stuff based on first come first serve! I spent nearly two weeks sending off emails for the stuff that got listed but didn’t have much luck.

Everything got taken faster than I could catch up on the ‘offered’ posts… so in the end, I caved in and got a sofa from Ikea. But we all know it doesn’t pay off being impatient.. that very day someone responded to one of my pleas and offered me a perfectly nice green two seater! Just my luck, but I’m still happy with my new sofa from Ikea (Karlstad 3 seater at £322).

I didn’t realize until I was already at Ikea to pick up my sofa that you don’t have to buy them with a cover! So if you’re looking for something a bit more special, buy the ‘bare’ sofa which will exclude the cost of the cover and order this instead from a third hand supplier like Bemz. Even cheaper - get your favorite Ikea sofa second hand and dress it in one of these beautiful covers (I still think some of their covers are pricey, though).

I also find a lot of inspiration over at Ikea Hacker - this blog is stuffed with great tips on how to get the most out of your furniture. Love this inventive ironing board!

Another great resource of second hand sofas and other furniture in all price classes is GumTree. I found a beautiful oak dinner table with 6 chairs for only £50! You’ve still got to be quick or someone else will bag the deal. If the seller leaves a number on the listing, do pick up the phone and make a call - don’t use email! I put in a phone call as soon as I saw the dinner table listed but someone still got to the owner before me so I got put on the wait list. Luckily, the first person didn’t pick up and the table was mine!

I’m learning that patience is a definite ‘must have’ in this challenge. Rome wasn’t built in a day… In the meantime, I’m getting lots of inspiration from blogs and articles on interior design. Material Girls is already on my rss feed - although I doubt I’ll come across any of the type of furniture showcased here for cheap anywhere soon. But there are plenty of tips to pick up - like this blog post on Decorating With Books. The floating shelves in the living room are beautiful and I absolutely love the idea of book shelves in the bedroom:

I also learn a lot from glossy magazines like House Beautiful - I put together this color scheme for my living room after getting advice on choosing colours from their website. I might have gone a bit overboard on the blue, perhaps an accent colour is needed..?

All in all, making progress. More soon…

Posted in Decor, furniture

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Make your own pottery for £12

by StylishMoola on 1st June 09 at 10:20 am

Challenge: Part 3 of 4 in Furnishing and decorating your place for as little as possible

Make your own pottery from OolaMoola on Vimeo.

My parents have been visiting the last two weeks to help me move. I needed to find something fun for us to do together as a family to thank them - the typical dinner out didn’t seem very creative (or affordable!). So when I came across Merton Abbey Mills‘ weekend market and learned about the £12 pottery classes in the Wheelhouse, I could not help but eying a massive opportunity to kill ‘three’ birds with one stone: Entertain the family, learn something new.. at the same time as adding some beautiful pottery to my glass cabinet.

Some of the beautiful pottery at Merton Abbey Mills

The classes are run by Stephen Llewellyn and cost only £12 per person for a 45 minutes session - this includes using the wheel, clay, as well as Stephen’s wonderful tutelage. As if that’s not enough, at the end of the session you’ll get to pick one of your masterpieces for firing and glazing, ready for pick up about 4 weeks later.

Pottery wheel

That’s me trying to shape the clay into something usable - with Stephen’s help. There’s a technique (or science?) to this - pressing the clay from the inside will force the clay to widen outwards, while adding pressure from the outside will make they clay rise upwards. Also - you’ve got to keep a very steady arm, using your right hand to shape the clay while your left hand should only to support your right hand so it keeps steady.

Mr. Teen gets help to shape the clay

Let me tell you - pottery is so much fun but it’s not easy at first! I find the whole concept of not using both hands very confusing, so I learned the hard way…

Doing it right - Doing it wrong..

The atmosphere in the Wheelhouse is historic and relaxed - dating back to 1885. Stephen was an amazing teacher, letting us know when we did well, and telling us not to worry when it all went awry: “It’s just a piece of clay,” he said with a smile as I tossed my fifth vase attempt in the recycle bin. Ay.

We had so much fun on our session. We even got to bring Flint The Wheaten to the session which was an added bonus to the family experience. My parents and Mr. Teen enjoyed themselves and they’re really excited to see the fnished result of their efforts when the clay has been glased and burned. Moolah well spent - so much better than a dinner out!

Below are a few of our finished pottery pieces that we get to pick up in about four weeks time. Don’t worry if you can’t choose just one of your beautiful creations though - you can have your other pottery glazed for only £3 per piece.

The results of our 45 min workshop!

I plan on going again soon - this is a great way to stock up precious Christmas presents (it’s never to early, is it?). And if you don’t want to bring your family around - it’s also a great start to a girl friend’s night out - or you can even bring a special date… there are excellent bars and restaurants in the area to visit afterwards.

Tip for you Londoners: There’s a festival in Colliers Wood this weekend. Get in line for a free ticket to try the pottery wheel this Saturday - show up around 10 to be sure you get on the wait list!

The Wheelhouse

Merton Abbey Mills

A24 Merantun Way (behind Sainsbury’s at Colliers Wood).

0208 647 0076 on weekdays/ 0208 543 6656 at weekends

Individual tuition is in a small group of up to four people. Classes are held from 11am to 3pm on Saturday and Sunday, and at other times by arrangement.

The Wheelhouse accommodates only 4 people per session, so don’t leave the booking until it’s too late - two weeks in advance is usually enough time to get your reservation in.

http://www.stephenllewellynpottery.co.uk/

Posted in Bargains & Markets, Beauty, Crafting, Entertainment, Family

Tags: crafty, creative, engaging, Family, family fun in london, market, Merton Abbey Mills, pottery

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Thrifty frames & Curious walls

by StylishMoola on 12th August 09 at 2:21 pm

Challenge: Part 4 of 4 in Furnishing and decorating your place for as little as possible
Hanging artwork on the wall without a frame is evil. It’s like arranging roses in a vase without water.

This is something I’ve just recently come to understand. For the longest time, I’ve treated my art work (and walls!) as most students do - a poster here, a photo there…hmmm… some more there… some bits of tape, perhaps some glue and voila! Nice. Now let’s hit the pub.

A fraction of my unframed photography, previously taped to the wall...

I love photography and having amassed a large collection of photos through the past few years, I’m always on the look out for frames. Empty frames. Frames with pictures, paintings. Frames of all sizes and shapes. Old frames, new frames. Great frames can be as interesting and decorative as the artwork itself! Read full post

Posted in Decor, Vintage

Tags: art, charity store, curiosity wall, frame, frames, oxfam, photo frames, photography, pictures, second hand store

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