I love restoring and making things look different!

My first go at restoring and refinishing a clock - very theraputic!

My mother-in-laws old chandelier - given a Parisian look for the bedroom!

My first prize-winning restoration - a three quid chandelier from an auction resprayed and rewired!

BEFORE - Mexican Pine!

Hey Presto - AFTER!

I blagged this 1942 art deco dressing table from Freecycle - I had a first go at decoupage on the drawer front - my young daughter loves this in her bedroom!

A pine bookshelf for a tenner of Gumtree - we kept this piece and it's well used in our family room!

Three quid from Bangor Auction - amazing what you can do with some old paint and some free wallpaper samples from Homebase!

My wife used to dread me going off to dump rubbish - I always come back with more than I go with - a lady was dumping two of these solid pine chests of drawers!

Another Mexican pine makeover - using vibrant and glossy colours brings new life to a dated item and makes it durable when there's kids about!

These deep-drawer units come up well with chalk or eggshell paint - use old cup or filing cabinet handles for a great look!

The deep drawer unit finished - really good for storage!

This was my first time knocking out a uPVC front door and putting a new one in - a bit scary halfway through and realising there was a big hole in the wall - got there in the end phew!

Next was taking out the old leaded glass glazing units and replacing them with new georgian bar units - all measured correctly - another Phew!!

Another clock - I recieved this as a present many years ago and love the dramatic new Parisian look!

Some old orange pine picture frames with a base coat of gold then a dusting of pink chalk paint - waxed and sanded!

This was good fun to do with the kids during the summer - Three plant pots painted with a solar light on top - 'A Lighthouse' for the garden - looks great at night!

Charity shop bargain for a few quid - looks great and the bottom cupboard is great for storing cherished vinyl albums!

Old mexican pine cd storage unit given a seaside theme and used to store nick-nacks and keys in the hall - the kids loved helping with this one!

BEFORE - Another Mexican pine makeover about to get underway!

AFTER -Looks dramatically different, has taken on a lighter country style look - there's also the opportunity to play about with wicker storage!

Lamp makover - a can of stone spray paint and a three quid shade from B&M rejuvenates an old lamp and is fun to do too!

Bin planter - an old liner from a pedal bin makes a good 'tall' planter - a bit of paint and some ornamental grass!

First go at making my own chalk-paint - some old emulsion mixed with calcium carbinate - much cheaper than branded chalk-paint and just as effective!

An old oil lamp revamped and turned into a candle holder - makes a great table centre-piece for outdoors!

Granite black respray - be bold!

Another lamp - this ones been about the house for forty years - dramatically different!

Sometimes with clocks it can be tricky putting all the bits back together again but they've all worked - SO FAR!

Latest comments

27.02 | 02:30

I have really enjoyed reading this article, so very much that I didn't know about Robert Skates, I have admired how he has fitted in radio, as well as being a very hands on father and family man,

18.02 | 07:37

Good read Robert. Here’s to the next 25 years! x

20.06 | 09:10

Brilliant Web page, so interesting but no mention of R S A.S. Lol 😁 and the 638 posts on one show! x

17.02 | 22:15

Love this page... what an amazing life you have had