05 December,2021 08:08 AM IST | Washington | Agencies
Emma, who has done all of the work herself, began DIY-ing her home as a way to deal with the grief of suddenly losing her dad in 2020
Not content with the drab surroundings, Emma Parkes, 49, has turned her bland cottage into a multicoloured paradise - and she managed it on a small budget. Parkes, from Shropshire, who works in special needs education, moved in 16 months ago with her daughter Poppy, 18, and her son Ralph, eight.
Keen to make the place feel more homely, she stripped out the old carpets which revealed rustic floorboards, which she then painted white, with permission from the landlord. Picking a "feminine and uplifting" colour palette to replace the magnolia, the mum-of-two added pops of colour into every room - spending a total of £1,500 on the renovation.
"When I first arrived, the cottage was all magnolia, but structurally sound," Parkes said. I knew I wanted to inject colour with a boho style with plenty of plants throughout the house." The first room Parkes tackled was the lounge, where she spent £800 overhauling the furniture with "retro" secondhand buys and creating a feature wallpapered wall.
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She said, "I first decorated the lounge with a colour palette of green, pink, and soft pink and vivid pink. The walk-in fireplace also had exposed brick which I freshened up with some white paint and I created a feature wall with wallpaper gifted by Lust Home. I removed the curtains and replaced them with a natural branch with plants hanging from it; I've also created this in my bedroom."
In the kitchen, Parkes spent just £200 and used her creative skills to paint a bright pink and aquamarine mural across one of the walls.
The single mum said, "The kitchen was the first room where I painted one of my murals on the wall. All my murals are hand-painted and original. It is very much floral-themed and uses bright but soothing colours. The use of plants continues into the kitchen where I've hung a reclaimed ladder from the ceiling with flowers hanging from it."
Parkes, who has done all of the work herself, began DIY-ing her home as a way to deal with the grief of suddenly losing her dad in 2020. "I'm a single mum and work full time so it can be hard to achieve the work I do on my home quickly, I dip into it as and when I can." The mum credits her "creative thinking" for being able to carry out the renovation on such a small budget.
A bride considers having a separate âanti-vax' table at wedding for relatives
The last two years have seen weddings disrupted, cancelled and shrunken in size due to the Coronavirus pandemic. But as restrictions have eased, the industry has opened back up and brides and grooms have been able to get on with planning their special day. One bride has shared how she's unsure whether or not to have a separate table at her wedding for all of the unvaccinated guests.
Heidi, the bride from Sydney, appeared on the radio show Kyle and Jackie-O on KIIS 106.5 to discuss her dilemma. Heidi told the radio hosts how she's tying the knot in March of 2022 and a few of her relatives haven't had the vaccine. She said, "I'm thinking do I have a special âanti-vax table' so all the other guests are a little bit more at ease with having people that aren't vaccinated there or do I not worry about it?"
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