Julian Cassell's DIY Blog

Hanging kitchen units on stud walls offers a small problem when fitting a kitchen as you need to ensure that you adequately support the weight of the wall units. Yes, you have the vertical studs, but the chances of them coinciding with the required unit fixing points is pretty small, and simply relying on hollow wall fixings for the areas in between studs, really is not an option. The following sequence shows a technique that will ensure you get strong fixing points, read more »

There are many simple and inexpensive things you can do to have a greener home, which will save money as well as energy, and even small initiatives help. Making your house more environmentally friendly will add to its value. A new kitchen or bathroom is an investment, but even better, is an energy efficient home. Below are a number of energy saving ideas that you should consider when planning for a greener home. read more »

Wallpaper border frames are an alternative way of adding interest to a wall surface. You can use them to ‘outline’ a wall, or to create panels, or even to ‘frame’ paintings and pictures. The trickiest aspect of making a border frame is mitre joining the pattern in each corner, and you’ll find that some designs will be far more suitable to making this join than others. The following sequence shows how to make a mitre join when creating a wallpaper border frame. read more »

Using a hammer correctly not only makes your DIY work much more efficient, but also saves you from injuring thumbs and fingers. It’s clearly not the most complicated of operations, but many people don’t hold a hammer correctly, or look after the head of the hammer so that the majority of the blows you make, hit the intended target. Below are a few simple points about the correct way to use a hammer. read more »

Lining walls prior to painting or wallpapering them is a subject that can stir up a bit of controversy with many decorators as well as DIY enthusiasts. For issues about why to use lining paper in the first place, check out my guide ‘Using lining paper’, but in this guide, I want to concentrate on some simple application rules as well as the reasons for cross lining, where the lining paper is hung horizontally, and vertical lining, where the paper is hung ceiling to floor, just like wallpaper. read more »