Summer is a time of basking in the Christmas indulgence of food and the hang over of New Years Eve to lay around by the pool or down the beach, watching endless B-grade movies and staying out late enjoying daylight savings with family and friends.
Or it can mean way too much spare time to burn so thoughts surface to finish those projects you have been meaning to complete or just even get off the drawing board. I don’t know if you were there but my local Hardware was definatley a very busy place between Christmas and New Year with people starting projects of painting, building pergolas and garden planting.
Spotlight was a flurry with sales of fabric for sewing doonas, creating new cushions and covering some tired old couches. This is the time of ridiculous low prices and an itch to create but a little caution needs to be heeded to consider if you really know what you are doing and don’t up in a greater mess than when you started.
Getting some inside information is always the best way to go before you load your trolley of products and make costly mistakes of doing things twice.
The best way to make sure you are doing something that will last and stand the test of time is to get help from the professionals and pick their brains. Most courses these days are run by highly skilled professionals who have years of experience in their trade and give up their time to share it with the public. A source overlooked by many is your local library.
They hold monthly talks on a variety of subjects and the home and garden are included with an added bonus being the majority of these talks are free. Why not tap into your community or local paper as local companies advertise free information nights about their products and you might find one that suits you. Short courses have been around for many years and the subjects are constantly changing and being added to.
Doing courses and attending seminars doesn’t mean you have to look at career changes to get the benefit from them. Knitting made a huge come back in 2006 so you never know, mosaics could be on the rise!
Bunnings hold Adult courses monthly on laying tiles for floor and wall, basic painting techniques and tips and new subjects being introduced later in the year. Coming up they also have ladies nights that teach you how to do basic maintenance around the home rather than calling some one just to hang a picture or paint a feature wall (unless that is to your advantage!).
www.bunnings.com.au
Take this a step further and learn tips and ideas on Interior Design by attending short courses that run for full days on weekends or over a series of weeks.
At the CAE summer school you can choose between a two-day intense course or three nightly sessions, which covers design history, design principals, basic colour selection and how to choose lighting and soft furnishings that suit your lifestyle.
www.cae.edu.au
If you are after even more information try your local Tafe for short course information on a diverse range of subjects such as mosaic, mastering colour, furniture restoration, home and bathroom renovation.
Arming yourself with a little or a lot of knowledge before you take on any type of project no matter what size, is going to mean a successful outcome of something that’s gives you a sense of achievement and pride rather than hide it in the spare room to clear out in your next spring clean.
by
Shaynna Blaze-Vaughan
www.blankcanvasint.com
