Just because you’re feeling the financial pinch doesn’t mean you can’t treat yourself this winter. Read on for three at-home spa ideas that’ll have you feeling like a million bucks for nothing – well, almost.

A bedroom, a place for relaxation; an interpretation of one’s personal space.

Hints and tips to keep in mind this festive season to help polish your photography skills

Busy bathrooms, steamy kitchens, open windows and doors, well-worn furniture and traffic-trodden floors, these are the telltale signs of a home well lived-in and loved. These are also the realities that need considering when choosing furnishings and fittings.

Tips for a beautiful winter decor in your own living room!

My absolute favourite! I love creating eclectic spaces by mixing Old and New décor collectables together. I have a great respect and appreciation for antique pieces and always look forward to the new and contemporary; together they make for a great team to create an interesting eclectic scheme.

Spice4life has rounded up a selection of great places to learn to create ceramics - and fantastic galleries to inspire you to greater ceramic heights!

Today’s parents-to-be are opting for more modern furniture in the nursery, and manufacturers of nursery and children’s furniture are creating wonderful new designs that are contemporary, modern, and eco-friendly.

Tidy up office, prepare tax return, find license documents, go through paper piles, shopping, sort out cupboards, visit mom, book holiday, get organised.

If you don’t Get Organised, the list could be endless. Get Organised is devoted to helping businesses and individuals get on top of life, creating time and space for the important things.

Visit www.getorganised.co.za for your Free Starter Pack, Free Newsletter, Free Hot Tips and to find out how you can hire a professional organiser to assist in organising your life.

Whoever said that DIY is for men only must have been smoking his socks! If I had to wait for my man to do something I’d wait forever, not to mention the fact that I would probably have to do it again. I’m a firm believer in the saying, “if you want something done – do it yourself!”

There is a right time to refinish, repair, or re-upholster your favourite furniture and, while most furniture in our home are pieces we love and treasure, they may not be heirlooms. The majority of us live with furniture that sustains the wear and tear of daily living and as it gets older we wonder whether to repair or replace it.

There has been a marked increase in the use of questionable practices in the construction industry of late, specifically with regards to the formulation of quotations using dubious calculation practices or methods that are frowned upon by industry bodies.

If you thought that cement couldn’t be used to create something functional as well as aesthetically pleasing, Aidan is here to change your mind! In this episode, he helps model Ilse Fourie create a man’s playroom specifically designed with her CLASS A production car driver husband, Johan Fourie, in mind.

As a car enthusiast, Johan needed a place to house his scale electrics set. Alas, the chosen area was less than appealing to the eye. The room’s walls were more bare brick as opposed to the much needed gaming chic.

Most dinner parties these days have at least one person detailing their renovation or building nightmare, a common source of frustration for most homeowners! HelpMeBuild has been launched for this exact reason, to ease the renovation process and reduce the stress by providing South Africans with access to a large directory of tradesmen and product and service providers ranging from plumbers to removal companies and from granite to cornices.

South African comedian and local painter, John Vlismas, shows Dhiveja that there is, in fact, a humorous side to art and explains that there is not much difference between telling jokes as a stand up comedian and painting.

It's not important how much money you spend on decorating but how wisely you spend it. Imagination is your most potent ally. So put on your decorating thinking cap to save money and add style.

Within a budget Let's face it, few of us have the luxury of a sky's-the-limit budget for home decorating. Even for top interior designers, an unlimited budget is a rarity. Many confess they actually do their best work when they have to rely on creativity instead of cash.

High style doesn't have to mean high cost. Use inexpensive materials lavishly and expensive materials judiciously. Elegance is found in details, whether it's sewing trims, borders, and appliqué, or painting colour washes and stries. Remember that the objective is not just to see how inexpensively you can get by but also to make every money-saving method count. If you do your own painting, you'll have more funds left for furnishings, frills, and labour.

Make the most of what you have and then fill in the blanks. Some of the best design ideas are free. Simply rearranging the furniture - floating it away from the walls, or turning it on the diagonal - can transform a tired room. Experiment with what's on hand before you go shopping for replacements.

When discussing Italian design there are two opposing elements to consider. The first has its roots in culture and heritage in areas such as Tuscany and Venice, the second is the fact that Italian design is considered the definitive source of contemporary ideas and functional creativity.

Cutting edge interior design Italian interior design leads in a way that is more than Modern and does not quite fit the understanding of Contemporary. It’s a way of marrying top Italian design creations with traditional objects and spaces.

With energy conservation and eco-friendly practices making headlines everywhere, ‘going green’ is certainly in vogue. However the question remains: What should you be doing about it? The most obvious place to start is by switching to energy efficient lighting, as this will greatly reduce your energy consumption and hence expenditure, as well as ensuring a better future for the planet.

You can now replace almost any standard household incandescent globe with an energy efficient equivalent, and by converting to energy efficient lights you can save 80% on your lighting bill alone.

The most generally used globe in households is still the Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) which uses a fifth of the electricity a normal household globe does, but emits around five times the light per watt, and is available in a variety of shapes and sizes. A CFL also burns much cooler than an incandescent lamp because it converts 80% of electricity into light and 20% into heat.

Ceiling fans add character to almost any room, offering a great way to keep cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. Eurolux’s latest range of ceiling fans certainly has a fan to suit every taste and requirement.

The Eurolux Swirl ceiling fan comes in a stylish antique brass or satin chrome finish with three blades featuring a cherry wood finish on the one side and a maple wood finish on the other - simply turn the blades over to change the fan’s appearance. Shaun Bouchier, director at Eurolux, says contrasting or reversible ceiling fan blades are an innovative addition to ceiling fan blade design. “The two different finishes on either side of the blade add to the glamour quotient of your interior and allow for far greater versatility than the standard, single tone blades.”

The Swirl fan comes standard with a remote control and offers a three speed function, together with a forward and reverse motion. Bouchier explains that ceiling fans are designed to circulate air with a downdraft, yet they can also be set to create an upward circulation. “You have to select the reverse motion on the fan to get this effect, allowing the updraft to aid the heating of the room,” he says.

4 Totally Top Tips

1. A place for everything and everything in its place Putting something away is so much easier when you know where it belongs. Once you have assigned everything a home, resist the temptation to just put it down – rather act immediately and put it away. BONUS: you will always be able to find what you want, when you need it.

Traditionally styled homes make generous use of antiques or high quality furniture reproductions, rich woods, over stuffed seating and muted, understated colours. The emphasis is on comfort, style and classic, refined elegance resulting in a timeless look that brings warmth to a home.

Fabrics are luxurious and rich, fixtures are of high quality, and accessories may include paintings, vintage prints, sculpture and framed personal mementos. Furniture pieces exude luxury, opulence and quality workmanship and have soft curved lines with plenty of detail and inlays.

There are several ways to bring the charm of traditional decorating to your home

With home decor trends constantly changing from season to season, it’s sometimes difficult to stay on top of what’s hot today or dated tomorrow.

When people as me for advice on how to keep up with the trends my first response is to say, “Paint your house white then you won’t have to worry!”