This week my Word of the Week is: Improvements!! #WotW

This week my Word of the Week is:

Over the last month, Stu and I have made a lot of improvements around our home. It all started with him painting the dining room, putting some new shelves up and me getting a new sideboard for the living room. Since then, it has all snowballed, one job has just led to another. The girls keep coming in and look around suspiciously to see what has changed or what has been added to our house.

On Saturday I spent a good few hours putting another little sideboard together. You would think smaller would mean simpler to put together but no! There were so many fiddly bits and the instructions were not great. Well, to my eyes they weren't. Ellie said she had no issues understanding them. It would have been much easier with an electric screwdriver but Stu's wasn't charged and I had no idea how to charge it. I battled on and resulted in a sore hand but a very nice looking sideboard/bookshelf. I felt very pleased with myself for putting it together and getting a bargain. I saw it on the Wilkos website for £42 but actually bought it from Temu for £29.53!

On Monday my new washing basket arrived. I feel like I am getting old because I got excited about a laundry basket. lol The old one was round so this being rectangular seems to fit better into the kitchen. My family complained that it was smaller, they're never happy! It turns out it must be around the same size as they've not been able to fill it yet. hehehe

Another improvement in the house has been the vacuum situation. Our Dyson vacuum cleaners have served us really well over the years. I was actually sent a couple to review back in 2017 and they’ve been absolutely amazing but all good things must come to an end. The upright one wasn’t quite as powerful as it used to be. It still worked but it definitely felt like it was losing a bit of its oomph, so I decided it was time to get a new one. I went with a Russell Hobbs cylinder vacuum. It's not quite as fancy as the Dyson but it does the job! I didn't even realise Russell Hobbs made vacuums but the kitchen appliances we've had from that brand have always been reliable!

Next up came me painting the fireplace and all the wood around it. It was an easy job apart from waiting for the paint to dry! That took way longer than I thought it would. I took a tip from my brother and wore latex gloves, so I wouldn't get paint all over my hands, which in theory is great but I covered my hands before the paint even touched a brush when I was getting the lid off without the gloves on. Oops. I bought 2 tins of the black paint and it turns out I only needed one, so I have decided to sand Ellie's computer desk down and paint it. She is not overjoyed about it but I said at least I will be able to take it outside and it should dry quicker. After that, all the furniture in the living room will match!

When the paint was dry I rearranged all my shelves again. I love all my trinkets, Funko Pop Characters and knick-knacks. I felt like a child again when I used to play with my doll's house, rearranging the furniture. I've said now that nothing will be moved unless I am dusting or until Christmas when I put the decorations up. hehehe

I think the home improvements are done for now. Now it's time to focus on the garden since my compost was delivered. It was much later in the week than I expected, so I haven't got any planting done yet. That might be a job for today!

How has your week been? I hope you have had a good one! I am of course linking up with Anne who blogs at Raisie Bay to join in with her Word of the Week linky!