Home & handmade

Small-budget rooms, rugs and textiles, and beginner craft projects.

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  A calm, personal bedroom on a small budget

  How to restyle a bedroom for little money: edit first, set a colour plan, layer bedding and textiles, use secondhand furniture and lighting, and add handmade touches, renter-friendly where possible.

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  Macramé for beginners: cord, four knots and a first plant hanger

  Start macramé with the right cord and four basic knots (lark's head, square knot, half hitch and gathering knot), then make a simple plant hanger step by step.

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  Southwestern-style rugs and kilims: how to tell what you are buying, and how to care for it

  Flatweave, kilim, Navajo weaving or machine-made 'Southwestern' print? How to read a rug's construction, what the law says about 'Indian-made' claims in the U.S., and how to clean and look after a flatwoven rug.